SSS 2008-05-01
时间：2019-01-08 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(五)月
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science,I am Karen Hopkin.This'll just take a minute.
Some people lie through their teeth, some lie about their teeth. Our early human cousins seem to have lied with their teeth. Or they at least misled scientists into first thinking that their diet was something other than it was. See one of our east African relatives had chompers that looked so powerful. Scientists nicknamed him “nut-cracker man”. With teeth and jaws 1 so big and strong, everyone assumed that Paranthropus boisei (1959年发现的东非人，即傍人鲍氏种Paranthropus boisei，原称鲍氏东非人) was partial to nuts and seeds and other crunchy fare. But first impressions can be misleading, or so say scientists in the current issue of the Public Library of Science journal PLos One. Using high-powered microscopes, they took a closer look at this homonid’s teeth. And they compared the microscopic wear-and-tear they saw on its molars with that of living primates 2. Their conclusion? That Paranthropus was capable of eating harder foods, but generally did not do so. “Looks more like they were eating jellos”, says one of the researchers, “Okay, there was no jello 3 two million years ago, but paranthropus, like many apes and monkeys, probably preferred nice soft fruits. When you think about it, any other choice would be nuts.”
Thanks for the minute,for Scientific American's 60-Second Science,I'm Karen Hopkin.
- The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
- The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。
- Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
- Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。