万万没想到：世界上最肥动物TOP6竟是它们

Fatness is not unique to us humans. There are plenty of supersized animals out there.

肥胖不仅人类的面临的问题，许多动物也意外的受其困扰。

But determining which animal is the fattest isn’t as straightforward as it may appear.

但是准确说出哪一个动物是最胖，并不像表面上看着那么容易。

But if we look at things proportionally, you might be surprised by some of the world’s full-fat species.

但是仅仅看脂肪比例的话，你就会惊叹这个世界上竟然还有体脂含量百分之百的动物。

We’ll begin with blubber, the fat rich tissue belonging to marine mammals that has myriad benefits for streamlining, buoyancy, defence, insulation and energy storage.

先来说一说海兽脂，海洋生物的脂肪组织统称为海兽脂。它在塑造流线体型、漂浮、防御、保暖、储存能量方面起到了巨大的作用。

Right whales

Among the whales with the thickest blubber are the so-called right whales. They are popularly thought to have earned this common moniker during the bloody era of whale hunting in the 19th Century.

拥有最厚海兽脂的鲸鱼称之为所谓的“露脊鲸”——这个公认的绰号源于血腥的十九世纪，那时候鲸鱼遭到人们的捕杀。

“They are slow and fat and when harpooned they float for easier retrieval. Most other whales sink.” says Dr Sam Ridgway, president of the National Marine Mammal Foundation.The whales float because they have a high percentage of lipids, or fat, in their blubber. There are three species of right whale, found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Oceans.

国家海洋哺乳动物基金会主席山姆博士说道：“‘露脊鲸’移动速度慢、身体肥硕庞大，被鱼叉杀死后会飘起来更容易被搜寻到。而其他鲸鱼则会沉下去。”露脊鲸之所以会漂在海面上是因为它们的体脂含量较高。露脊鲸一共有三种，分别生活在北大西洋，北太平洋，南部海域。

Walruses

Walruses might look chubby, but measurements of adult females in Greenland found they were 18% blubber and 44% muscle.

海象也许看起来胖乎乎的，但在格陵兰岛测量的一只成年母海象身体里，18%是海兽脂，44%是肌肉。

Hippos

Likewise, hippos are known for their dumpy appearance, but 18% of their impressive 1.5 tonne weight is actually skin. Beneath this 5cm thick hide hippos have a relatively thin layer of fat.

同样的，重达1.5吨的河马身体18%都是皮肤的重量。在这五厘米厚的皮下其实是一层相对较薄的脂肪层。

Camel

Their distinctive humps are not full of water but are actually nutritional stores of fat that can weigh up to 35kg. Overall though, camels are lean animals, with most of their body fat concentrated into their humps.

骆驼的两个显眼山峰重达35千克，里面不仅有满满的水，还是营养的储藏站。骆驼把大部分脂肪集中在双峰上，不过整体而言，骆驼还是很消瘦的。

Moths

Moths are known in the prairies of the western US where their mass emergence in spring can cause an agricultural nuisance. Around June they migrate to alpine climates where they feed on the nectar of wildflowers. The moths fatten up over the summer to an extraordinary extent,reaching a whopping 72% body fat by the autumn.

蛾子在美国西部的大草原上非常出名，在春天，他们会大举迁移，严重影响农业。在六月左右，他们会迁移到高山气候的地区，在那里以花蜜为食。经过一夏天的增肥，秋天的时候可以达到72%（巨额？！）的体脂率。