虽然城市的发展看似破坏环境,但事实要复杂得多。去年夏天,观鸟人士确认在柬埔寨发现了一种新鸟类:柬埔寨缝叶莺。这个发现并无多大的生物学意义(仅8月份人们就在亚马逊发现了15种新鸟类),但是有一点特别令人震惊:这种缝叶莺并不是在未遭破坏的雨林中发现的,而是在柬埔寨的首都金边市内发现的——金边的规模与费城相当。我们一般认为,城市不大可能是生物的柄居地——除了老鼠、蟑螂和鸽子以外(这些我们稍后再提)——更不用说是一种未曾被发现的鸟类的藏身处。但是,上周发表在《皇家学会生物学分会学报》的一篇新论文推翻了这个观念。一个由24名研究人员组成的团队对147个城市的鸟 Although the development of the city seems to undermine the environment, the facts are far more complicated. Last summer, birdwatchers confirmed the discovery of a new bird in Cambodia: the Cambodian stitch warbler. The discovery is of little biological significance (only 15 species of new birds were found in the Amazon in August), but it is particularly alarming: the stingray warbler is not found in unspoiled rainforest But found inside Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital - Phnom Penh is about the size of Philadelphia. It is generally assumed that cities are unlikely to be living creatures - aside from rats, cockroaches and pigeons (these we will mention later) - not to mention a hideout of undiscovered birds. However, a new essay published in The Journal of the Royal Society of Biology last week overturned this notion. A team of 24 researchers on 147 city birds