Scientists hail stunning fossil 科学家发现完美化石
文章来源: 文章作者: 发布时间:2009-05-20 00:29 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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The beautifully preserved remains1 of a 47-million-year-old, lemur-like creature have been unveiled in the US.

美国发现完美保存的470万年的类似狐猴的动物化石。

 

The preservation2(保存) is so good, it is possible to see the outline of its fur and even traces of its last meal.

The fossil, nicknamed Ida, is claimed to be a "missing link" between today's higher primates3 - monkeys, apes and humans - and more distant relatives.

But some independent experts, awaiting an opportunity to see the new fossil, are sceptical of the claim.

And they have been critical of the hype(大肆宣传,炒作) surrounding the presentation of Ida.

The fossil was launched amid great fanfare4(喇叭或号角嘹亮的吹奏声) at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, by the city's mayor.

Although details of the fossil have only just been published in a scientific journal - PLoS One - there is already a TV documentary and book tie-in(搭卖的).

Ida was discovered in the 1980s in a fossil treasure-trove(埋藏于底下的宝藏) called Messel Pit, near Darmstadt in Germany. For much of the intervening period, it has been in a private collection.

The investigation5 of the fossil's significance was led by Jorn Hurum of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway.

He said the fossil creature was "the closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor" and described the discovery as "a dream come true".

The female animal lived during an epoch6(纪元,时代) in Earth history known as the Eocene, which was crucial for the development of early primates - and at first glance, Ida resembles a lemur(狐猴).

But the creature lacks primitive7 features such as a so-called "toothcomb", a specialised feature in which the lower incisor(门牙) and canine8 teeth(尖牙) are elongated9(细长的), crowded together and projecting forward. She also lacks a special claw used for grooming10(修饰).

The team concluded that she was not simply another lemur, but a new species. They have called her Darwinius masillae, to celebrate her place of origin and the bicentenary(二百周年纪念) of the birth of Charles Darwin.

Dr Jens Franzen, an expert on the Messel Pit and a member of the team, described Ida as "like the Eighth Wonder of the World", because of the extraordinary completeness of the skeleton(骨架,纲要).

It was information "palaeontologists can normally only dream of", he said.

In addition, Ida bears "a close resemblance to ourselves" he said, with nails instead of claws, a grasping hand and an opposable(可相对的) thumb - like humans and some other primates. But he said some aspects of the teeth indicate she is not a direct ancestor - more of an "aunt" than a "grandmother".

"She belongs to the group from which higher primates and human beings developed but my impression is she is not on the direct line."

Independent experts are keen to see the new fossil but somewhat sceptical of any claim that it could be "a missing link".

Dr Henry Gee11, a senior editor at the journal Nature, said the term itself was misleading and that the scientific community would need to evaluate its significance.

"It's extremely nice to have a new find and it will be well-studied," he said. But he added that it was not likely to be in the same league as major discoveries such as "Flores man" or feathered dinosaurs12.

Dr Chris Beard, curator(管理者) of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and author of The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey, said he was "awestruck(充满敬畏之心的)" by the publicity13 machine surrounding the new fossil.

He argued that it could damage the popularisation of science if the creature was not all that it was hyped up to be.

Dr Beard has not yet seen scientific details of the find but said that it would be very nice to have a beautiful new fossil from the Eocene and that Ida would be "a welcome new addition" to the world of early primates.

But he added: "I would be absolutely dumbfounded(惊呆的) if it turns out to be a potential ancestor to humans."

In the PLoS paper itself, the scientists do not actually claim the specimen14 represents a direct ancestor to us. But Dr Hurum believes that is exactly what Ida is.

He told BBC News that the key to proving this lay in the detail of the foot. The shape of a bone in the foot called the talus(趾骨) looks "almost anthropoid(像人类的,类人猿的)".

He said the team was now planning a 3D reconstruction15 of the foot which would prove this.

"We're not finished with this specimen yet," said Dr Hurum. "There will be plenty more papers coming out."



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 preservation glnzYU     
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持
参考例句:
  • The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
  • The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。
3 primates 9536f12c27d026e37c108bd6fc53dbba     
primate的复数
参考例句:
  • Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
  • Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。
4 fanfare T7by6     
n.喇叭;号角之声;v.热闹地宣布
参考例句:
  • The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
  • A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。
5 investigation MRKzq     
n.调查,调查研究
参考例句:
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
6 epoch riTzw     
n.(新)时代;历元
参考例句:
  • The epoch of revolution creates great figures.革命时代造就伟大的人物。
  • We're at the end of the historical epoch,and at the dawn of another.我们正处在一个历史时代的末期,另一个历史时代的开端。
7 primitive vSwz0     
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物
参考例句:
  • It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
  • His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。
8 canine Lceyb     
adj.犬的,犬科的
参考例句:
  • The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
  • Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。
9 elongated 6a3aeff7c3bf903f4176b42850937718     
v.延长,加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Modigliani's women have strangely elongated faces. 莫迪里阿尼画中的妇女都长着奇长无比的脸。
  • A piece of rubber can be elongated by streching. 一块橡皮可以拉长。 来自《用法词典》
10 grooming grooming     
n. 修饰, 美容,(动物)梳理毛发
参考例句:
  • You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
  • We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。
11 gee ZsfzIu     
n.马;int.向右!前进!,惊讶时所发声音;v.向右转
参考例句:
  • Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
  • Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇!我们会赚好多钱啦!
12 dinosaurs 87f9c39b9e3f358174d58a584c2727b4     
n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 );守旧落伍的人,过时落后的东西
参考例句:
  • The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 publicity ASmxx     
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告
参考例句:
  • The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
  • He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事,只当它是一种宣传手法。
14 specimen Xvtwm     
n.样本,标本
参考例句:
  • You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
  • This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。
15 reconstruction 3U6xb     
n.重建,再现,复原
参考例句:
  • The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后,该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
  • In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期,技术决定一切。
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