Their short generation time is thus a crucial evolutionary adaptation.

因此，它们短暂的代时是飞铲关键的进化适应。

To survive, they race to maturity, with the shortest generation time of any vertebrate.

为了活下去，它们以脊椎动物中最短的代时争先恐后地长大成熟。

The other two factors that matter are the incubation period or the generation time.

另外两个重要的因素是潜伏期或世代时间。

And that was true even after controlling for other factors that could affect how quickly these birds are evolving, like generation time and mutation rate.

并且，即便控制世代寿命和突变率等能影响鸟类进化速度的因素，上述现象依然会出现。

Small mammals like rodents and rabbits, which are especially sensitive to environmental change and have short generation times, evolved rapidly as adaptations to run and burrow became more common.

啮齿动物和兔子等小型哺乳动物对环境变化特别敏感且世代时间短，随着对奔跑和挖洞的适应变得越来越普遍，它们迅速进化。