科学家发现世界上已知的最古老的动物

Scientists Find World's Oldest-known Animal
科学家发现世界上已知的最古老的动物
A millipede-like creature that was recently discovered in Scotland may be the oldest-known land animal. This small, fossilized creature, some 425 million years old, helped lead the way for the many animals that would eventually live on land.
最近在苏格兰发现的一种类似千足虫的动物可能是已知的最古老陆地动物。这个已经化石化的小生物大约有4.25亿年的历史，为许多最终生活在陆地上的动物引领了方向。
Researchers said they found the creature’s remains on the island of Kerrera in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. It lived close to a lake and probably ate dead plants. Fossils of the oldest-known plant with a stem were found in the same area.
研究人员表示，他们在苏格兰内赫布里底群岛的凯雷拉岛上发现了这种生物的遗骸。它生活在一个湖边，可能以枯萎的植物为食。同一地区还发现了已知最古老的有茎植物化石。
While the creature, called Kampecaris obanesis, is the earliest land animal known from a fossil, soil worms are believed to have lived before them – perhaps 450 million years ago.
虽然这种被称为“Kampecaris obanesis”的生物是已知的最早的陆地动物化石，但据信土壤蠕虫生活在陆地上的时间或早于它们——大约在4.5亿年前。
That information comes from Michael Brookfield of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Massachusetts Boston. Brookfield was the lead writer of the research report that described the findings in the journal Historical Biology.
这些信息由德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校和马萨诸塞大学波士顿分校的迈克尔·布鲁克菲尔德分享。布鲁克菲尔德是该研究报告的主要作者，该报告发表在《历史生物学》杂志。
Kampecaris was about 2.5 centimeters long. It looked like modern millipedes, but it was a member of a group that died out. It was not a direct ancestor of the millipedes that live now.
Kampecaris长约2.5厘米。它看起来像现代的千足虫，但其实属于一个灭绝的物种，并不是现如今生活的千足虫的直系祖先。
Life first began in the world’s oceans, with a growth in diversity some 540 million years ago. Some kinds of plants began appearing on land around 450 million years ago. The land vertebrates – animals that have a backbone or spine – showed up some 375 million years ago.
生命最初起源于地球上的海洋中，多样性大约在5.4亿年前有所增长。大约4.5亿年前，一些植物开始出现在陆地上。陆地脊椎动物——有脊骨或脊椎的动物——大约在3.75亿年前出现。
These animals were the ancestors of the reptiles, birds and mammals that are alive today – including humans.
这些动物是当今爬行动物、鸟类和哺乳动物(包括人类)的祖先。
Human beings first appeared about 300,000 years ago.
人类最早出现在大约30万年前。
I’m John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔报道。