How life came to land - Tierney Thys

Transcriber: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: xiao gu 校对人员: Cissy Yun

(Stories from the Sea: How Life Came to Land)

（来自海洋的故事：生命如何到达陆地）

Life for my kind wasn't always this way.

生命不总是像我现在过的这样

There was a time when no animals lived on land.

曾经没有动物能生活在陆地上

All life was in the ocean.

所有生命都在海洋中

The ocean's where all of us animals got our start,

海洋是一切生命的起源

more than half a billion years ago,

5亿年前

This is where all animal body types -- or phyla, as scientists call them -- first evolved.

科学家把所有动物按照身体种类分类成 ----“门”

You know, there are more than 30 animal phyla,

动物有30多种“门”

but only a handful of major ones had what it took to do something completely daring:

只有少数几种敢于冒险的“门”类

step out of the ocean, and on to dry land.

离开海洋，达到干燥的陆地

So, which of these land-dwelling phyla first invaded the land?

哪种“门”类首先登陆陆地呢？

Was it me and my mollusc friends, with our amazing mantles and single foot?

是我和我的软体动物朋友吗？ 我们有不可思议的外套膜和单足

Perhaps the chordate crowd, with their notochords, segmented muscles and big bony skeletons.

或许是脊索动物，有脊索，分节肌肉和干瘪大骨架

Or maybe those lowly annelid worms, with their powerful ringed bodies.

或许是卑微的多节蠕虫， 有着强大的环节身体

Or did the Arthropods first make landfall, with their little flexible suits of armor -- their exoskeleton?

或许是节肢动物，穿着适合他们的弹性小盔甲 ---他们的外骨骼，首先登陆陆地？

Ah, yes. The arthropods.

对了，就是节肢动物

From crustaceans to millipedes, spiders to insects,

从甲壳类到千足类，蜘蛛到昆虫

the arthropods outnumber all animals on land.

节肢动物数量超过陆地上所有动物

So what's their secret?

他们的秘密是什么？

Their exoskeleton is key, but here's the real kicker: jointed appendages.

外骨骼是关键 但更加核心的是： 关节肢

They're like little living Swiss army knives:

就像瑞士军刀：

antennae, multiple mouth parts, an obscene number of legs, if you ask me.

触角，多口器， 还有多的让人恶心的腿

There's one group of arthropods -- the insects --

节肢动物的一种----昆虫

that really rule the land.

真正统治了陆地

Three body parts, six legs, and an annoying tendency to take over.

3段式身体，6条腿和征服者野心

Sure, they have to molt to grow, but that doesn't seem to pose a problem.

当然，他们需要蜕皮来生长， 但是这些不成问题

The insects even invented the first wings, and conquered the skies.

昆虫甚至发明出第一对翅膀， 征服了天空

Ah, well. So what if arthropods were the first to reach land

节肢动物是第一个登陆陆地的

and invent flight, a hundred million years before the rest of us?

先于其他所有动物1000万年进化出翅膀，

So what if they pollinate crops around the world,

他们在世界各地授粉

and make up 75% of all land animal species?

占所有陆地动物种类的75%？

And that for every single human, there's 200 million of them?

每个人平均能分配到2亿只

Sure, those leggy arthropods may still be in the lead when it comes to conquering land,

这些多足的节肢动物征服陆地后，目前依然处于领先地位

but we still rule in the sea.

但是我们（软体动物）统治着海洋

There are more species of molluscs in the ocean than any other animal phylum.

海洋中软体动物种类远超其他动物门

We're just getting started up here on land.

我们刚刚准备登陆陆地

Besides, the seas are rising. Just give us some time.

此外，海平面在上涨，给我们带来更多时间

Who knows who'll end up ruling this ocean planet?

谁知道最后谁是这个海洋星球的统治者?