美国国家公共电台 NPR--A sweeping new study sheds light on butterflies' origins

A sweeping¹ new study sheds light on butterflies' origins

Transcript²

A new study finds that butterflies probably originated in North or Central America around 100 million years ago. (Story originally aired on All Things Considered on May 15, 2023.)

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Where do butterflies come from? A sweeping new study gives us an answer. Here's science reporter Ari Daniel.

ARI DANIEL, BYLINE³: Akito Kawahara remembers the moment his butterfly collection began. He was 8 years old, standing⁴ beside his dad in a neighborhood in Tokyo.

AKITO KAWAHARA: And this unusual brown butterfly sort of lands near the road. I was like, oh, my gosh. I've read about these things, but I've never caught one. So my hands were trembling. I had my butterfly net in my hand. I ran up to it, and I caught it.

DANIEL: Kawahara split his childhood between Tokyo and New York, where, later that same year, his dad secured a special tour of the insect collection at the American Museum of Natural History.

KAWAHARA: There was this picture of this family tree of butterflies. I remember there was a couple of question marks in different places - just looking at it, realizing that scientists at these museums still don't know these basic things. I'll never forget that day.

DANIEL: Kawahara went on to become the curator of butterflies and moths⁵ at the University of Florida, and those questions of where butterflies first emerged, how they evolved and spread across the world, have only grown in importance to him.

KAWAHARA: There's a lot of butterflies right now that are threatened. And understanding how these butterflies are related to each other - it serves as a framework to help us conserve⁶ them.

DANIEL: And conserve the flowers and plants that rely on butterfly pollination⁷. So to piece together that family tree, Kawahara worked with close to 90 colleagues from six continents to collect DNA⁸ from all kinds of butterflies.

KAWAHARA: I felt like I was a kid all over again.

DANIEL: He nabbed a yellow sulphur butterfly right outside his office in Florida, but he went way farther than that - the Andes, the Amazon rainforest, the dry savannas⁹ of Mozambique, back to Tokyo. All he and his team needed was a tiny portion of one of each butterfly's six legs.

KAWAHARA: So it's not harmful, and oftentimes we can release the butterfly, and the butterfly's still OK.

DANIEL: The bulk of the butterflies they studied were pinned specimens¹⁰ in museum collections. All told, they analyzed¹¹ the DNA from 92% of all butterfly groups, which allowed them to zero in on where butterflies began some hundred million years ago.

KAWAHARA: People had thought that butterflies originated somewhere in Asia, but we were surprised to find out that it's likely North or Central America.

DANIEL: Dispersing¹² in waves across Asia, Australia, India, Africa and finally Europe, forming the kaleidoscope of 19,000 butterfly species we know today. This work's published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. Adriana Briscoe, an evolutionary¹³ biologist at UC Irvine who wasn't involved in the research, says it'll be worth analyzing¹⁴ the few remaining groups of butterflies.

ADRIANA BRISCOE: These missing groups might help pinpoint¹⁵ exactly where in the Americas butterflies originated.

DANIEL: She has another reason for being excited about these findings.

BRISCOE: Butterflies were sacred to the ancient people of Mesoamerica. They were thought to be the souls of ancestors.

DANIEL: For Akito Kawahara, the ancestor who's front of mind is his dad, of course, who he told about this project right as it was beginning in 2014.

KAWAHARA: He told me, that's wonderful, and he wished me luck.

DANIEL: That was the last time they spoke¹⁶. He died two days later. Kawahara says one way he remembers his dad is through his butterfly collection, which now has 20,000 specimens.

KAWAHARA: It's kind of like your diary. It's really touching¹⁷.

DANIEL: Each butterfly is a memory for Kawahara, a moment in time where he can stand beside his dad once again.

For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.

(SOUNDBITE OF JASON MRAZ SONG, "BUTTERFLY")

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

7 pollination   

n.授粉

参考例句：

• The flowers get pollination by insects.这些花通过昆虫授粉。
• Without sufficient pollination,the growth of the corn is stunted.没有得到充足的授粉，谷物的长势就会受阻。

8 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

9 savannas   

n.（美国东南部的）无树平原( savanna的名词复数 )；（亚）热带的稀树大草原

参考例句：

• Therefore the jungles and the savannas know of no juvenile delinquency! 因此，丛林和荒原里没有“少年犯罪。” 来自辞典例句
• My soul flits away into the virgin forests and to the savannas. 我的灵魂飞向森林中的处女地和广漠的平原。 来自互联网

10 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 dispersing   

adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Whereas gasoline fumes linger close to the ground before dispersing. 而汽油烟气却靠近地面迟迟不散。
• Earthworms may be instrumental in dispersing fungi or bacteria. 蚯蚓可能是散布真菌及细菌的工具。

13 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

14 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

15 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。