Why wombats produce square-shaped droppings 袋熊拉的便便为什么是方形的

谷战峰

1 Wombats are the only creature on the earth that poops cubes. To animal experts， they have been a mystery for a very long time. Now， researchers say they have uncovered how the wombat creates their unusually-shaped excrement（粪便）.

2 Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology first started studying the wombat's ability to poop cubes back in 2018. They compared their intestines（肠） to those of pigs. They inserted a balloon into the animals' digestive tracts to see how they stretched to fit the balloon and found regions of varied thickness and stiffness.

3 Scientists then created a 2D mathematical model to copy how these intestine regions contract and expand with the rhythms of digestion， shaping the poop into its cuboid shape. Softer intestinal regions squeeze slowly and mold （塑造） the final corners of the cube over multiple days. Interestingly， in most mammals， the contractions （收缩） of intestinal muscles occur in all directions， but in wombats， the grooved （有沟的;有槽的） tissue and irregular contractions shape the poop differently.

4 While this research may seem completely meaningless， or just meant to satisfy human curiosity， the scientists involved in the study say that these new findings could have a big impact on human digestive health research and manufacturing technology. It would be a cool method to apply to the manufacturing process， how to make a cube with soft tissue instead of just molding it.

5 Now that the mystery of how wombats produce cuboid poop seems to have been solved， that only leaves the “why”. Scientists have some theories about this as well. One states that because wombats pick up their poop and pile it as a way of communicating between them， the cuboid shape helps them build higher poop towers.

6 Another theory claims that because wombats tend to use their poop to mark their controlled land on rocks and logs， the cuboid shape of the excrement ensures that it won't simply roll off.

Reading  Check

Choose the best answers according to the text.

Detail 1. What makes wombats' excrement so particular？

A. Its shape. B. Its smell.

C. Its hardness. D. Its ingredient.

Detail 2. How did the scientists start the research in 2018？

A. By analyzing data. B. By studying examples.

C. By recording activities. D. By making comparison.

Inference 3. What can be inferred according to paragraph 3？

A. A 2D mathematical model was applied in the research.

B. The poop was into its cuboid shape within several hours.

C. The intestinal muscles of wombats contract in all directions.

D. Detailed formation of cuboid poop was recorded in the research.

Detail 4. How many possible reasons for cuboid poop are mentioned in the text？

A. 2. B. 3. C. 4. D. 5.

Language  Study

Discover the difficult sentence in the text

While this research may seem completely meaningless， or just meant to satisfy human curiosity， the scientists involved in the study say that these new findings could have a big impact on human digestive health research and manufacturing technology. 盡管这项研究似乎毫无意义，或者只是为了满足人们的好奇心，但参与研究的科学家们说这些新的发现可能会对人类消化健康的研究和制造技术有很大的影响。

【点石成金】句中While引导的是一个让步状语从句，意为“尽管”;the scientists involved...manufacturing technology为主句部分。involved in the study相当于who were involved in the study，为过去分词短语作后置定语;that引导的是一个宾语从句。