Chimpanzees have much cleaner beds - with fewer bodily bacteria - than humans do, scientists have found.

科学家们近日发现，相较于人类，大猩猩的床细菌更少，更干净。

A study comparing swabs taken from chimp nests with those from human beds found that people's sheets and mattresses harboured far more bacteria from their bodies than the animals' beds did from theirs.

研究员们分别从黑猩猩的窝和人类的床铺上采取了样本进行比较，研究发现，人类床单和床垫上的细菌要远远多于黑猩猩窝里的。

The researchers say their findings suggest that our attempts to create clean environments for ourselves may actually make our surroundings “less ideal”.

相关人员称，结果表明我们往往想要创立一个清洁的环境，但这往往会适得其反。

More than a third – 35 per cent - of the bacteria in human beds comes from our own saliva, skin and faecal particles.

超过三分之一的细菌来自于唾液、皮肤以及粪便残渣。

By contrast, chimps - humans’ closest evolutionary relatives - appear to sleep with few such bacteria.

相反，黑猩猩——人类的近亲，它们周边的细菌反而更少。

“We found almost none of those microbes in the chimpanzee nests, which was a little surprising," said Megan Thoemmes, lead author of the paper.

论文领头人Thoemmes称：“令人惊讶的是，我们发现黑猩猩的窝里根本没有这些细菌。”

The researchers collected samples from 41 chimpanzee beds - or nests - in Tanzania and tested them for microbial biodiversity.

本次实验采取了41个坦桑尼亚黑猩猩的样本，并检测了它们身上的微生物数量。

At 15 primates' nests, researchers also used vacuums to find out whether there were arthropods, such as insects, spiders, mites and ticks.

研究还抽取了15个黑猩猩，用吸尘器检查它们的巢穴中是否诸如昆虫、蜘蛛、螨虫、虱子等节肢动物.

"We also expected to see a significant number of arthropod parasites, but we didn't," said Ms Thoemmes.

“我们原以为会看到大量的节支寄生物，然而结果并非如此。”

In addition, the team were shocked to find very few fleas, lice and bed bugs – ectoparasites – in the chimp nests.

另外，团队还惊讶于他们在黑猩猩的窝里只找到了数量很少的虱子、跳蚤以及虫子。

Although they sleep surrounded by fewer bodily bacteria, chimps had a more diverse range of other natural bacteria from their leafy surroundings, the research found.

尽管黑猩猩睡觉之处细菌很少，然而由于居住的环境的限制，在其他场合它们仍旧会沾上其他各种各样的细菌。

Ms Thoemmes said she believes human's susceptibility to autoimmune diseases and allergies could be linked to these differences.

Thoemmes 女士称她认为这些不同与人类自免疫系统的敏感性以及过敏反应息息相关。