万物简史 第644期:永不安分的类人猿(5)

The traditional theory to explain human movements—and the one still accepted by the majority of people in the field—is that humans dispersed¹ across Eurasia in two waves. The first wave consisted of Homo erectus, who left Africa remarkably² quickly—almost as soon as they emerged as a species—beginning nearly two million years ago. Over time, as they settled in different regions, these early erects³ further evolved into distinctive⁴ types—into Java Man and Peking Man in Asia, and Homo heidelbergensis and finally Homo neanderthalensis in Europe.

解释人类迁移的传统理论——现在仍为该领域内大多数人所接受的那种理论——认为人类迁移至欧亚大陆出现过两次浪潮。第一次是直立人，他们以不可思议的速度走出非洲——几乎是他们一成为人种就已开始了——这次迁移开始于大约200万年前。他们在不同地区定居下来，这些早期的直立人后来进化成一些有自己特色的人科动物——在亚洲成了爪哇人和北京人；在欧洲先是进化成海德堡人，最后是尼安德特人。

Then, something over a hundred thousand years ago, a smarter, lither species of creature— the ancestors of every one of us alive today—arose on the African plains and began radiating outward in a second wave. Wherever they went, according to this theory, these new Homo sapiens displaced their duller, less adept⁵ predecessors⁶. Quite how they did this has always been a matter of disputation. No signs of slaughter⁷ have ever been found, so most authorities believe the newer hominids simply outcompeted the older ones, though other factors may also have contributed. "Perhaps we gave them smallpox," suggests Tattersall. "There's no real way of telling. The one certainty is that we are here now and they aren't."

接着，大约在10万多年前，一个更为灵巧的种属——我们现在活着的每个人的祖先——出现在非洲平原上，并且开始向外迁移，出现了第二次浪潮。根据这一理论，在他们所到之处，这些新的智人取代了他们较为愚钝、不大灵活的祖先。但是他们究竟是怎样做到这一点的，学术界一直争论不休。没有任何屠杀的迹象，因此大多数专家认为，后来者是在竞争中淘汰了先到者，尽管其他因素也可能起了作用。“也许我们让他们感染了天花，”塔特萨尔说，“真的说不准。有一点可以肯定的是，现在我们在这里，而他们不在了。”

1 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

2 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

3 erects   

v.使直立，竖起( erect的第三人称单数 )；建立

参考例句：

• You're at present on a different footing-property erects a kind of barrier. 你现在的地位不同了--财产已在你周围建立起一道屏障。 来自互联网
• When oneself small JJ erects, not be too hard, how to do? 自己的小JJ勃起时不是太硬，怎么办？ 来自互联网

4 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

5 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

6 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。