我们星球上的生命（2023）

意味着恐龙的这个分支兽脚
means this branch of dinosaurs, the theropods,
可以在白天和夜间活动
can be active day and night...
这让它们有更多时间 来照顾作为家庭成员的幼崽
giving them more time to raise their young as part of a family.
一起生活还有其它优势
Living in a group has other advantages too,
尤其是在寻找食物时
especially when it's time to find food.
恐爪龙是群攻猎手
For Deinonychus is a pack hunter.
而且在这方面很聪明
And a clever one at that.
它们的猎物阿肯色龙也是一种恐龙
Their prey, Arkansaurus, is also a dinosaur...
但过着 非常不同的、以植物为主食的生活
but it leads a very different, mainly plant-eating life.
但两者的速度都很快
What they both share, however is speed.
追上猎物是一回事
Catching up with their prey is one thing.
将猎物拿下
Bringing it down...
是另一回事
...another.
它们进行协作
Working together,
轮流消耗猎物的体力
they take turns to tire it out.
它们恐怖的爪子 迅速了结了这只筋疲力尽的阿肯色龙
Their terrible claws bring a swift end to the exhausted Arkansaurus.
随着恐龙的多样化
As dinosaurs diversified,
许多恐龙变得越发具有社会性
many became increasingly social.
但即使是它们也无法 与当时最伟大的社会性动物相比
But even they couldn't compare with the greatest social animals of their age,
这些动物正在它们脚下进化
animals that were evolving just beneath their feet.
如今 在西非
Today, in West Africa,
我们仍然可以找到 早期超级社会性动物的后代
we can still find the descendants of those early supersocializers.
白蚁
Termites.
一个庞大的兄弟姐妹大家庭
One immense family of siblings
超过500万只
five million strong...
为了蚁群和它们的母亲蚁后
all working tirelessly for the colony
都在不知疲倦地工作着
and their mother, the queen.
像白蚁这样的社会性昆虫
Social insects like termites
最早出现在恐龙时代
first appeared in the age of dinosaurs...
它们回收利用新的植被
recycling the new vegetation...
同时也是敌人的主要食物来源
while also being the prime food source of their enemies.
一名侦查员跟踪敌人的气味
A scout has followed their scent.
它带着新发现的消息
Armed with the news of her discovery,
飞奔回巢穴
she races back to her nest.
它是另一个 古代社会性昆虫群体的成员
She's a member of another ancient group of social insects...
蚂蚁
the ants.
这些对手物种之间的竞争
Competition between these rival species
已经持续了数百万年
has been raging for millions of years...
这是一场精彩的进化军备竞赛
in a remarkable evolutionary arms race.
侦察兵从巢穴召集了一支军队
Back at her nest, the scout summons an army of her own.
这些是掠食性的马塔贝勒蚁
These are predatory Megaponera ants.
就像一个训练有素的罗马军团
Like a well-drilled Roman legion...
一千士兵向战场进军
a thousand soldiers march to war.
当靠近白蚁工蚁时
When close to the termite workers,
侦查员发出信♥号♥♥
the scout gives a signal...
列队开始展开
and the column starts to fan out,
形成一个即将爆发的巨浪
becoming a wave poised to break.
现在侦查员下达最后命令
Now, at full force,
全军全力以赴…
the scout gives one final order.
冲锋
Charge.
白蚁并非毫无防备
The termites are not defenseless.
它们进化出了 一个武装士兵群体来保护工蚁
They've evolved a separate caste of armed soldiers who protect the workers.
它们抓住一只蚂蚁 很快将其分解
Catching an ant, they quickly dismember it.
但这些蚂蚁也有自己的专用兵器
But these ants have their own specialist weapons.
它们将毒刺 刺向它们古老对手的唯一弱点
They thrust their venomous stings at their ancient rivals' only weak spot.
两颌之间
Right between the jaws.
这场古老战斗的伤亡迅速增加
The casualties in this age-old battle rapidly mount up.
但是凶狠的蚂蚁打垮了白蚁
But the marauding ants overwhelm the termites.
胜者将败者收集起来
The victors gather up the vanquished
带回巢穴
and carry them back to the nest
供给蚁群其它成员享用
to feed the rest of the colony.
在地下 蚂蚁展示出它们进化成就的巅峰
Underground, the ants display the pinnacle of their evolutionary achievements
它们会照顾受伤的同伴
as they tend to their injured comrades.
