|
TED英语演讲课 给心灵放个假吧 狗狗是人类的好朋友。 今天给大家带来狗的进化史。 Since their emergence over 200,000 years ago, 自从他们在20万多年前出现以来， modern humans have established homes and communities all over the planet. 现代人在世界各地建立了家园和社区。 But they didn't do it alone. 但他们不是一个人干的。 Whatever corner of the globe you find homo sapiens in today, 不管你今天在地球的哪个角落都能找到智人， you're likely to find another species nearby: Canis lupus familiaris. 你很可能在附近发现另一个物种：家族性红斑狼疮。 Whether they're herding, hunting, sledding, 不管他们是在放牧，打猎，滑雪橇， or slouching the sheer variety of domestic dogs is staggering. 或者懒洋洋地养着各种各样的家犬是令人震惊的。 But what makes the story of man's best friend so surprising is that they all evolved from a creature often seen as one of our oldest rivals: Canis lupus, 但是，人类最好的朋友的故事之所以如此令人惊讶，是因为它们都是从一种通常被视为我们最古老的对手之一的生物进化而来的：Canis lupus， or the gray wolf. 或者灰狼。 When our Paleolithic ancestors first settled Eurasia roughly 100,000 years ago, 当我们旧石器时代的祖先在大约十万年前首次定居欧亚大陆时， wolves were one of their main rivals at the top of the food chain. 狼是它们在食物链顶端的主要竞争对手之一。 Able to exert over 300 lbs. 能够发力超过300磅。 of pressure in one bone-crushing bite and sniff out prey more than a mile away, 在一次压骨咬下的压力下嗅出一英里外的猎物， these formidable predators didn't have much competition. 这些可怕的掠食者没有太多的竞争对手。 Much like human hunter-gatherers, 就像人类狩猎采集者一样， they lived and hunted in complex social groups consisting of a few nuclear families, 他们生活在由少数核心家庭组成的复杂社会群体中， and used their social skills to cooperatively take down larger creatures. 用他们的社交技巧来合作消灭更大的生物。 Using these group tactics, 运用这些集体战术， they operated as effective persistence hunters, 他们是有效的持久战猎人， relying not on outrunning their prey, 不依赖于逃避猎物， but pursuing it to the point of exhaustion. 但一直追到精疲力竭的地步。 But when pitted against the similar strengths of their invasive new neighbors, 但当他们与入侵的新邻居的相似优势相提并论时， wolves found themselves at a crossroads. 狼发现自己正处在十字路口。 For most packs, 对大多数人来说， these bourgeoning bipeds represented a serious threat to their territory. 这些两足动物对其领土构成严重威胁。 But for some wolves, 但对一些狼来说， especially those without a pack, 尤其是那些没有背包的人， human camps offered new opportunities. 人类营地提供了新的机会。 Wolves that showed less aggression towards humans could come closer to their encampments, 对人类攻击较少的狼可能会靠近他们的营地， feeding on leftovers. 吃剩下的东西。 And as these more docile scavengers outlasted their aggressive brethren, 当这些更温顺的食腐动物的生存时间超过了他们那些好斗的同胞， their genetic traits were passed on, 他们的遗传特征被遗传了， gradually breeding tamer wolves in areas near human populations. 在人类种群附近逐渐繁殖驯狼。 Over time humans found a multitude of uses for these docile wolves. 随着时间的推移，人类发现了这些温顺的狼的多种用途。 They helped to track and hunt prey, 他们帮助追踪和捕猎猎物， and might have served as sentinels to guard camps and warn of approaching enemies. 并可能充当守卫营地的哨兵，并警告即将到来的敌人。 Their similar social structure made it easy to integrate with human families and learn to understand their commands. 他们相似的社会结构使得他们很容易融入人类家庭，学会理解他们的命令。 Eventually they moved from the fringes of our communities into our homes, 最后他们从我们社区的边缘搬到了我们的家， becoming humanity's first domesticated animal. 成为人类第一只驯养的动物。 The earliest of these Proto-Dogs or Wolf-Dogs, 最早的这些原始狗或狼狗， seem to have appeared around 33,000 years ago, 似乎是在三万三千年前出现的， and would not have looked all that different from their wild cousins. 也不会看上去和他们的野生表兄弟有那么大的不同。 They were primarily distinguished by their smaller size and a shorter snout full of comparatively smaller teeth. 它们的主要区别在于体型较小，鼻子较短，牙齿相对较小。 But as human cultures and occupations became more diverse and specialized, 但随着人类文化和职业的多样化和专业化， so did our friends. 我们的朋友也是。 Short stocky dogs to herd livestock by nipping their heels; elongated dogs to flush badgers and foxes out of burrows; thin and sleek dogs for racing; and large, 短而壮的狗咬着脚后跟放养牲畜；拉长的狗把獾和狐狸赶出洞穴；细长的狗用来比赛；大的， muscular dogs for guard duty. 肌肉发达的狗当警卫。 With the emergence of kennel clubs and dog shows during England's Victorian era, 随着英国维多利亚时代狗窝俱乐部和狗展的出现， these dog types were standardized into breeds, 这些类型的狗被标准化为品种， with many new ones bred purely for appearance. 有许多新的纯粹是为了外表而培育的。 Sadly, while all dog breeds are the product of artificial selection, 可悲的是，虽然所有的狗品种都是人工选择的产物， some are healthier than others. 有些人比其他更健康。 Many of these aesthetic characteristics come with congenital health problems, 许多这些美学特征都有先天的健康问题， such as difficulty breathing or being prone to spinal injuries. 如呼吸困难或易受脊柱损伤。 Humanity's longest experiment in controlled evolution has had other side effects as well. 人类最长的受控进化实验也有其他副作用。 Generations of selection for tameness have favored more juvenile and submissive traits that were pleasing to humans. 几代人选择驯服，有利于更多的幼稚和顺从的特点，是令人高兴的。 This phenomenon of selecting traits associated with youth is known as neoteny, 这种选择与青年有关的特性的现象被称为新特性， and can be seen in many domestic animals. 可以在许多家畜身上看到。 Thousands of years of co-evolution may even have bonded us chemically. 几千年的共同进化甚至可能将我们联系在一起。 Not only can canines understand our emotions and body language, 狗不仅能理解我们的情感和肢体语言， but when dogs and humans interact, 但当狗和人类互动时， both our bodies release oxytocin; a hormone commonly associated with feelings of love and protectiveness. 我们的身体都释放催产素；一种通常与爱和保护感相关的激素。 It might be difficult to fathom how every Pomeranian, Chihuahua, 很难弄清楚每一个波美拉尼亚人，吉娃娃， and Poodle are descended from fierce wolves. 狮子狗是凶猛的狼的后代。 But the diversity of breeds today is the result of a relationship that precedes cities, agriculture, 但今天品种的多样性是城市、农业之间关系的结果， and even the disappearance of our Neanderthal cousins. 甚至我们尼安德特人表亲的失踪。 And it's heartening to know that given enough time, 如果有足够的时间， even our most dangerous rivals can become our fiercest friends. 即使是最危险的对手也能成为我们最凶猛的朋友。 |
|
|
