与巨兽同行（2005）

这是四十四亿年前的地球
This is Earth. Four point four billion years ago.
A toxic world with no hope of life.
那是一处有毒,没有生命的地域
Then everything changed.
但一切不断改变
Another planet, Thea, smashed into Earth
另一个行星忒伊亚撞向地球
and the two planets fused,
两个行星融合
形成了一个新世界
creating a brand new world.
亦是我们的世界
Our world.
Even today, Thea lies right beneath our feet.
时至今日,忒伊亚仍处于我们脚下
而忒伊亚某部份更成了月亮
A smaller chunk of Thea became our moon.
慢慢地,海洋形成
And slowly our oceans formed.
地球逐步孕育出生命
Until life on Earth was ready to begin.
But who would inherit this blue planet?
但谁会继承这个蓝色行星？
这是恐龙出现前的故事
This series tells the extraordinary story of life before the dinosaurs.
A time when strange and savage
那时,古怪和原始的生物
creatures fought a ruthless battle to rule the Earth.
负责统领这个地球
它们当中,包括我们的祖先
Amongst them were our own earliest ancestors,
它的出现奠定了人类存在
whose survival would decide whether we humans would exist at all.
它们不断进化
As they evolved,
these bizarre creatures created the blueprint
为人类和今天所有生物写下蓝图
not only for our bodies,
but for everything living today.
This is life's forgotten story.
这是生命被遗忘了的故事
我们的世界有一场战事
An epic war for our world.
A war between monsters.
而主角正是一群怪物
这是我们的行星
This is our planet,
在五亿三千年前
five hundred and thirty million years ago.
Nothing yet lives on land,
那时陆地仍然未有生物
但海洋却是另一回事
but in the ocean it's a different story.
Life has already been evolving for millions of years
生命已经以缓慢和稳定的速度
at a slow and steady pace.
不断进化
The seas are full of simple,
海洋里布满了简单和柔软的生物
soft bodied creatures,
它们在大海漫无目的地飘浮
blindly drifting in the currents.
Now, however, in the coastal shallows below,
但沿岸边
evolution has stepped on the accelerator.
进化已大大加速
这是第一个猎食者
Predators have taken their first bite.
它是奇虾
This is Anomalocaris, Earth's first super predator.
地球上首个超级猎食者
This two metre long monster owes his success
它身长两米,是进化的重要里程
to a monumental evolutionary landmark.
眼睛
Eyes.
They may look bizarre but they're not unique.
它们外型古怪
但却没有什么与别不同
寒武纪的海洋里
Many predators in the Cambrian seas
大部份猎食者都进化出这种眼睛
have also evolved eyes.
它们的猎物亦一样
And so have their prey.
一个爆♥炸♥性的结果出现
The consequences have been explosive.
因为有了眼睛
Being able to see and react to enemies
防卫和狩猎就愈来愈激烈
has triggered an arms race between hunter and hunted.
今日这斗争仍然存在
This battle continues today
and is a major force behind the variety of life.
更成了生命变种的主要力量
为了隐藏和防御
To combat being visible and vulnerable,
eighty percent of creates in these shallow seas
八成在这里出生的生物
都拥有这种坚硬外壳
have sturdy skeletons on the outside of their bodies.
These armoured animals are called Arthropods.
这是节肢动物
它会进化出昆虫和蜘蛛
In the future,
they'll give rise to insects and spiders.
But in these crowded waters
在这挤迫的水域,危机处处
there's competition everywhere,
就连强大的奇虾,都受到考验
and even the mighty Anomalocaris's defences are constantly put to the test.
Rigid armour splits if bent too far,
坚硬的装甲因被过份扭曲而破裂
leaving the loser vulnerable.
败阵的一方非常脆弱
To a completely different threat.
并吸引了另一种生物到来
这是耳材村海口鱼
This is Haikouichthys.
它只有拇指般大
He's the size of your thumbnail,
but he's an evolutionary giant.
但却是进化史上的巨人
是地球上第一条鱼
He's the first ever fish.
亦是我们最早的祖先
Our earliest known ancestor.
He's unique,
它非常独特,拥有坚固的外壳
because instead of having armour on the outside,
和结实的身体
he's tough inside.
He's evolved a primitive backbone.
它有一条简单脊骨
He's the very first vertebrate.
是第一只脊椎动物
亦是未来所有脊椎动物的先驱
Forerunner of all future backboned animals,
from the dinosaur, to the elephant, to us.
