万物简史 第477期:生命在前进(19)

 　　The Burgess creatures, they believed, weren't as strange and various as they appeared at first sight. 他们认为，布尔吉斯动物群并不像初看起来那么古怪，那么多种多样。

　　"They were often no stranger than trilobites," Fortey says now. “它们往往不比三叶虫更古怪，”福泰这时候说，

　　"It is just that we have had a century or so to get used to trilobites. Familiarity, you know, breeds familiarity." “问题仅仅在于，我们已经花了一个多世纪来习惯于三叶虫。你要知道，熟悉了，也就不觉得怪了。”

　　This wasn't, I should note, because of sloppiness¹ or inattention. 我应当指出，这不是因为马虎或不重视。

　　Interpreting the forms and relationships of ancient animals on the basis of often distorted and fragmentary evidence is clearly a tricky² business. 根据往往是变了形的和支离破碎的证据来解释古代动物的形态和关系，显然是一件很难办的事。

　　Edward O. Wilson has noted³ that if you took selected species of modern insects and presented them as Burgess-style fossils 爱德华·O·威尔逊指出，要是你挑选几种现代昆虫，把它们充作布尔吉斯化石，

　　nobody would ever guess that they were all from the same phylum, so different are their body plans. 那么谁也猜不着它们都是属于同一门的，因为它们的体形横剖面是如此不同。

　　Also instrumental in helping⁴ revisions were the discoveries of two further early Cambrian sites, 现在，又发现了两处寒武纪初期的遗址，

　　one in Greenland and one in China, plus more scattered⁵ finds, which between them yielded many additional and often better specimens⁶. 一处在格陵兰，一处在中国，再加上一些零星的发现，又获得了许多往往是更好的标本，这些对重新分类也是很有利的。

　　The upshot is that the Burgess fossils were found to be not so different after all. 结果发现，布尔吉斯化石并非差别很大。

　　Hallucigenia, it turned out, had been reconstructed upside down. 原来，致幻虫在修复过程中给颠倒了。

　　Its stilt-like legs were actually spikes⁷ along its back. 它的高跷似的腿实际上是它背部的刺。

　　Peytoia, the weird⁸ creature that looked like a pineapple slice, 这种样子像一片菠萝的怪物被发现并不是一种与众不同的动物，

　　was found to be not a distinct creature but merely part of a larger animal called Anomalocaris. 只是一种名叫纹花虾的较大动物的组成部分。

1 sloppiness   

n.草率，粗心

参考例句：

• The choice of Sarah Palin epitomised the sloppiness. 选择佩琳作为竞选伙伴凸显草率。 来自互联网
• He chided the boy for his sloppiness. 它责怪这男孩粗心大意。 来自互联网

2 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

6 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》

7 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。