A brief tour of the last 4 billion years (dinosaurs not included) | Lauren Sallan

譯者: Pei-Chen Benson Liu 審譯者: Marssi Draw

Paleontology,

古生物學

a science geared towards small children,

這門科學好像是為小朋友量身打造

focused on digging up dinosaurs

整天挖掘恐龍

while sporting a "Jurassic Park" costume.

穿的服裝像在「侏儸紀公園」

Skulls are popped out of the ground

骨骸會從泥土裡迸出來

and put on display for public gawking.

接著展示眾人眼前

讓大家瞠目結舌

The relevance of this, beyond clickbait, coloring books and monster movies

只有說到點擊率、著色本還有怪獸電影

大家才會注意到這門學問

is unknown.

No ...

不對

Wait.

等等

That's not paleontology at all.

那根本不是古生物學

Paleontology is nothing less than the study of past life.

古生物學研究先前出現過的生物

All past life.

所有先前出現過的生物

From ancestors to alien forms.

從生命起源到各式奇形怪狀

It involves fundamental questions like "Who are we?"

這門學問其實也試著在解答：

「我們是什麼？」

And "How did we get here?" --

還有「我們從何演化而來？」

using the broadest possible definition of "we":

「我們」的定義，廣義來說

life itself.

就是生命

Dinosaurs, a category of birds,

恐龍是鳥類的一種

are just a small percentage of that.

只占了其中非常小一部分

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Yet they get the most media attention.

但卻得到所有焦點

[左：多樣無比的古生命 右：恐龍　下：古生物學]

[The incredible diversity of ancient life, Dinosaurs, Paleontology]

It's a very accurate meme; I didn't even make this one.

這張迷因很中肯

可不是只有我這樣覺得

This is just the truth.

這就是事實

Anyway, most of us paleontologists consider dinosaurs to be a gateway drug.

反正對大多數古生物學家來說

恐龍就像是入門款

There is so much cooler stuff in the fossil record,

研究也發現許多更酷炫的化石

and we know so much about it.

Let's go on a brief, dinosaur-free tour

讓我們來綜觀這 40 億年

of the last four billion years.

但是絕口不提恐龍

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

First up, genetic material.

第一個是遺傳物質

Viruses, basically, started producing proteins

基本上，病毒最先製造出蛋白質

and wrecking their environment.

接著破壞了周遭環境

The Earth was infected with life.

地球染上了生命

Some of these new bacteria learned how to eat sunshine,

有些新型細菌開始把陽光當作養分

producing oxygen,

產出氧氣

pulling in carbon from the air

從空氣裡得到碳元素

and destroying the iron food of other microbes

毀掉其他微生物的鐵質維生來源

by turning it into rust.

然後製造出鐵鏽

This went on for billions of years.

這持續了幾十億年

Some bacteria consumed other bacteria,

一些細菌開始捕食其他細菌

gaining their power to turn oxygen into energy,

並把氧氣轉化成能源

becoming the precursors of animals and plants.

成為動植物的先驅

But as a result, there were climate shocks,

但後來，氣候有了很大的改變

from hot to cold and back again,

由暖轉冷又回溫

which ended up turning the Earth into a snowball covered with glaciers.

最後地球變成一顆雪球，冰河滿布

The technical term for this time period is "Snowball Earth."

此時期的正式名稱就是「雪球地球」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Seven hundred, eight hundred million years ago.

大概是在七、八億年前

Anyway, microbes banded together,

總之，微生物彼此聚集

creating multicellular life.

因此出現多細胞生物

Six hundred million years ago,

六億年前

geometric colonies appeared, sucking microbes from the water.

幾何形的菌落出現了

吸收水中的微生物

These were soon replaced by the ancestors of modern animals.

現代動物的祖先很快取而代之

The Cambrian explosion.

稱作寒武紀大爆發

Lobster relatives ate other animals,

龍蝦的遠親用爪臂捕食其他生物

capturing them using their grasping arms.

Armored wriggling clam worms crawled across the seafloor and into it,

沙蠺身上布滿硬殼，蠕動而行

橫跨且深入了海床，建立新的生態系

creating new ecosystems.

