VOA常速英语2016--研究人员对于狼犬分化确切时间产生分歧（在线收听）

研究人员对于狼犬分化确切时间产生分歧

Vizsla is one of nearly 200 breeds credited by the American Canal Club-a number that has grown through centuries up to selective breeding. At the beginning though, there was only one-the common ancestor of dogs and wolves.

维希拉猎犬是美国犬类俱乐部认可经过数个世纪选择繁衍生息而成近200种犬类的其中一种。而起源只有一种-那就是犬和狼的共同祖先。

"Previous studies have estimated that this common ancestor lived about 10 to 15 thousand years ago."

“早期的研究估测这位共同的祖先生活在10000至15000千年前。”

But on a pole expedition to Siberia, a research team discovered this Taimyr wolf bone. Lab tests say it's genetic history dates back to the last Ice Age.

但在一次前往西伯利亚的极地考察中，研究小组发现了这种泰米尔狼的骨骼。实验测试表明这种动物的基因可追溯至最后一次冰河时代。

“This wolf belonged to the population that was the last known common ancestor between wolves and dogs. And therefore we have to revise the timing of the split between wolves and dogs to at least 30,000 years ago.”

“这种狼是人们所知狼与犬的最后一代共同祖先。因此我们要修正狼与犬产生分化的时间，真正的分化时间至少是3万年以前。”

Or 20 cens long ago as thought.But did domestication and the evolutionary split happen at the same time?

或是人们所认为的20个世纪之前。但是人类将犬驯化及分化究竟是不是同时发生的？

Scientists worldwide are contributing to a massive database to find out.Greger Larson, at the University of Oxford, heads the project.

全世界的科学家们正致力于建立一个大型数据库寻找这个问题的答案。负责该项目的是牛津大学的格里格尔·拉尔森。

“We are focused more on getting data both genetic data and morphological data from 1,000, a couple of thousand ancient dogs and wolves going back 30,000 years or so across all the old world and new world in an effort trying to actually watch that process happen in wolves becoming dogs. The spread of genetic and morphometric signatures across time and space.”

“我们更专注于获取1000对可追溯至来自世界各地3万年前古老犬类和狼的基因及形态数据，试图观察由狼转变为犬类的过程。基因和形态特征的分布跨越了时间和空间。”

Dogs were the first domesticated animal of any kind. And Larson says they change the course of civilization.

犬类是最先被人类驯服的动物。拉尔森认为它们改变了人类文明的发展进程。

“So really, what it does is it kicks off this very new way that humans have of relating to the natural world. And there's an argument that says that if you don't have dogs, then there's a chance that the whole idea of domestication doesn't form for quite a while after that, and it delays anything else that happens after that, or it makes it not even possible.”

“真正意义上，人与自然产生联系的全新方式正是由此开始。还有人认为如果没有它们，人类的驯养很可能在那之后很长一段时间内可能都无法形成，而且之后的一系列进程都会推迟，甚至有可能不会发生。”

Larson expects to release a major study in the near future, and others with his collaborators during the next several years, using the common data.

拉尔森希望在不久的将来开展专项研究，以及在未来几年与合作者们共同分享这些数据。