新的DNA方法有助於追踪瀕臨滅絕的墨西哥長鼻子蝙蝠，遷移到亞利桑那州

研究人員說，他們現在有一種方法可以通過分析唾液來告訴瀕臨滅絕的物種，除其他蝙蝠外，夜間哺乳動物從植物和住宅蜂鳥餵食器中s飲時會留下。

Scientists have long suspected that Mexican long-nosed bats migrate through southeastern Arizona, but without capturing and measuring the night-flying creatures, proof has been elusive.

科學家長期以來一直懷疑墨西哥長鼻子的蝙蝠遷移到亞利桑那州東南部，但沒有捕獲和測量夜間飛行生物，證明是難以捉摸的。

Now, researchers say they have a way to tell the endangered species apart from other bats by analyzing saliva the nocturnal mammals leave behind when sipping nectar from plants and residential hummingbird feeders.

現在，研究人員說，他們有一種方法可以通過分析唾液來告訴瀕臨滅絕的物種，除其他蝙蝠外，夜間哺乳動物從植物和住宅蜂鳥餵食器中s飲時會留下。

Bat Conservation International, a nonprofit group working to end the extinction of bat species worldwide, teamed up with residents from southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and west Texas for the saliva swabbing campaign.

BAT Conservation International是一個非營利組織，致力於結束全球蝙蝠物種的滅絕，與來自亞利桑那州東南部，新墨西哥州西南部和西德克薩斯州的居民合作，進行了唾液吞噬運動。

The samples of saliva left along potential migration routes were sent to a lab at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where researchers looked for environmental DNA — or eDNA — to confirm that the bats cycle through Arizona and consider the region their part-time home.

沿潛在遷移路線剩下的唾液樣本被送往弗拉格斯塔夫北亞利桑那大學的一個實驗室，研究人員在那裡尋找環境DNA或Edna，以確認蝙蝠穿過亞利桑那州並考慮該地區的兼職房屋。

The Mexican long-nosed bat has been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1988, and is the only one in Arizona with that federal protection. It is an important species for pollinating cactus, agave and other desert plants.

自1988年以來，根據《瀕危物種法》，墨西哥長鼻子的蝙蝠被列為瀕危物種，是亞利桑那州唯一具有聯邦保護的人。它是授粉仙人掌，龍舌蘭和其他沙漠植物的重要物種。

Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department announced the discovery in late January. While expanding Arizona's list of bat species to 29 is exciting, wildlife managers say the use of this novel, noninvasive method to nail it down also deserves to be celebrated.

美國魚類和野生動物服務局以及亞利桑那州遊戲和魚類部的官員在1月下旬宣布了這一發現。野生動物管理者說，儘管將亞利桑那州的蝙蝠物種清單擴大到29，但野生動植物經理說，使用這種小說無創的方法將其釘住也值得慶祝。

“If we were trying to identify the species in the absence of eDNA, biologists could spend hours and hours trying to catch one of these bats, and even then, you’re not guaranteed to be successful,” said Angie McIntire, a bat specialist for the Arizona's Game and Fish Department. “By sampling the environment, eDNA gives us an additional tool for our toolkit."

蝙蝠專家安吉·麥金太爾（Angie McIntire）說：“如果我們試圖在沒有埃德娜（Edna）的情況下識別物種，那么生物學家可能會花費數小時嘗試捕捉其中一隻蝙蝠，即使那樣，您也不能保證成功。”對於亞利桑那州的遊戲和魚類部門。 “通過對環境進行採樣，Edna為我們提供了工具包的附加工具。”

Every spring, Mexican long-nosed bats traverse a lengthy migratory path north from Mexico into the southwestern U.S., following the sweet nectar of their favorite blooming plants like breadcrumbs. They return along the same route in the fall.

每年春天，墨西哥長鼻子的蝙蝠沿著墨西哥向北的漫長遷徙路徑穿越了西南部，沿著他們最喜歡的盛開植物（如麵包屑）的甜蜜花蜜。他們在秋天沿著同一條路線返回。

The bat conservation group recruited ordinary citizens for the mission, giving them kits to swab samples from bird feeders throughout the summer and fall.

蝙蝠保護小組招募了普通公民來執行任務，並在整個夏季和秋季給了他們擦拭鳥類餵食器樣品的套件。

Inside the university lab, microbiology major Anna Riley extracted the DNA from hundreds of samples and ran them through machines that ultimately could detect the presence of bats. Part of the work involved a steady hand, with Riley using a syringe of sorts to transfer diluted DNA into tiny vials before popping them into a centrifuge.

在大學實驗室內，微生物學專業安娜·賴利（Anna Riley）從數百個樣品中提取了DNA，並通過機器將它們跑到，最終可以檢測到蝙蝠的存在。一部分工作涉及一隻穩定的手，萊利使用一種注射器將稀釋的DNA轉移到小瓶中，然後將其彈出到離心機中。

Sample after sample, vial after vial, the meticulous work took months.

樣本後的樣品，小瓶後的小瓶，細緻的工作花了幾個月。

“There’s a big database that has DNA sequences of not every animal but most species, and so we could compare our DNA sequences we got from these samples to what’s in the database," Riley said. "A little bit like a Google search — you’ve got your question, you’re asking Google, you plug it into the database, and it turns up you’ve got a bat, and you have this kind of bat.”

賴利說：“有一個大數據庫具有並非每種動物而是大多數物種的DNA序列，因此我們可以將我們從這些樣品中獲得的DNA序列與數據庫中的內容進行比較。” “有問題，您正在問Google，將其插入數據庫中，結果您有一隻蝙蝠，並且有這樣的蝙蝠。”

Kristen Lear, of the conservation group, said the collection of eDNA has been used successfully for determining the presence of other kinds of wildlife in various environments, so the group proposed trying it with bats.

保護小組的克里斯汀·李爾（Kristen Lear）表示，埃德納（Edna）的收集已成功地用於確定各種野生動植物在各種環境中的存在，因此該小組提出與蝙蝠進行嘗試。

“They do apparently leave behind a lot of spit on these plants and hummingbird feeders,” Lear said.

李爾說：“他們顯然在這些植物和蜂鳥餵食器上留下了很多吐口水。”

ONeil reported from Las Vegas. Gabriel Sandoval, a corps member for the Associated Press/ Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, in Phoenix contributed to this report.

從拉斯維加斯報導了Oneil。鳳凰城的美國州立新聞新聞倡議的兵團/報告的軍團成員加布里埃爾·桑多瓦爾（Gabriel Sandoval）為這份報告做出了貢獻。