Brittle stars like hiding in shady parts of the reef.

海蛇尾喜欢藏在礁石的阴暗处。

Brittle stars are close relatives of starfish with a much more delicate appearance.

海蛇尾是海星的近亲，但外表更为精致。

One of the brittle star species she studies, Ophiocoma wendtii, also has color-changing superpowers.

她研究其中一种海蛇尾Ophiocoma wendtii，其还拥有变色超能力。

Brittle stars and many parasites had ancestors with anuses, but no longer have them.

海蛇尾和许多寄生虫的祖先有肛门，但现在已经没有了。

Instead the brittle stars flocked towards the pattern-suggesting they have at least rudimentary visual skills.

相反，海蛇尾会向图案处聚集，这表明它们至少具有最基本的视觉技能。

The red brittle star measures up to about 35 centimeters wide, from the end of one arm to the other.

这只红蛇尾宽约35厘米，即从一只手臂的末端到另一只手臂的末端。

This group includes animals like starfishes, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins.

该组包括海星、海蛇尾、海参和海胆等动物。

Instead the brittle stars flocked towards the pattern—suggesting they have at least rudimentary visual skills.

相反，海蛇尾蜂拥而至，表明它们至少具有基本的视觉技能。

Today, starfishes and brittle stars are the most successful groups of echinoderms in terms of abundance, diversity, and geographic distribution.

今天，就数量、多样性和地理分布而言，海星和海蛇尾是最成功的棘皮动物类群。

In bright daylight, their redness filters the light reaching photoreceptors along their arms. Brittle stars like hiding in shady parts of the reef.

在明亮的日光下，它们的红色会过滤到达手臂上光感受器的光线。 海蛇尾喜欢躲在礁石的阴凉处。

The researchers reported this month that the starfish relative -- called the red brittle star -- is only the second creature known to be able to see without having eyes.

研究人员本月报告称，这种海星的近亲---红蛇尾---是已知的第二种没有眼睛也能看见东西的生物。

But now Sumner-Rooney's team has come up with a possible answer: that red coloration might help the brittle stars sort of see, even though they have no eyes.

但现在 Sumner-Rooney 的团队提出了一个可能的答案：红色可能有助于海蛇尾看东西，即使它们没有眼睛。

But starfishes and their skinny-armed cousins called the brittle stars made it through, along with a few crinoids, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins – the groups we still see today.

但是海星和它们被称为海蛇尾的瘦臂表亲以及一些海百合、海参和海胆——这些我们今天仍然能看到的群体——成功了。

Beginning about 240 million years ago, and continuing through the Late Triassic and Jurassic, starfishes diversified rapidly to become among the most common echinoderms, second only to the brittle stars.

从大约 2.4 亿年前开始，一直持续到晚三叠世和侏罗世，海星迅速多样化， 成为最常见的棘皮动物之一，仅次于海星。

Without true vision, the black-and-white-patterned area would simply come across as 50 percent gray, and you wouldn't expect the brittle stars to consider that part of the arena a good hiding place.

如果没有真正的视觉， 黑白图案的区域只会看起来只有 50% 的灰色，你不会指望海蛇星会认为竞技场的那部分是一个很好的藏身之处。

So the researchers placed the brittle stars in an environment with black-and-white-patterned walls, aimed at testing whether the creatures were simply light sensitive—which isn't the same as vision—or if they could truly see.

因此， 研究人员将海蛇尾置于具有黑白图案墙壁的环境中，旨在测试这些生物是否只是对光敏感——这与视觉不同——或者它们是否真的能看到东西。