我们星球上的生命（2023）

The Jurassic.
巨型动物的时代
An era of giants.
但这个由陡峭悬崖组成的失落世界
But this lost world of vertical cliffs
正在形成一种较小的生物
was shaping a smaller breed of creature.
它生活在一个危险的王国
It lived in a dangerous realm.
为了生存 它以一种非凡的新方式进化
To survive, it had evolved in an extraordinary new way.
这是近鸟龙
This is Anchiornis.
是一种有羽毛的小型恐龙
She's a small, feathered dinosaur...
锋利的牙齿 用于捕食昆虫
...with needle-sharp teeth for hunting insects.
但它也是别人的猎物
But she, too, is being hunted.
一只年少的中华盗龙
A juvenile Sinraptor.
饥肠辘辘
And he's hungry.
近鸟龙缓慢而笨拙
Anchiornis is slow and clumsy.
中华盗龙将它逼至绝境
The Sinraptor has her cornered.
但是近鸟龙
But Anchiornis...
跑来这里是有原因的
...has run here for a reason.
它会飞
She can fly.
恐龙一小步
One small step for a dinosaur,
地球生物一大步
but one giant leap for life on Earth.
通过这些早期的滑翔者
With these early gliders,
一个新的王朝诞生了
a new dynasty was born.
在小行星撞击地球之后的时代
And it was flight that would help their descendants stay alive
飞行的本领 将帮助它们的后代存活下去
in the era after the asteroid.
现如今
Today,
有一个地方 也许可以展示这个故事的发展
there's a place where we can see how that story may have played out.
这是一个荒凉的世界
It's a harsh, desolate world.
海拔四千米的智利阿尔蒂普拉诺沙漠
Four thousand meters up, the Altiplano desert in Chile...
几乎没有生物能在这里生存
a landscape where almost nothing can live.
但有一群动物 找到了在这里生存的方法
But one group of animals has found a way to survive here.
鸟
The birds.
像小行星撞击后进化出的鸟类一样
Like those that evolved after the asteroid...
火烈鸟掌握了 最早的禽类恐龙的滑翔技能
...flamingos have taken the gliding skills of the first avian dinosaurs...
并创造出一种新的飞行方式
...and created a new kind of flight.
这是一场天空中的革命
A revolution in the air.
翅膀变得能够挥动
Wings that have been modified to flap.
这是有动力飞行
This is powered flight,
令火烈鸟能够飞行以寻找食物
and it allows flamingos to travel in search of food...
就像数百万年前的鸟类那样
just as birds did millions of years ago.
羽毛最初进化是为帮助恐龙保暖
Feathers, that first evolved to keep dinosaurs warm,
如今已变成驾驭天空的专用工具
have become specialized for aerial mastery.
这还不只是唯一的变化
And that's not the only change.
牙齿被喙取代
Teeth have been replaced by beaks...
使其能够以新的食物为食
...that allow them to feed on new diets.
但仅靠进食与飞行上的进步
But advances in feeding and flight alone
并不足以确保鸟类有一个光明的未来
were not enough to ensure the future of the birds.
它们还依赖于 一种相当引人注目的古老行为
They also drew on a rather flamboyant ancient behavior,
这种行为能够确保最优秀者生存下来
a behavior that ensures the survival of the fittest.
求爱
Courtship.
对火烈鸟来说
For the flamingos,
这就是一场舞蹈比赛
that means a dance-off...
它们对此非常认真
and it's taken very seriously.
裁判极为挑剔
The judges are extremely fussy.
它们需要如此
And they need to be
才能选出最佳配偶
to choose the best mates.
鸟类几乎全都与其它恐龙一起灭绝
Birds had almost been wiped out with the rest of the dinosaurs.
然而由于羽毛的天赋
Instead, thanks to their feathery talents,
它们有机会崛起
they'd have a chance to rise.
但它们的道路不会平坦
But their path would not be easy.
小行星撞击之后
In the aftermath of the asteroid,
全球气温骤降25度
global temperatures plunged by a staggering 25 degrees.
但由于能够适应寒冷环境
But thanks to their ability to survive the cold,
在撞击发生后仅几百万年
just a few million years after the impact,
松树林就回来了
the pine forests had returned.
种子使恐龙时代的巨大针叶树
Seeds ensured that the giant conifers from the days of the dinosaurs
存活了下来
made it through.
其中最大的 高度超过100米
The greatest of them all, reaching over 100 meters into the air,
红杉
were the redwoods.
