How About Some Tasty Woolly Rhinoceros for Dinner?
VOA News
March 08, 2017 5:14 PM (source)
How About Some Tasty Woolly Rhinoceros for Dinner?
「今晚來點美味的長毛犀牛如何？」
March 08, 2017 5:14 PM
Reuters
Ancient DNA from dental plaque is revealing intriguing new information about Neanderthals, including specific menu items in their diet such as woolly rhinoceros and wild mushrooms, as well as their use of plant-based medicine to cope with pain and illness.
Scientists said on Wednesday they genetically analyzed plaque from 48,000-year-old Neanderthal remains from Spain and 36,000-year-old remains from Belgium. The plaque, material that forms on and between teeth, contained food particles as well as microbes from the mouth and the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts.
At Belgium's Spy Cave site, which at the time was a hilly grassy environment home to big game, the Neanderthal diet was meat-based with woolly rhinoceros and wild sheep, along with wild mushrooms. Some 12,000 years earlier, at Spain's El Sidron Cave site, which was a densely forested environment likely lacking large animals, the diet was wild mushrooms, pine nuts, moss and tree bark, with no sign of meat.
The two populations apparently lived different lifestyles shaped by their environments, the researchers said.
The researchers found that an adolescent male from the Spanish site had a painful dental abscess and an intestinal parasite that causes severe diarrhea. The plaque DNA showed he had consumed poplar bark, containing the pain-killing active ingredient of aspirin, and a natural antibiotic mold.
"This study really gives us a glimpse of what was in a Neanderthal's medicine cabinet," said paleomicrobiologist Laura Weyrich of Australia's University of Adelaide, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
The findings added to the growing body of knowledge about Neanderthals, the closest extinct relative of our species, Homo Sapiens, and further debunked the outdated notion of them as humankind's dimwitted cousins.
"I definitely believe our research suggests Neanderthals were highly capable, intelligent, likely friendly beings. We really need to rewrite the history books about their 'caveman-like' behaviors. They were very human-like behaviors," Weyrich said.
The robust, large-browed Neanderthals prospered across Europe and Asia from about 350,000 years ago until going extinct roughly 35,000 years ago after our species, which first appeared in Africa 200,000 years ago, established itself in regions where Neanderthals lived.
Scientists say Neanderthals were intelligent, with complex hunting methods, probable use of spoken language and symbolic objects, and sophisticated fire usage.
The researchers also reconstructed the genome of a 48,000-year-old oral bacterium from one of the Neanderthals.
"This is the oldest microbial genome to date, by about 43,000 years," Weyrich said.