它们包括恐龙,大象,甚至人类
它的弹性脊椎令它比无脊椎的奇虾
His flexible backbone makes him
more manoeuvrable than spineless Anomalocaris.
He can scavenge flesh, then dart away unharmed.
行动更为自如
致使它可以轻易吞噬猎物,逃过危险
虽然我们小小的脊椎祖先
Our tiny backboned ancestors have survived a sea of monsters,
能在一众海怪之中生存
但前面还有很多场战事在等着
but there are still many more battles ahead.
它们只能选择适应还是死亡
They must adapt or die.
Evolution takes over.
进化一直继续
几百万年过去,鱼儿继续进化
As millions of years pass,
fish build on their basic design.
脊椎附近的肌肉
The muscles around their backbone
evolve into a powerful tail and fins appear.
演化成一条强大的尾巴
鳍亦开始出现
它们进化出清晰的头部
They evolve a distinct head.
它或不像你和我
He may not look like you or I,
但这古怪的鱼类
but this odd fish is becoming the blueprint for our own bodies.
就奠定了我们的身体蓝图
这是头甲鱼
This is Cephalaspis.
它是和平使者,以水藻为生
She's a peaceful grazer who sucks up algae through her jawless mouth.
但它没有颚
拥有坚硬的头部和厚厚的鱼鳞
But she's also developed a tough protective head and thick scales.
但我们祖先的敌人亦不断进化
Our ancestor's arthropod enemies have also been evolving
第二回合已准备就绪
and they're ready for round two.
A hundred million years have passed
又过了一亿年,适者生存这句话
and the fight for survival has filled the Silurian seas with variety.
可以套在希留利亚海域
这时期的某些生物,与今日相类似
Some creatures here would be recognisable today.
海绵在海胆旁边过滤食物
Sponges filter food alongside sea urchins.
鹦鹉螺是乌贼和墨鱼的远房♥亲戚
The orthocone is a distant relative of squid and cuttlefish,
它的长度跟卡车差不多
but he's as long as a truck.
This world is terrorised by
这里出现了一种新形成的节肢动物
a new improved generation of armoured arthropods.
它是布龙度蝎子
Meet Brontoscorpio.
是一米长的怪物
He's a metre long monster scorpion with gills
长有灯泡般大的鳃和刺针
and a stinger the size of a light bulb.
He zeros in on his next meal.
它正寻找猎物
But Cephalaspis has evolved an early warning system.
但头甲鱼已先行进化出警戒系统
它表皮上的独特感应器
Special sensors on her skin detect the tiniest vibrations in the water.
探测到水底里最微少的震动
We've inherited similar senses.
我们亦承继了这种感官
皮肤拥有很敏锐的触觉
They make us sensitive to touch.
因为装甲笨重的原故
With her defensive headgear, Cephalaspis can't swim fast for long.
头甲鱼不能长时间加速
需要经常休息
She must rest frequently.
不久,它就感到非常疲倦
Soon she'll tire completely.
Cephalaspis suddenly changes her path.
头甲鱼突然改变路线
它有不详的预感
She's picking up bad vibrations.
但布龙度蝎子却被蒙在鼓里
Something Brontoscorpio can't detect.
翼鲎是蝎子中的巨人
Pterygotus is the Titan of sea scorpions.
The biggest arthropod of all time.
是体型最大的节肢动物
More than three metres long,
它身长超过三米,等同一条鳄鱼
she's the size of a crocodile.
它得到胜利
She has turned the tables on Brontoscorpio.
它吃了一顿布龙度蝎子大餐
He'll make a good meal for her young.
它更会幼小留下食物
In such dangerous seas there's nowhere to hide.
在这环境下,根本无处躲藏
当繁殖季节来临
When breeding seasons comes,
头甲鱼会集♥合♥起来逃往一个地方
the Cephalaspis congregate to head for the one place
以避开蝎子耳目
they might escape a scorpion's grasp.
Fresh water, inland.
清水,内陆
陆地在这时仍是一片荒芜
Land at this time is like an alien planet.
地面比撒哈拉沙漠还要热
It's a barren expanse of roasting rock hotter than the Sahara.
The air would be toxic to us.
这时的空气对人体有害
因为它含氧量极少
It has much less oxygen
但二氧化碳却比今日多三百倍
and three hundred times more carbon dioxide than today.
But some forms of life have gained a foothold in this furnace.