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万物简史 第631期:神秘的两足动物(9)

时间:2019-11-08 08:52:29

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(单词翻译)

Some continue to observe the two hominid genera suggested by Howell in 1960, but others place some of the australopithecines in a separate genus called Paranthropus , and still others add an earlier group called Ardipithecus. Some put praegens into Australopithecus and some into a new classification, Homo antiquus, but most don't recognize praegens as a separate species at all. There is no central authority that rules on these things. The only way a name becomes accepted is by consensus1, and there is often very little of that.

有的专家继续按照豪威尔于1960年提出的两大属人科动物来进行研究,但是有的将某些南方古猿单独列属,并冠以傍人属的名称,还有的又增加了一个年代更早的地猿。有的人将praegens归于南方古猿,有的人将其归人新的古人种。但是大多数人根本不承认praegens是一个单独的种。没有任何一个众望所归的权威来统一大家的意见,一个名称为大家所接受的惟一途径是所有人都不持异议,可是这往往很难得以实现。

A big part of the problem, paradoxically, is a shortage of evidence. Since the dawn of time, several billion human (or humanlike) beings have lived, each contributing a little genetic2 variability to the total human stock. Out of this vast number, the whole of our understanding of human prehistory is based on the remains3, often exceedingly fragmentary, of perhaps five thousand individuals. "You could fit it all into the back of a pickup4 truck if you didn't mind how much you jumbled5 everything up," Ian Tattersall, the bearded and friendly curator of anthropology6 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, replied when I asked him the size of the total world archive of hominid and early human bones.

然而在更大的程度上,问题的症结还在于证据的缺乏。这是自相矛盾的。自从人类起源以来,有几十亿人(或类人动物)曾经生活过,每一个都把一点儿不同的基因遗传给整个人类。在数量如此巨大的人类当中,我们对于史前人类的了解凭借的仅仅是5000人左右的往往是极其支离破碎的遗骸。当我问纽约美国自然史博物馆馆员伊恩·塔特萨尔,全世界已发现的有关人科动物和早期人类的化石总量是多少时,这位留着一脸大胡子,待人亲切和善的馆员这样说:“如果你不怕弄得一团槽,你可以把它们通通装在一辆小卡车的后部。”


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1 consensus epMzA     
n.(意见等的)一致,一致同意,共识
参考例句:
  • Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗?
  • What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么?
2 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
3 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
4 pickup ANkxA     
n.拾起,获得
参考例句:
  • I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。
5 jumbled rpSzs2     
adj.混乱的;杂乱的
参考例句:
  • Books, shoes and clothes were jumbled together on the floor. 书、鞋子和衣服胡乱堆放在地板上。
  • The details of the accident were all jumbled together in his mind. 他把事故细节记得颠三倒四。
6 anthropology zw2zQ     
n.人类学
参考例句:
  • I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
  • Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

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