1·The pachyderms were paired up. Only if they pulled together could they get the food.
大象们被配好对，只有它们同时拉绳子才能获得食物。
2·More surprising is that pachyderms' front and rear legs are equal footing when it comes to acceleration and braking.
更令人吃惊的是，这种厚皮动物的前肢和后肢在加速和刹停功能上起着相同作用。
3·Surplus pachyderms impose a particular burden on the poor, trashing their crops and attacking water sources, children and old people.
大象过剩对生活贫困的人们构成了额外的负担，他们与人类争抢水源，袭击老人和儿童。
4·And it suggests that adding ants could help preserve wooded areas on the savanna. Because ants will ruin any picnic, even for pachyderms.
研究显示，在草原上增加一些蚂蚁会有助于保护草原上的树林，因为蚂蚁能毁掉任何野餐，即使这些野餐属于大象。
5·All three pachyderms sized up their mirror images by inspecting behind the mirror, probing their mouths with their trunks to see if their reflections did the same.
所有这三只皮糙肉厚的家伙都会查看镜子的后面，将鼻子伸入口中观察镜子中的影像是否会做同样的事。
6·Bacterial fermentation helps to break cellulose down in the digestive tract, but of pachyderms' average daily intake of 150kg or so of plant matter, about 60% passes right through.
细菌的发酵作用有助于分解消化道内的植物纤维，但由于大象平均每天要吃150公斤左右的植物，其中约有60%都是直接排出体外。
7·That is how a 34-year-old female Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror - complex behaviour observed in only a few other species.
这就是布朗克斯动物园中34岁的亚洲雌象“快乐”向研究者们展示厚皮类动物能在镜子中认出自己的方式。这种复杂行为仅在少数几个物种身上能观察到。