科学美国人60秒 SSS Neandertal Face Shape Was All Over the Air
时间：2019-02-14 作者：英语课 分类：2018年科学美国人4月
Neandertal Face Shape Was All Over the Air
The jutting 1 midface of Neandertals seems to have evolved to help get large volumes of air into an active body that needed lots of oxygen.
Full Transcript 2
Neandertal walks into a bar. Bartender says, “Why the long, forward-projecting face?” Well, according to a new study, it helped the Neandertal air-condition the large volumes of oxygen he inhaled 3 to support his active lifestyle. The work appears in the Proceedings 4 of the Royal Society B. The bartender appears in many, many jokes. [Stephen Wroe et al., Computer simulations show that Neanderthal facial morphology represents adaptation to cold and high energy demands, but not heavy biting]
Neandertals had a distinct facial appearance: heavy brows, big noses and a protruding 5 upper jaw 6. And scientists have long wondered why that configuration 7. The foreheads, it appears, they inherited from their ancestors. But the jutting midface—that was an evolutionary 8 innovation all their own.
Some scientists say it’s so they could use those prominent front teeth for some serious chomping 9. Others say it gave their nasal passages the right size and shape to warm and moisten the cold, dry, Ice Age air.
To put the theories to the test, researchers constructed a set of 3-D simulations of the skulls 10 of various humans. They included a Neandertal and an earlier Homo heidelbergensis as well as a handful of more modern noggins: males and females from Europe and Asia and an Arctic Inuit. And they digitally crash-tested the faces to see how they responded to the loads imposed by heavy biting.
Seems the protruding choppers of the Neandertal were not particularly well suited to forceful mastication 11. Some of the modern humans seemed to be more efficient when it comes to using less muscle to take a big bite.
Then the researchers modeled how air flowed through Neandertal nasal passages. And that’s when things got interesting. The results indicate that Neandertals were better at heating and humidifying air than H. heidelbergensis. But so are us modern peoples—whether we hail from cold or hot climates.
Where Neandertals really stood out was in their ability to move large volumes of air through their nasal passages in and out of their lungs. That’s a plus when you spend your days running down mastodons. Or running from other critters whose teeth are better adapted for biting action than yours are.
So if the bartender is still listening, that's why the distinctive 12 Neandertal face.
—Karen Hopkin
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
- The climbers rested on a sheltered ledge jutting out from the cliff. 登山者在悬崖的岩棚上休息。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The soldier saw a gun jutting out of some bushes. 那士兵看见丛林中有一枝枪伸出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
- They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。
- She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
- Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
- to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
- He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
- There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句
- He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
- A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。
- Geographers study the configuration of the mountains.地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
- Prices range from $119 to $199,depending on the particular configuration.价格因具体配置而异，从119美元至199美元不等。
- Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
- These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。
- Elizabeth and Lawrence are chomping at the bit to go on vacation. 伊莉莎白和劳伦斯迫不及待要去度假了。 来自互联网
- She was chomping away on a bagel. 她在嘎蹦嘎嘣地啃着一个硬面包圈。 来自互联网
- One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
- We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！
- Regular like spike wave and poly spike wave were found in mastication. 在咀嚼时可见有规律性类似棘波、多棘波。 来自互联网
- Mastication is one of the most important fundamental oral functions. 咀嚼是口腔重要的生理功能之一。 来自互联网
- She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
- This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。