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進入《中英對照讀新聞》Sorry, cat people, dogs are smarter 抱歉，愛貓人，狗比較聰明
研究顯示，狗比貓擁有更多的大腦皮質神經元。（路透）
◎劉宜庭
There’s a new twist to the perennial argument about which is smarter, cats or dogs. It has to do with their brains, specifically the number of neurons in their cerebral cortex：the little grey cells associated with thinking, planning and complex behavior － all considered hallmarks of intelligence.
關於「狗和貓誰比較聰明」的長期爭論，出現新的轉折。這和牠們的大腦有關，尤其是大腦皮質神經元數量：這些灰質與思考、規劃和複雜的行為有關，相關行為都被視為智力的表現。
The first study to actually count the number of cortical neurons in the brains of a number of carnivores, including cats and dogs, has found that dogs possess significantly more of them than cats. As far as dogs and cats go, the study found that dogs have about 530 million cortical neurons while cats have about 250 million, compared with 16 billion in the human brain.
這項首次實際算出貓、狗等數種肉食性動物大腦皮質神經元數量的研究，發現狗比貓擁有更多的皮質神經元。以狗和貓來說，研究顯示，狗擁有約5億3000萬個皮質神經元，貓有約2億5000萬個皮質神經元；相較之下，人類大腦則有160億個皮質神經元。
The researchers analysed the brains of one or two specimens from each of eight carnivore species：ferret, mongoose, raccoon, cat, dog, hyena, lion and brown bear. They found that the brain of a golden retriever has more neurons than a hyena, lion or brown bear, even though the bigger predators have brains up to three times as large.
研究人員分析鼬、獴、浣熊、貓、狗、鬣狗、獅子、棕熊等8種肉食性動物的1至2個大腦樣本。他們發現，黃金獵犬的大腦比鬣狗、獅子、棕熊擁有更多神經元，即便這些體型較大的肉食性動物，腦的大小是黃金獵犬的3倍。
新聞辭典
cortex：名詞，皮質。例句：The cerebral cortex plays a key role in memory, attention, perception, cognition, thought, language, and consciousness.（大腦皮質在記憶、注意力、知覺、認知、思考、語言和意識方面，扮演關鍵角色。）
hallmark：名詞，特徵。例句：Violent winds, driving rain, killer waves, these are the hallmarks of a hurricane.（強風、暴雨、致命大浪都是颶風的特徵。）
predator：名詞，掠食者、肉食性動物。例句：Spiders may rely on camouflage to protect them from predators such as birds.（蜘蛛能藉由偽裝躲避鳥類等掠食者。）