在森林的庇护之下
Sheltered beneath the forests
有一群温血动物
was a group of warm-blooded animals
长♥期♥隐藏在阴影之中
that had long hidden in the shadows.
哺乳动物
The mammals.
起初 它们是小型生物
At first, they were small creatures,
与田鼠相仿
similar to voles.
恐龙灭绝之后 它们可以自♥由♥地出来活动
With the dinosaurs gone, they were free to come out in the open.
但是在小行星撞击之后仅500万年
But just five million years after the asteroid,
松树林就成为了新物种的家园
the pine forest became home to a new breed of creature.
它们今天仍在我们的森林中出没
And they still haunt our forests today.
猫头鹰
The owls.
鸟类从幸存者变为捕食者
Birds had turned from mere survivors into predators.
这是乌林鸮
This is the great gray owl.
它有尖锐的爪子
She's armed with razor-sharp claws
以及更敏锐的视力
and even sharper eyesight...
因此能够在飞行中击杀对手
making her deadly on the wing.
它能够几乎无声地飞行
Able to fly in near silence,
它会倾听猎物的声音
she listens for prey.
对于小型哺乳动物来说 哪里都不安全
For tiny mammals, nowhere is safe.
第一批猫头鹰在北方的松树林肆虐时
While the first owls were menacing the northern pine forests,
另一个重要的栖息地也在别处出现
elsewhere, another important habitat was emerging.
小行星 令地球上四分之三的动植物物种灭绝
The asteroid had wiped out three-quarters of all Earth's plant and animal species.
在热带地区 经过六百万年
In the tropics, it took six million years,
生命终于回归
but life did eventually return.
然而 这一次完全不同
However, this time, it was totally different.
这次复苏的动力
The revival was powered by a huge increase...
来自于开花植物多样性的剧增
in the diversity of flowering plants.
比任何已经灭绝的物种都更为丰富
Richer than anything that had gone before...
热带雨林
...the tropical rainforests.
这个繁荣的栖息地
This thriving habitat
以花与昆虫授粉者的密切关系为基础
was built on the close relationship between flowers and their insect pollinators.
但有一个新来者
But there was a new arrival...
向昆虫的领地发起进攻
...who muscled in on the insect's domain.
它们利用非凡的飞行技能
Using incredible flying skills,
在丛林的复杂世界中穿梭
they could navigate the complex world of the jungle.
它们变得非常微小
They'd become miniature,
因此能够采集到甜甜的花蜜
granting them access to the flower's sweet nectar.
它们的后代 至今任保持着这样的行为方式
And their descendants are still at it today.
蜂鸟
The hummingbirds.
为了夺取蜂蜜
To plunder the nectar,
它们进化出像昆虫一样的悬停能力
they've evolved to hover just like insects...
翅膀每秒煽动80次
...beating wings at 80 times a second.
长长的喙使它们能够吸食各种花朵
Elongated beaks allow them to feed on a kaleidoscope of different flowers.
蜂鸟比许多昆虫对手更灵活
The hummingbirds outmaneuver many of their insect rivals.
但所有这些活动都需要大量的能量
But all this activity comes with a huge thirst for energy.
因此大家竞相争夺最好的花朵
So the best flowers are worth fighting for.
喙也可以当作武器
Beaks double as weapons.
但有一种蜂鸟不需要战斗
But one species of hummingbird has no need to battle.
它拥有一种非凡的适应性
It has an extraordinary adaptation
令竞争对手毫无机会
that leaves the competition standing.
剑嘴蜂鸟
Enter the swordbill.
它有一个极长的附属器官
He boasts an impressively long appendage.
它的喙就像开锁的钥匙
His beak is like a key in a lock,
所以只有它能够享用 难以触及的天使喇叭花花蜜
so only he can enjoy the hard-to-reach nectar of the angel trumpet flower.
大灾变之后的岁月中
In the ages following the apocalypse,
巨大的恐龙也许不再主宰森林
giant dinosaurs may have no longer roamed the forest,
但它们的小表弟以一种全新的方式
but their tiny cousins had recolonized them
重新占领了森林
in a completely new way.
但变小并不适用于地球的每一个地方
But becoming small wouldn't work in every part of the planet.
（2000万年前）
恐龙的灭绝
The death of the dinosaurs
使地球上许多重要的栖息地 变得唾手可得
had left many of Earth's great habitats free for the taking.
平原尤其如此
None more so than the plains.
在早期的南美 小行星撞击的4600万年后
And in early South America, 46 million years after the asteroid,