许多蚂蚁失去肢体
Many have lost limbs.
但是工蚁会用自己的唾液 舔舐伤者的伤口
But the workers lick the wounds of the injured,
使用其中含有的抗生素 来帮助它们痊愈
using antibiotics carried in their saliva to help them heal.
否则多数都会死亡
Without this, most would die.
但是由于这样的治疗
But thanks to the treatment,
它们能够在24小时内再次投入战斗
they're able to march back out to war within 24 hours,
即便失去肢体也不在话下
even with missing limbs.
使用药物来挽救其他个体的生命
This is the only example of animals,
除了人类之外
other than humans,
动物界只此一家
using medicine to save another's life.
通过合作
By working together,
像蚂蚁和白蚁这样的社会性动物
social animals like ants and termites
在恐龙的统治下茁壮发展
flourished under the dinosaurs.
但它们脚下的土地仍在移♥动♥
But the ground beneath all their feet was still on the move,
引发巨变
causing seismic change.
（9000万年前）
9000万年前
Ninety million years ago,
地球板块漂移继续重塑地球
and Earth's shifting tectonic plates continued to reshape the planet.
随着盘♥古♥大♥陆♥碎片散开
As the fragments of Pangaea spread out...
岩浆喷发开始抬高海床
upwellings of magma began to lift the seafloor...
导致全球海平面升高
raising global sea levels.
淹没了陆地
This flooded the land...
创造出大量浅海
...creating numerous shallow seas...
以及多个大♥陆♥
and multiple island continents,
各有其气候及特点
each with their own climate and character.
被孤立在各自大♥陆♥上的恐龙
Isolated on their respective landmasses,
得到了前所未有的兴旺发展
dinosaurs thrived like never before.
（7600万年前）
除了长颈的巨型蜥脚和有羽毛的兽脚
Alongside the long-necked giant sauropods and the feathered theropods...
还有一群恐龙也取得了成功
...another group of dinosaurs were also finding success.
鸟臀
The ornithischians.
与梁龙相似 它们也以食草为主
Just like Diplodocus, they were mostly herbivores...
但它们已经进化出能够咀嚼的颌部
...but they had evolved jaws that could chew.
再加上植物的激增
Combined with the surge in plant life,
导致慈母龙这样的鸟臀
this saw ornithischians, like Maiasaura,
形成了地球史上最大的兽群
form some of the largest herds the Earth had ever seen.
现在恐龙在全球各地
Across the world, dinosaurs now dominated
主宰每一片陆地栖息地
every land habitat the changing planet had to offer.
但是与此同时
But at the same time...
我们自己的王朝 第一批真正的哺乳动物
...our own dynasty, the first true mammals,
也在充分利用新的丰富资源
were also making the most of the new abundance.
在巨兽的阴影下
In the shadows of the giants,
这些小生物局限在边缘生活
these small creatures were limited to a life in the margins.
但它们也变得越来越复杂 有社会性
But they, too, were becoming increasingly sophisticated, social,
并且能够照顾幼崽
and able to take care of their young.
如今在澳大利亚西南部的森林中
Today, in the forests of Southwest Australia,
依然可以一窥
it's possible to get a glimpse
古代哺乳动物可能的生活形态
of what life may have been like for some of those ancient mammals.
这是一只袋食蚁兽
This is a numbat,
一种濒危的有袋动物
an endangered marsupial
据估在野外只有3000只
thought to number only 3,000 in the wild.
就像它的一些史前祖先一样
Like some of her prehistoric ancestors,
它也以美味的白蚁为食
she, too, survives on a diet of tasty termites.
用长长的粘性舌头
Using her long, sticky tongue,
愉快地将白蚁挖起
she scoops them up with relish.
越多越好
And the more, the merrier...
因为在巢穴里
for back at the den...
许多幼崽在等待它的归来
a handful of pups await her return.
哺乳动物成功的关键是
Crucial to the success of mammals
父母照护的进化
was the evolution of parental care.
生下活的幼崽
Giving birth to live young
用母亲的乳汁滋养幼崽
and nourishing them on their mother's milk
直到其独♥立♥
until they reach independence.
但对于这些紧张的幼崽们来说
But for these nervous little youngsters...
这可能需要一段时间
that might take a while.
多数早期哺乳动物 没有护甲来保护它们
Most early mammals didn't have armor or size to protect them...
但就像今天的森林中一样
yet just like in today's forests...
危险永远不会离得太远
danger was never far away.