Our tadpole-like ancestors flitted along ancient coastlines,

人類的祖先，神似蝌蚪

掠過了古代海岸線

while their eel-like relatives with gnashing throat teeth

這種動物的近親 長得像鰻魚，滿喉利牙

swam above the ice-cream cone corals of the first reefs,

漫遊在甜筒狀的珊瑚始祖之間

dodging school-bus-sized krakens

隨時得躲避公車大小的海怪

and hungry sea scorpions.

還有飢腸轆轆的海蠍

Plant fungus came onto land.

菌類植物接著登陸

But then the glaciers returned, killing pretty much everything.

但冰河不久又現跡地球

幾乎所有生命都無法生存

But mass extinctions open opportunities.

大滅絕卻開啟了新機

Jawless fishes invaded the ocean,

無頷魚類開始在海洋中出現

sporting points, prongs, and finally, fins.

演化出斑點和尖牙，最後還長出魚鰭

Spiders, scorpions, snails and worms came onto land.

蜘蛛、蠍子、蝸牛和蠕蟲登陸地面

Somewhere around China, a fish developed jaws,

魚類在中國附近演化出下顎

and its descendants drove jawless fishes,

這種魚類的後代使無頷魚類

sea scorpions and branching plankton

海蠍和分枝浮游生物滅絕

to extinction.

Some of these fishes,

這些魚類其中

which had arm bones in their fins,

有些魚鰭長有前肢骨頭

sprouted fingers,

每片魚鰭上長出七、八隻指頭

seven or eight per flipper.

On land, plants became trees,

植物在陸地上長成大樹

growing massive

體積龐大

or spreading their spores only once before dying.

或在凋零前，就散播那麼一次種子

But then the glaciers came back again,

但冰河又降臨了

and it was mass extinction number two.

這是第二次大滅絕

It was the age of weird fishes and plated sea lilies.

這個時代到處都是奇形怪狀的魚類

表面充滿絨毛的海百合

Sharks with wings.

有些鯊魚長了翅膀

Sharks with buzz saw jaws.

有些下顎成鋸齒狀

Sharks with fins covered in tiny teeth.

有些魚鰭長滿小型牙齒

Sharks with crushing tooth plates.

有些用牙床磨碎食物

Bony fishes that looked like modern angelfish and eels

多骨魚類貌似現今的神仙魚和鰻魚

for the first time.

也第一次出現

Wetlands developed,

地球發展出濕地

sporting ten-foot-long millipedes and giant dragon flies.

孕育了三公尺長的馬陸和巨型蜻蜓

These spread across the supercontinent of Pangaea and died,

足跡遍布整個盤古大陸

creating coal,

死亡後轉變成木炭

leading to a 100-million-year Ice Age.

還造成為時一億年的冰河時期

Finally, vertebrates made it onto land on a permanent basis,

脊椎動物這時終於登陸

更永遠留了下來

leading to alligator-like amphibians

出現了像短吻鱷的兩棲類動物

and saber-toothed protomammals.

尖牙利嘴的合弓綱動物

But then, volcanoes erupted all over Siberia,

但整個西伯利亞火山爆發

everything almost died

近乎所有生命死亡

and it was mass extinction number three.

這是第三次大滅絕

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The day life nearly died.

這時的地球只有黑夜

A single, lonely tusked mammal survived and thrived,

只有一種長獠牙的哺乳類

得以生存茁壯

but it was soon replaced by galloping crocodiles.

但移動快速的鱷魚隨即取而代之

In the ocean, marine reptiles,

海洋滿是爬行動物

giant rafts made of the living relatives of sea urchins

海膽的遠親聚集成龐大的平面狀

and armored squids, ammonoids, of every kind and form.

還有軀殼堅硬的魷魚和菊石

型態豐富

But then, Pangaea started to split apart,

盤古大陸接著漸漸分離開來

forming a sea of lava

形成岩漿海

that would one day become the Atlantic Ocean,

這片岩漿就是現今的大西洋

spewing toxic gas into the atmosphere

那時排出大量毒氣至大氣層中

and mass extinction number four.

造成第四次大滅絕

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Yeah, there's actually a lot more than these five,

其實有很多次這樣的滅絕

these are the big ones.

