天涯明月刀86本奶妈:摄影精选：叹为观止的沙漠生命

沙漠通常被视作生命的禁区。但是作者James Parry 在他的新书《沙漠》中展现了另外的一面。Parry展示了繁荣生长在这一炎热地带的迷人动植物。下面请看选自《沙漠》的精彩图片。

A seemingly unlikely sight as it crosses a salt pan, this Flap-necked Chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis) is probably searching for new feeding grounds or possibly a mate. Progress across open ground is slow and fraught with danger as predators are on the lookout for easy pickings.

一片看似毫无希望的景象，一只喷点变色龙（学名：Chamaeleo dilepis）穿过一片盐田，它可能正在寻找新的觅食地点或者也可能在寻找一位配偶。横穿一片开阔地是缓慢并且充满危险的，因为扑食者可能正在寻找容易的目标。

Few large mammals relish life on the open dunes, but the Gemsbok is in its element there. They are largely nomadic and whilst groups of up to 200 have been recorded, the average herd size is more like 14. Like other species or oryx, Gemsbok hardly ever need to drink, deriving adequate moisture from their food.

With outsized ears, the Black-tailed Jackrabbit is very distinctive. In addition to ensuring an extremely good sense of hearing, large ears also act as a cooling system. Heated blood circulates through the thin ear tissue and cools as it does so. 

拥有一双超大的耳朵，黑尾长耳大野兔非常的特别。除了确保极其优秀的听觉，大耳朵也充当了冷却系统。热的血液循环通过薄的耳组织得到降温。

The Woma is a distinctively marked snake and one that thrives in a desert environment. The term “woma” or “wama” means snake or python in one of the Aboriginal languages. Like other pythons, this species lays eggs rather than giving birth to live young.

Woma是一种能够在干旱环境生存的有着鲜明记号的蛇。“woma”或“wama”这个术语在土著语里是蛇或者蟒的意思。像其它的蟒蛇一样，这种动物是下蛋而不是胎生。

Thorny Devils can live for up to 20 years and feed exclusively on ants. Mating takes place after an elaborate courtship ritual and the female later lays her eggs in an underground chamber, from which the young devils emerge, unattended, a few weeks later.

棘蜴最多可以存活20年并且只吃蚂蚁。在一个煞费苦心的求爱仪式后他们进行交配，过后母蜥蜴会将蛋下在底下洞穴里，短短的几周之后小蜥蜴会在这里独自孵化出来。

Research is revealing that Coyotes are more sociable than previously thought, with pair loyalty around which small family groups are maintained. However, Coyotes appear to hunt primarily on their own, unlike Wolves which almost always hunt collectively.

研究显示土狼比先前认为的更具有社会性，小小的家族群通过一对忠实的伴侣维持。但是土狼看来都是独自狩猎，不像狼总是集体狩猎。

Blackbuck have an iconic status in India, and often feature in art and literature. Animals of the open plains, they are always alert and on the lookout for danger. When alarmed, they often leap into the air, a behavior known as “pronking.”

印度黑羚在印度具有标志性地位，并且经常在艺术和文学中占重要位置。作为草原动物，它们始终保持警戒，注意危险。当发生警报，它们常常会跃入空中，这一行为被称作pronking。

Rarely seen on the wing, the Great Indian Bustard is an impressive sight. Conservation measures are helping to ensure its survival in the Thar, but egg and chick losses are a serious problem in areas where livestock densities and levels of disturbance are high.

很少看到展翼，大印度鸨（南亚鸨，译者注）是一个令人难忘的景象。养护措施帮助确保它们在塔尔（沙漠，译者注）幸存下来，但是在这样一个牲畜密度和骚扰等级都很高的的区域蛋和幼崽的丢失是一个严重的问题。

The village of Khichan in Rajasthan is famous for thousands of Demoiselle Cranes that arrive for the winter months. They are fed by villagers, who admire them for their pair fidelity and mainly vegetarian habits. Special enclosures have been built to feed the birds, which increase in number each year. The site has become a tourist attraction, and the commitment expressed by the community to these wild birds makes it an unusual and rewarding place to visit.

位于拉贾斯坦邦（印度邦名，译者注）的Khichan村庄因上千只过冬蓑羽鹤的到来而闻名。它们被村名喂养，这些村民因为它们的忠诚与素食而喜爱它们，建造特殊的围墙来喂养这些数量每年不断增加的鸟儿。这里变成了旅游景点，并且这份义务通过社区传递给这些野生鸟儿来营造一个与众不同、收入可观的旅游地。

Gunnison Island in the Great Salt Lake has an important colony of American White Pelicans, with several thousand nesting here each spring. Pelicans are very sensitive to disturbance and whole colonies will abandon their eggs and young if disrupted.

位于大沿湖Gunnison 岛有一群重要的迁徙动物美国白鹈鹕，每年春季会在这里搭数千个巢。鹈鹕对外界的干扰非常敏感，并且如果受到破坏整个迁徙群会丢弃他们的蛋和幼崽。

Located at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert, the White Sands National Monument is the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The dunes are very active, with some moving more than 9 metres (30 feet) in a year. 

位于Chihuahuan 沙漠北端的白沙国家公园是世界上最大的石膏沙丘场。这些沙丘非常活跃，有些每年移动超过9米（30英尺）。

The deserts of the Americas are the perfect cactus habitat, with a wide variety of species that often grow very densely. Impenetrable thickets of cactus are widespread and provide important shelter for many small mammals and invertebrates, as well as a breeding habitat for birds.

美国的沙漠是非常完美的仙人掌产地，拥有品种极其丰富的密集生长的仙人掌。茂密的仙人掌灌木丛非常广泛并且为小型哺乳动物和无脊椎动物提供重要的保护所，如为鸟类提供繁殖地。

Distinctive they may be, but Joshua Trees have not always been popular. John C Fremont traveled through parts of the Mojave in 1844 and wrote how "their stiff and ungraceful form makes them to the traveler the most repulsive tree in the vegetable kingdom." 

短叶丝兰非常的与众不同，但是他们不总是受欢迎。John C Fremont 在1844年旅行时穿过部分莫哈韦沙漠并且写到“它们僵硬丑陋的形状是他们被游客认为是植物界里最令人反感的树”

Owens Valley in California lies on the western edge of the Great Basin. The sagebrush habitat is typical of this area, and home to mammals such as Pronghorn Antelope, jackrabbits, cottontails and smaller creatures such as ground squirrels. 

加州的欧文斯谷处在大盆地的西部边缘。蒿属植物的生长地是这个区域的象征，并且这里是哺乳动物如叉角羚、长耳大野兔、白灰尾兔和小型动物如地鼠的家园。

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All images courtesy of "The Desert" by James Parry (Carlton Books).