万物简史 第524期:丰富多彩的生命(20)

 In principle you ought to be able to go to experts in each area of specialization, ask how many species there are in their fields, then add the totals. 原则上，我们可以去找一找每个专门领域的专家，问一问他们的领域里有多少个物种，然后加起来得出个总数。

Many people have in fact done so. 许多人实际上也是那么做了。

The problem is that seldom do any two come up with matching figures. 问题在于，任何两者得出的总数很少吻合。

Some sources put the number of known types of fungi¹ at 70,000, others at 100,000 — nearly half as many again. 有的得出的己知真菌有7万种，有的得出的是10万种——相差了将近50%。

You can find confident assertions that the number of described earthworm species is 4,000 and equally confident assertions that the figure is 12,000. 你可以找到很有把握的断言称已被描述过的蚯蚓是4000种，也可以找到同样很有把握的断言说是12000种。

For insects, the numbers run from 750,000 to 950,000 species. 就昆虫而言，数量在75万-95万种不等。

These are, you understand, supposedly the known number of species. 你知道，这一些是根据推测而已知的物种数量。

For plants, the commonly accepted numbers range from 248,000 to 265,000. 至于植物，公认的数量是248000-265000种之间。

That may not seem too vast a discrepancy², but it's more than twenty times the number of flowering plants in the whole of North America. 这个误差似乎不算很大，却是整个北美的有花植物数量的20倍以上。

Putting things in order is not the easiest of tasks. 把东西整理得有条不紊不是一件很容易的事。

In the early 1960s, Colin Groves³ of the Australian National University began a systematic⁴ survey of the 250-plus known species of primate⁵. 20世纪60年代初，澳大利亚国立大学的科林·格罗夫斯开始系统研究250多种已知的灵长目动物。

Oftentimes it turned out that the same species had been described more than once, 结果发现，同一种动物往往被描述了两次以上，

sometimes several times, without any of the discoverers realizing that they were dealing⁶ with an animal that was already known to science. 有时候是七次，而那位发现者还不知道自己在研究的动物在科学界早已知道。

It took Groves four decades to untangle everything, and that was with a comparatively small group of easily distinguished⁷, generally noncontroversial creatures. 格罗夫斯花了40年时间才把这一切整理出来，那还是个比较小的群的动物，而且容易区分，总的来说也没有争议。

 

1 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

2 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

3 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

4 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

5 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。