只是這幾次比較嚴重

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, finally, there were whale-sized fishes,

終於這之後出現了鯨魚大小的魚類

and modern fishes mobbed corals,

還有現今魚群聚集的那種珊瑚

made gigantic by using their captured algae to eat sunshine.

以捉捕藻類、吸收陽光而壯大

Crabs, stingrays and other fishes with crushing teeth appeared,

螃蟹、魟魚出現了

還有一些魚類，長著扁平狀牙齒

smashing shells

用來壓碎貝類

and leading to an arms race between predators and prey.

捕食者和獵物間因此競爭激烈

There was an explosion of marine biodiversity.

海洋生物多樣性暴增

Mammals climbed trees, flew

哺乳類學會爬樹和飛翔

and did a lot of other things that are seemingly sort of modern.

還有很多行為看起來跟今日沒兩樣

They were feeding on the first flowers pollinated by the first bees.

靠第一批開花植物維生

這些植物靠第一批蜜蜂授粉

There were ecological revolutions on land and at sea,

不論陸海，生態系都有了偌大轉變

leading to the modern world.

慢慢趨向現代

Except that an asteroid hit Mexico,

但一顆彗星墜落在墨西哥

and then that triggered volcanoes on the other side of the world in India,

引發火山在地球另一頭的印度爆發

and everything almost died again.

所有生命又差點滅絕了

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But -- there's always a but, because we're still here --

但是，總有例外

不然人類打哪來

mammals arose from the ashes,

哺乳類自絕境重生

became small under extreme heat and then ever larger.

在炙熱的環境下體型變小

接著又變得無比巨大

There were palm trees and snakes in the Arctic.

北極地區出現了棕櫚樹和蛇類

Predatory deer dogs frolicked along ancient rivers,

中爪獸在古代河流旁嬉戲

while their relatives returned to the ocean

牠們的近親則返回海洋

to become the first otter-like whales.

成為最初的海獺形鯨魚

Not hyenas and other sort of carnivores

鬣狗和其他掠食性動物

were chased off by giant long-necked rhinos.

受到巨型長頸犀牛威脅

Everything at this point seems kind of familiar

此場景看似熟悉

but not really.

但真相未必如此

In Antarctica, an ice age started,

南極地區開始遇上冰河時期

forming the first permanent polar ice cap in two hundred million years.

兩億年來

首見極區永凍冰冠就此誕生

This dried out the rest of the world,

也讓世界其他地方變得乾涸

but it allowed the rise of grasses, of rodents, of cats.

但草原、囓齒動物 和貓類動物才得以發展

Somewhere in Africa,

非洲某處

an ape started walking across the new savannah.

大草原甫出現，人猿在這學會行走

Oh, and there were giant saber-toothed salmon,

還出現了巨型利齒鮭魚

I just have to mention that.

我就只是想提到這個而已

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, we know all of this happened

人類瞭解了之前發生的一切

and so much more.

而且不只如此

How?

還有如何發生？

Why?

為什麼發生？

Paleontology is a thriving science

古生物學這門學問正如日中天

at the intersection of multiple other fields and technologies.

多種學門和科技交會於此

There is no bigger data than the fossil record,

我們挖掘出塊塊化石

and we mine every bit of it.

是規模最龐大的資料

We use CAT scans,

我們使用電腦斷層掃瞄

we use isotopes,

同位素

we use genomes,

基因組

we use robots,

機器人

we use mathematical simulations

數學模擬

and all kinds of analytics.

還應用各種方式分析

We maximize all of it so that we can understand the past

我們善用各種方法

以對過去和演化更加瞭解

and how evolution works.

It also lets us make predictions for the future.

也因此能預測未來

What will happen after the next mass extinction?

下一次大滅絕，什麼事會發生？

What weird things will show up?

會有什麼奇聞異事？

Will mammals get smaller again?

哺乳類體型會再次縮小嗎？

Will there even be mammals?

或甚至會不復存在呢？

In sum,

總而言之

we have learned a lot about dinosaurs.

人類研究恐龍大有成果

But there's so much left to learn

但其他 99.9% 曾經存在的生物

from the other 99.9 percent of things that have ever lived.

仍值得我們探索

And that's paleontology.

這才是古生物學

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause and cheers)

（掌聲與歡呼聲）