新闻周刊:人类食用太多鸡肉已改变地球生物圈(2)

“Chicken is the most commonly eaten meat worldwide, and their bones are components¹ of household trash,” Bennett told Newsweek. “Industrial broiler (meat chicken) farms are spread around the world, and chickens are also buried at these sites.

“鸡肉是世界上最常见的肉类，其骨头是家庭垃圾的组成部分，”贝内特在接受《新闻周刊》采访时说道。“世界各地都有工业肉用鸡农场，鸡也埋在这些地方。

“The significance of the post-mid-20th century chicken is that it is the first really good example we have of what palaeontologists call a new 'morphospecies'—that is a distinctive² kind of skeleton that can be identified as a fossil—that appeared in the Anthropocene i.e. post-1950, and in that time became hugely abundant pretty well around the world. In the future, humans will find and use chickens as a marker—or index species—of our age.

“20世纪中期以后的鸡的意义在于，它是古生物学家所说的新‘形态物种’的第一个很好的例子——这是一种可以被确认为化石的独特的骨骼——出现在人类时代，即1950年后，在那个时候，世界各地人类都很活跃。未来，人类将发现并利用鸡作为我们这个时代的标记或索引物种。

"The broiler chicken, Bennett says, is now a symbol of how the biosphere³ is unrecognizable from its pre-human state. Chickens have become the most numerous terrestrial vertebrate species on the planet and their biology has been shaped by humans, making chicken “one of the most striking examples of our age,” Bennett said.

贝内特说，这只肉用鸡现在是生物圈从其原始人类状态无法识别的一个象征。班尼特说，鸡已经成为地球上数量最多的陆生脊椎动物，它们的生理结构也受到了人类的影响，这使得鸡成为“我们这个时代最显著的例子之一”。

This dominance is unlikely to last, however. “While chicken consumption is very popular right now, a sign of change is that the world’s largest chicken producers—Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms—are now investing in plant-based proteins,” Bennett said. “Times are changing and people are looking for food that is better for the environment, as well as their wallet.”

然而，这种主导地位不太可能持续下去。班尼特说:“虽然鸡肉消费目前非常流行，但一个变化的迹象是，世界上最大的鸡肉生产商泰森食品公司和普渡农场正在投资于植物蛋白。”“时代在变，人们在寻找对环境更好的食物，也在寻找更实惠的食物。”

1 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

2 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。

3 biosphere   

n.生命层，生物圈

参考例句：

• The entire biosphere was becoming more transparent.整个生物圈越来越透明。
• The impact of modern technology on the biosphere is evident worldwide.现代技术对生物圈的影响在全世界是明显的。