Chimpanzees keep cleaner beds than humans because, unlike their evolutionary relatives, they “make their own beds daily,” a new study released Tuesday said.
周二发表的一项新研究称，黑猩猩的床比人类的更干净，不像它们的进化亲戚，他们“每天都自己做床”。
Researchers from North Carolina State University earlier hypothesized a greater number of bacteria would be present in chimp nests compared to human mattresses and sheets because of the outdoor environment – but that wasn’t the case, the study found.
来自北卡罗莱纳州立大学的研究人员先前假设过，由于户外环境的原因，黑猩猩的巢穴相比人类的床垫和床单会存在更多的细菌，但研究发现事实并非如此。
Researchers swabbed 41 chimpanzee nests in Tanzania and found almost none of the microbes found in human beds, such as fecal microbes, the report said.
报告称，研究人员对坦桑尼亚的41个黑猩猩巢穴进行了取样测试，发现几乎不存在微生物，比如粪便微生物，而这些是存在于人类床上的。
“Our data would suggest that they’re really quite good at grooming each other and cleaning off ectoparasites,” Megan Thoemmes, lead author of the paper, told the Washington Post. The PhD student said that chimpanzees defecate over the sides of their nests.
该论文的第一作者梅根.托姆梅斯对《华盛顿邮报》说：“我们的数据表明，他们真的很擅长互相梳理，清除体外寄生虫。”这位博士生说，黑猩猩在它们的巢穴边排便。
A separate study by Mattress Advisor found that the average person changes their sheets once every 24 days, with pillowcases having a marginally longer unwashed period, contributing to the buildup of bacteria and allergens in bedding.
由床垫顾问进行的另一项研究发现，一般人每24天更换一次床单，而枕套的换洗时间则稍微长一点，这导致了床上用品中堆积着细菌和过敏原。
Thoemmes told the NC State News that “about 35 percent of bacteria in human beds stem from our own bodies, including fecal, oral and skin bacteria.”
托姆梅斯告诉《北卡罗莱纳州新闻报》：“人类床上有大约35%的细菌，包括粪便、口腔细菌和皮肤细菌，来自我们自己的身体。”
The study said that humans have created sleep environments to reduce our “exposure to soil and other environmental microbes” but have instead increased the bacteria “sourced from our own bodies.”
该研究称，人类创造了睡眠环境来减少我们“接触土壤和其他环境微生物”，但反而增加了“源自我们自己身体”的细菌。
“In some ways, our attempts to create a clean environment for ourselves may actually make our surroundings less ideal,” Thoemmes said.
托姆梅斯说：“我们在某些方面试图为自己创造一个干净的环境，这可能实际上会让我们的周围环境变得不那么理想。”
