动物的末日（2009）

海床上布满了死去动植物的残骸
The ocean floor is littered with the remains of the dead,
只有细菌还存活着
only bacteria remains.
海洋从有氧环境变成无氧环境时
As the ocean changed from oxygen to oxygen-free,
微生物也发生了微妙的变化
the microbial content changed from the friendly microbes,
那些对生命无害的微生物变成了完全不同的种类
which are sort of life new full to us, to a totally different group.
这些发生变化的微生物产生了硫化氢
This different group produces hydrogen sulfide,
硫化氢是一种毒性很强的气体
hydrogen sulfide is a very toxic gas.
如果大气里这种气体浓度增加的话 任何陆地上的生物都会没命
If we start increasing it into the atmosphere, you can kill off land life.
而当时就好像真的出现了这种情况
This really seems to be what happened.
硫化氢就像个化学武器
The hydrogen sulfide acts like a chemical weapon.
风把这种毒气吹到全世界
Wins circulate the poison gas worldwide,
大量动物被这种气体毒死
animals are killed in great swathes,
但是有一种动物能抵抗这种致命毒雾
but one creature proves resistant to these lethal clouds.
古鳄等爬行类动物可能对这种毒气产生了免疫
Reptiles like Proterosuchus may have been immune to the effects of this toxic gas.
西雅图弗莱德哈钦森癌症研究所的马克·罗斯所做的新实验表明
A new experiments taking place by Mark Roth, the Fred Hutchinson cancer institute in Seattle,
显示爬行类动物比哺乳类动物
has been showing that a reptile can survive
能承受浓度高得多的硫化氢
a much higher level of hydrogen sulfide that a mammal can,
结果发现冷血动物最能抵抗硫化氢这种毒气
it turns out that cold-bloodedness protects you against the H2S hydrogen sulfide.
现在到了冷血动物挑战丛林之王的时候了
And so it is time to take on the king of the jungle.
一只虚弱的丽齿兽走向水池岸边
A weary Gorgon approaches the watering hole.
几代之前的丽齿兽在体重和大小方面
Just a few generations ago, Gorgon would have had the size and weight
都能在这场战斗中占上风
advantage in this match,
但是现在不行了
not anymore.
现在恶劣的环境让它变得更加虚弱了
Now the noxious environment has left him vulnerable,
它的同类在全球各地正在迅速消失
his kind is rapidly vanishing throughout the globe.
现在是轮到野心勃勃的古鳄平步青云的时候了
It's now the ambitious Proterosuchus who star is on the rise.
它闻到胜利的气息 还有它的下一顿佳肴
He smells victory and his next meal.
古鳄和其它类似的动物正在慢慢成为最顶级的掠食者
Proterosuchus and others like him are becoming top carnivores.
距离大灭绝发生已经过去了15万年
150,000 years after the great dying began,
造成地球上已知最严重大灭绝的西伯利亚玄武岩岩浆流
the Siberian lava flow that launched the greatest mass extinction ever known on planet Earth
此时已经埋在了1.6公里深的地下
is now a mile deep.
这个深度完全可以埋掉四座直叠起来的帝国大厦
Enough to encase for Empire State buildings stacked one atop another.
放眼望去 只见一片阴森的死寂大地
For as far as the eye can see, there is only eerie silence.
茂密的森林消失了
The lush forests gone,
清新的溪流消失了
the refreshing streams gone.
曾经栖息在这片肥沃土地上的爬行动物们也全部消失了
The herds that once populated this fertile landscape all gone.
从太空上看 看不到地球有绿色
From space there's no green,
没有任何植物
there's no plants,
只有这片由岩石所构成的广阔地貌
there's just this huge landscape of rock.
死亡从西伯利亚喷发的中心点
From this wound at Ground Zero in Siberia,
蔓延到整个地球
death has spread around the world.
庞大的水龙兽族群曾经无处不在
Once giant herds of Lystrosaurus or ubiquitous,
现在只有少数几只侥幸存活了下来
now only a lucky few persevere.
只有不断地迁徒和移♥动♥ 才能让它们逃过死神的魔爪
Only staying on the move in an endless migration, will keep them one step ahead of death.
几千年的艰苦岁月让水龙兽进化成了坚强的幸存者
Millennia of hardship have seen the Lystrosaurus evolve into survivors.
现在就只有最健壮的水龙兽能够存活下来
Now it's only the hardiest of the species that remain.
它们的体型比之前的小多了
They are smaller than their ancestors,
没有食物和水时 它们能撑很久
They can go longer without food and water,
而且它们的求生本能还非常强
and their survival instincts are razor-sharp.
这里是现在的埃及地区
Here in what is now Egypt,
这一群正在迁徙的水龙兽找到了一个隐藏的惊喜
this band of migrating Lystrosaurus find a hidden treasure.
在这个干旱的沙漠世界中 任何一点淡水都值得争夺
Any fresh water in this arid desert world is worth fighting for.
但是这条溪流并不只能解它们的口渴
But this little stream wont just quench their thirst,
它还将要改变整个物种的命运 以及地球上的生命史
it's about to change the destiny of their species and the history of life on Earth.
因为另一个兽群也被吸引了过来
Because another of heard has been drawn to this very spring,
它们是从南非来的一群水龙兽
a band of Lystrosaurus from South Africa.
两个群体都在一同进化着 逐渐适应了沙漠化的环境
Both groups have evolved along parallel, tracks adapting to desert conditions.
低氧环境
Lower oxygen,
污浊的空气和食物稀少的情况
foul air and scarce food,
异血缘交♥配♥会让这个物种更加健壮
interbreeding will make this species even tougher.
两个族群最好的基因所产生出来的新一代
A new generation, with the best genes from both families,
可以熬过这次大灭绝
will survive the great dying.