來自牙菌斑(dental plaque)裡遠古的DNA揭露了關於尼安德塔人(Neanderthal)有趣的(intriguing)新訊息，例如我們很明確地得知他們在飲食上有長毛犀牛和野生菇類這些菜色，還有他們會用草本藥物來對抗疼痛與疾病。
科學家於週三時表示（編按：新聞時間為2017年3月8日），他們以基因分析的方式分析了尼安德塔人遺骸(remains)上的牙菌斑。這些遺骸分別來自於4萬8千年前的西班牙(Spain)與3萬6千年前的比利時(Belgium)。牙菌斑是在牙齒表面和牙齒間所形成的物質，其中含有細小的食物分子與來自於口腔、呼吸道(respiratory)和胃腸道的(gastrointestinal)微生物(microbe)。
比利時的Spy Cave遺址在當時是一個多丘陵(hilly)、多草的環境，也是大型獵物(big game)的家，此地的尼安德塔人以肉食為主，會吃長毛犀牛和野生的羊，但也會吃野生的菇類。而早於Spy Cave遺址約1萬2千年的西班牙El Sidron Cave遺址則是一個樹木叢生的(densely forested)環境，可能沒有大型的動物，在這裡的尼安德塔人則食用野生菇類、松子、苔蘚(moss)和樹皮，而沒有吃肉的跡象。
研究人員說，受到了周遭環境的形塑，這兩個群體很顯然地有著不同的生活型態。
研究人員從西班牙的尼安德塔人遺址的一個青少年男性身上發現，他患有會引起疼痛的牙膿腫(dental abscess)，還有會導致嚴重腹瀉(diarrhea)的腸道寄生蟲(intestinal parasite)。他的牙菌斑上的DNA顯示出他曾食用白楊樹的樹皮，這種樹皮含有能止痛的(pain-killing)阿司匹林(aspirin)活性成分和一種含天然抗生素的(antibiotic)黴菌(mold)。
澳大利亞阿德雷得大學(University of Adelaide)古代微生物學家(paleomicrobiologist)蘿拉‧威瑞奇(Laura Weyrich)說：「這個研究讓我們有機會能一窺(glimpse)尼安德塔人的藥櫃」。蘿拉‧威瑞奇是此研究的第一作者，此研究發表於《自然》(Nature)期刊。
已滅絕的(extinct)尼安德塔人是在演化上距離我們現代人的人種──智人(Homo Sapiens)──最近的物種。這些新發現不僅增加了我們現有對尼安德塔人的認識，也更進一步駁斥(debunk)了他們是人類愚蠢的(dimwitted)表親的這個過時的(outdated)概念。
威瑞奇說：「我相信研究已充分顯示出，尼安德塔人具有相當的能力，聰明而且可能還很友善。歷史書上關於他們行為『像穴居野蠻人(caveman)』的描述實在需要重寫了。他們的行為與我們人類十分相似。」
體格強健(robust)、有著寬大額頭的尼安德塔人大約在35萬年前活躍於歐洲和亞洲，直到20萬年前於非洲首次出現的智人在其活動區域著根後，尼安德塔人才約在3萬5千年前絕種。
科學家認為，尼安德塔人很聰明，有複雜的狩獵方法，也許有口說語言，會使用象徵性表意的物品，也會巧妙的(sophisticated)用火。
研究人員還從尼安德塔人身上重建了一個有4萬8千年歷史的口腔細菌的基因組(genome)。
威瑞奇表示：「這個基因組大約有4萬3千年的歷史，是到目前為止(to date)最古老的微生物的(microbial)基因組了。」
Language Notes
plaque [plæk] (n) 牙菌斑
*本字另一常見的意思是「銘牌；牌匾」。另一個容易與本字混淆的字是 plague [pleg]，意即「瘟疫」。兩字在拼法與發音上皆不同，須注意！
intriguing [ɪn`trigɪŋ] (a) 吸引人的，有趣的
*intrigue [ɪn`trig] (v) 激起. . . . . .好奇心（或興趣）；耍陰謀，施詭計。須注意動詞 intrigue 和形容詞 intriguing 兩者最後一音節的 "u" 皆不發音
remains (n) 遺體；遺骨
*本字還常指「剩餘的飯菜」或「遺址」，皆使用複數型
microbe [`maɪkrob] (n) 微生物
*microbial [maɪ`krobɪəl] (a) 微生物的。新聞中出現的 "paleomicrobiologist"「古代微生物學家」分別是由 "paleo-"「遠古的」、"micro-"「微小的」與 "biologist"「生物學家」三部分組成
game (n) 獵物
*作此用法時，本字為不可數名詞
abscess [`æbsɪs] (n) 膿瘡；膿腫
pain-killing (a) 止痛的；鎮痛的
*pain-killer (n) 止痛藥，止痛劑
glimpse (n) 一瞥；瞥見
debunk [dɪ`bʌŋk] (v) 揭穿. . . . . .的真相；駁斥
*注意本字重音在第二音節
dimwitted [ˏdɪm`wɪtɪd] (a) 笨的，傻的
*注意本字重音在第二音節，亦有 "dim-witted" 的拼法；dimwit [`dɪm͵wɪt] (n) 傻瓜
robust [rə`bʌst] (a) 強壯的；結實的
*注意本字重音在第二音節
genome [`dʒiˏnom] (n) 基因組
Check your vocabulary!
Fill in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list above. Make necessary changes. After you finish, highlight the blanks to reveal the hidden answers.
She has a really intriguing personality.
They hunted game in Alaska.
Marilyn was portrayed as some sort of dim-witted blonde.
I only caught a fleeting glimpse of the driver of the getaway car, but I know I would recognize her if I saw her again.
The writer's aim was to debunk the myth that had grown up around the actress.
Human remains were found in the woods.
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