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　　The only animals that can truly fly are birds, insects, and one type of mammal, which is of course the bat. Other animals manage to travel through the air by gliding from great heights, or leaping from the depths.

　　真正可以飞的动物只有鸟类、昆虫还有一种哺乳动物——当然那就是蝙蝠。其他有些动物可以靠从高处向下滑翔或者从低处向上跳跃来在空中“飞行”。

　　 1.Flying Mobulas The mobula or devil ray is related to manta rays. They can grow up to 17 feet wide and ten feet long. These muscular fish can leap several feet out of the water, but no one is quite sure why they do it.

　　1. 飞行蝠鲼蝠鲼，也被称为“鬼鳐”，属于蝠鲼科。它们可以长到17 英尺宽（ 约为5.18 米）10 英尺长（ 约为3 米）。这些飞行蝠鲼可以跃出水面几英尺高，但没有人很确定它们为何这样做。

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　　2. Flying Lemurs Flying lemurs of the family Cynocephalidae are neither true lemurs, nor do they actually fly. They are also known by their Malaysian name, colugos. These mammals live in southeast Asia and are about the size of a house cat. Colugos glide between trees using their patagium, or flaps of skin between their front and hind legs and extending to the tail and the neck. Colugos are even webbed between their toes. The flying lemur is not a lemur, but the four species of Cynocephalidae are the closest related family to primates.

　　2. 鼯猴属于鼯猴科的鼯猴既不属美狐猴属，也不能真正飞行。它还以其马来语名字Colugo 被人所知。这些哺乳动物生活在东南亚地区，体型与家猫差不多。鼯猴利用它们的翼膜在树之间滑翔，该翼膜是它们前后肢之间并一直延伸到尾部和颈部的片状悬垂 物。鼯猴的趾间甚至都有膜。鼯猴并不是狐猴，但鼯猴科的四个物种是灵长类动物最近的亲戚。

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　　3. Flying Fish There are about 50 different species of flying fish, although they don’t fly so much as they leap from the water with a push of their powerful pectoral fins. Most of the species live in tropical waters. Fish have been observed skipping over the waves for as long as 45 seconds at a time. Why do they leap into the air? Possibly because air offers less resistance than water, and the fish can move faster. At least until they need to breathe.

　　3. 飞鱼世界上共有大约50 种不同种类的飞鱼，但它们其实并不是真正飞行，而是猛地推挤胸鳍跃出水面。多数种类的飞鱼生活在热带水域，它们曾被观察到在水面上一次性滑翔45 秒钟。为什么它们跳向空中？可能是因为空中比水中阻力小，因此它们可以移动得更快——至少可以滑翔至它们需要再次呼吸为止。

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　　4. Flying Snake The flying snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) lives in the rain forests of Southeast Asia. It has no patagium, but glides from the treetops by flattening its body out to maximize surface area. The snakes slither from side to side to glide in the desired direction. The idea of a flying snake may be terrifying, but these snakes are officially classified as “harmless”.

　　4. 飞蛇飞蛇（即天堂金花蛇）生活在东南亚的雨林中。它没有翼膜，但可以通过伸直身体来扩大体表面积跳出去在树顶间滑翔。飞蛇从一个树顶飞到另一个树顶，逐渐靠近自己希望去的方向。飞蛇这说法听起来可能挺吓人，但这些蛇被正式归类为“无害”。

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　　5. Flying Gecko The flying gecko lives in the Malaysian rain forest. The gecko has a patagium that allows it to parachute or glide down from its treetop home. Flying geckos are sometimes kept as pets.

　　 5. 飞行壁虎飞行壁虎生活在马来西亚的雨林中。这种壁虎拥有翼膜，可以让自己从树顶的巢降落或滑翔下去。有时候人们会把飞行壁虎当作宠物。

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　　Flying Frog Wallace’s flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) is found in Malaysia and Indonesia, where it lives high in the treetops. This frog has long webbed toes and a skin flap between its limbs Flying Gecko 6.which allows it to parachute down from treetops. The term “parachute” in this case refers to the fact that the animal floats downward at a steep angle, while other “gliding” animals can float to one side or another and change direction while gliding downward. Although Wallace’s flying frog prefer to live high up, they must descend to near ground level to mate and to lay eggs.

　　 6. 飞蛙据悉，华莱士飞蛙（黑掌树蛙）生活在马来西亚和印度尼西亚地区高高的树顶。这种蛙拥有长长的长有膜的脚趾，四肢之间也有扁平的皮肤悬垂物，这可以让它 们从树顶降落至地面。这里的“降落”是指它们可以以一个很大的角度下降，而那些可以“滑翔”的动物可以从一点漂浮到另一点，并且在向下漂浮的过程中可以改 变方向。虽然华莱士树蛙喜欢生活在高处，但它们必须下至靠近地面的地方交配产卵。

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　　7.Flying Squirrel Flying squirrels (Pteromyini) include 43 different species. They are native to North America, northern Europe, and Siberia. When they leap from a tall tree, a flying squirrel will spread its skin flaps until it resembles a kite or parachute. The squirrel can steer somewhat by moving its wrists and adjusting the tautness of its patagium.

　　7. 飞鼠飞鼠（即鼯鼠）包括43 个不同品种。它们原产于北美洲、欧洲北部和西伯利亚。当飞鼠从一棵高大的树上跃下时，它会展开皮肤悬垂，直到身体形成风筝或降落伞状。飞鼠可以通过活动腕关节及调整翼膜的松紧度来稍微改变滑翔方向。