但是这个物种的未来 还得依靠它们的适应能力和运气
Still the future of this species will depend on adaptation and chance.
运气和生理结构是两个层面上的问题
There's a question of luck and design happening in at two two levels,
它们要很幸运地能够存活下来
that there were lucky to survive.
而能活下去并重建生态系统的那些生物也要有很好的适应力
But then the ones that went on to rebuild the ecosystems they also had good adaptations
以配合它们以后的更好地生活
that fitted them to the future.
所以大家要把这两方面分开
So people, people need to separate those two aspects.
第一 要怎么熬过这场危机
How do you get through the crisis?
第二 危机过后要做什么
And then what do you do afterwards?
它们的近亲二犬齿兽就没有那么幸运了
Their cousins, Dicynodons, haven't been as lucky,
世界变化得太快 让这个物种的适应力达到了极限
the rapidly changing world is too much for the species to bear.
这就是它们留下的唯一遗产
This is their only legacy.
可惜的是以前的丛林之王现在下场十分悲惨
Sadly the former master has come to a somber end.
最后一只丽齿兽在疾病和饥饿中孤独地死去
The last Gorgons die alone, diseased and starving.
曾经凶猛高傲的丽齿兽
The proud ferocious line of Gorgonopsid
就此灭绝 永远地消失了
is now extinct, never to return.
在这场致命火山爆发将整个地球物种
1.2 million years after a killer volcanic episode
推向毁灭边缘的120万年后
nearly strangled the entire planet to death,
生命之火已经快要熄灭了
only the faintest flicker of life remains.
每一个存活下来的物种
Each of those species that survives probably
大概都只剩下很少数的生还者
driven down to just a tiny little castaway surviving population.
因此虽然说这些生还者都很幸运地生存了下来
So those survivors were lucky in a sense
但是它们还要熬过一段相当长的时间
that they had a pretty grim time, for a long time afterwards
等待着地球恢复生机
as the Earth recovered.
屈指可数的生还者现在重新开始进化
And from just a handful of survivors, evolution begins anew.
但是距离要让生物大量繁衍生息 还有一段很艰难的旅程
But life's come back won't be an easy journey.
新生代所处的世界条件恶劣
The world they've inherited is hostile,
不能跟二叠纪时期的热带乐园相提并论
when compared to the tropical wonderland of the Permian Period.
我们在研究早期三叠纪时
As we study the role of Triassic
也就是大灭绝发生过后大约500万年
of 5 million years or so after this event,
发现经过很长时间之后生命才开始变得繁荣起来
they took it off a long time before life even began to get better.
这次大灭绝之后有很长一段时间
So there's a long interval after this extinction,
很多动物都只是勉强地活着
for most group of animals are just getting by.
水龙兽熬过了这场大灭绝 并继承了这个新世界
The Lystrosaurus survived the apocalypse to inherit this new world.
它们的种群出现了十分剧烈的转变
Their species has seen a dramatic transformation.
二叠纪到三叠纪之间
There's a big difference in the size of the Lystrosaurus
水龙兽的体型有很大的差别
between the Permian and Triassic.
二叠纪时期的动物们都过得很好
Permian animals were doing really well
体型通常很大
and they tended to be large.
而在大灭绝期间 不论是什么导致了死亡
And whatever killed them going through that boundary,
体型最大的都被消灭了
knock down the largest ones,
所以大块头都消失了 留下来的都是体型比较小的
and so the largest ones disappeared, but then the remainders was also on average smaller.
另一个生还者古鳄
Another survivor Proterosuchus
在二叠纪大灭绝前还只是个小角色
has had been a bit player before the Permian Extinction,
它们占地球动物数量的比例从来不会超过2％到3％
never more than two to three percent of Earth's population.
但是现在像丽齿兽这样的大型温血动物已经灭绝
Now with the big warm-bloods like Gorgons missing,
它们就此成为了当今世界上最可怕的掠食者
they take over the hunter-killer niche.
古鳄后来进化出各种古龙类
Proterosuchus then led to and those eeveelution all a variety of archosaurs,
一方面进化成了现代鳄鱼
which ultimately led to modern crocodiles on the one hand,
另一方面进化成了现代的鸟类
and modern birds on the other hand.
中间恐龙的出现也是基于它们的进化
In-between, of course, we had the dinosaurs.
幸好我们的祖先小三尖叉齿兽 也成功熬过了这场大灭绝
Luckily for us, our ancestor little Thrinaxodon has also made it through the extinction.
三尖叉齿兽是一个很关键的动物
Thrinaxodon is a key animal,
因为现在我们回顾一下 就能看到
because now looking back
在所有生还者之中 它们是最接近我们祖先的动物
that was nearest to our ancestor of all the survivors.
三尖叉齿兽在最适当的时候做出了最正确的事
Thrinaxodon had the right stuff at the right time,
不但确保自己能存活下来 还确保了所有哺乳类的未来
to ensure not only its own survival, but the future of all mammals,
也包括我们人类
including the human race.
对我们来说 大灭绝到了最后有个比较快乐的结局
For us, the story of the great dying has a happy ending,
但是这场灾难同时也在警告我们一件事
but it's also a cautionary tale.
地球随时都有可能再次发怒
Earth could rage again at any time.
引发又一场缓慢而又致命的灾难
Unleashing a slow relentless stranglehold on our planet.
最关键的问题就是
The key question for us is,
我们是否有足够的能力在大灭绝中生存下来？
would we have the right stuff to survive a mass extinction?
还是会跟曾经多么强大的丽齿兽一样
Or like the once mighty Gorgons,
埋没在这茫茫的尘埃之中呢？
would evolution lead us in the dust?