??◆双语阅览

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anjali goswami thinks?cats?are perfect—not in the same way that the average cat person might admire their beauty, athleticism and independence of spirit but from a scientific standpoint. goswami is an evolutionary biologist at the natural history museum in london who studies large-scale patterns of evolution in vertebrate animals through time. she contends that?cats—from tabbies to?tigers—are quintessential?products of evolution. her explanation reveals cats, and the meaning of evolutionary success, in a fascinating new light.

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安雅丽·戈斯瓦米认为猫是完满的——不像一般爱猫人士可以赏识猫的秀丽、运动才能和独立精力那样，而是从科学的视点来看。戈斯瓦米是伦敦天然前史博物馆的一名进化生物学家，她研讨的是脊椎动物的大规划进化方法。她认为猫科动物——从斑猫到山君——都是典型的进化产品。她的说明从一种新的风趣的视角提示了猫科动物，以及进化成功的意义。

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they have different coat colors, sure. but they all have the same baby heads. they’re round, and they don’t elongate as the animal matures, which is the standard developmental pattern for mammals. dogs have short, round faces as puppies but long, snouty faces as adults. an adult cat looks pretty much like a baby cat but bigger. with dogs, breeders play off of that developmental variation to create breeds with different face shapes. but because cats don’t have that developmental variation, there isn’t much to play around with other than coat color.

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当然，猫科动物有不一样的毛色。但它们的头都是婴儿头。头是圆的，不会跟着动物发育老到而拉长，这是哺乳动物的标准发育方法。小狗时期的脸短而圆，成年狗的脸则被拉长了。一只成年猫看起来就像一只年少小猫，不过体型更大了。关于狗，育种员使用这种发育改变创造不一样脸型的品种。但因为猫科没有这种发育改变，所以除了毛色之外，没有啥可培育的。

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this all goes back to the fact that cats are extremely specialized. every member of the order of mammals known as the carnivorans, including cats and dogs, has an upper fourth premolar and a lower first molar that form what we call the slicing pair, which slices meat. a lot of carnivorans retain molars behind the slicing pair that can grind up stuff such as vegetation. but cats have lost pretty much everything behind their slicing teeth. they might have a little nub, a peg tooth, but it can’t process stuff. this is why foxes are perfectly happy going through garbage, whereas leopards will kill livestock instead.

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这悉数都与猫科动物高度专业化这件事有关。每一种被称为食肉动物的哺乳动物，包括猫和狗，都有一个上颌的第四前臼齿和一个下颌的第一臼齿，它们构成了合适切肉的一队槭齿。许多食肉动物的臼齿都在这对切齿的后边，可以磨碎植物之类的东西。可是猫科动物在它们尖利的切齿后边几乎没有东西。有一些猫科动物可以有一个小疙瘩，被称为钉牙，但它不能处置东西。这就是为啥狐狸非常喜爱翻废物，而豹子却会杀死家畜。

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it doesn’t matter if they’re a tiny bengal cat or a gigantic lion or tiger. they’re still gonna basically look the same. if you handed me a lion or tiger skull, i could not—as a person who’s a pretty solid expert in carnivorans in general—tell you which one it was. most people would be hard-pressed to tell you. they look nearly identical. that’s how similar cats are. the

re’s a teeny amount of allometry [disproportionate change in one body part relative to the whole as a consequence of size] if they get really big: a small elongation of the face and an increase in muscle mass. but the variation is nothing compared with what you see in other groups, such as dogs. ultimately big cats are really similar to small cats, far more so than you would predict.

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不管它们是一只小小的孟加拉猫，仍是一只无量的狮子或山君。它们看起来几乎是相同的。作为一个在肉食动物方面专业恰当厚实的专家，假定你递给我一个狮子或山君的头骨，我根柢无法分得清。绝大大都人都很难说得清。他们看起来几乎千篇一律。猫科动物就是这么类似。假定他们长得太大，会有少量的异速生长(因为体型的缘由，身体某一有些相关于全体的不成比例的改变)：脸部的纤细拉长且肌肉量添加。但与你在其他集体(如狗)中看到的改变比较，这种改变微缺乏道。不管怎么说，大型猫科动物和小型猫科动物真的很类似，比你愿望的要类似得多。

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cats have nailed this one thing so well that they all do it and just come up with slightly different sizes. that’s why they’re perfect, evolutionarily. they don’t need variation. they might get bigger or smaller, but they don’t change anything else because they’re doing it just right otherwise. they’re not jacks-of-all-trades; they’re masters of one.

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猫科动物在这方面做得极好，一切猫科动物都完成了这一点，只是体型略有不一样。这就是为啥他们在进化上是完满的。它们不需要发生改变。它们的体型可以会变大或变小，但它们不会改动其他任何东西，因为它们在其他方面现已进化得极好了。他们不是杂而不精的三脚猫；他们在一个方面做到了大师等级。

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这篇文章节选自：scientific american（科学美国人）

发布时刻：2023.10.04

作者：kate wong

原文标题：cats are perfect. an evolutionary biologist explains why?

◆词汇堆集

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1.admire

英/ ?d?ma??(r) /美/ ?d?ma??r /

v.敬佩，景仰；赏识，赏识?

2.athleticism

英/ ?θ?let?s?z?m /美/ ?θ?let?s?z?m /

n.崇尚运动，活泼参加运动；运动才能，运动才干?

3.standpoint

英/ ?st?ndp??nt /美/ ?st?ndp??nt /

n.情绪，观念，视点；观景点，观看位?

4.vertebrate

英/ ?v??t?br?t /美/ ?v??rt?br?t /
n.脊椎动物
adj.脊椎动物（有关）的；有脊椎的

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5.contend

英/ k?n?tend /美/ k?n?tend /

v.声称，主张；竞赛，抢夺；处置，抵挡?

6.quintessential

英/ ?kw?nt??sen?l /美/ ?kw?nt??sen?l /
adj.典型的，完满的；<正式>本质的，精华的

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7.elongate

英/ ?i?l??ɡe?t /美/ ??l???ɡe?t /
vt.拉长；使延伸；使伸长
vi.拉长；延伸；伸长
adj.伸长的；延伸的

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8.snouty

英/ ?sna?t? /
adj.形状像鼻子的（尤指像猪鼻）；有吻状杰出物的

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9.variation

英/ ?ve?ri?e??(?)n /美/ ?veri?e??(?)n /
n.改变，改变；变奏曲；改变，变异；（地舆）二均差；（数）变分，变差；磁偏角；（芭蕾）单人舞

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10.carnivoran

n.食肉目动物
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11.premolar

英/ pri??m??l? /美/ ?pri??mo?l?r /
n.前磨牙；前臼齿
adj.前磨牙的；前臼齿的

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12.nub

英/ n?b /美/ n?b /

n.要害；小块，结节；瘤；残根?

13.peg

英/ peɡ /美/ peɡ /
n.挂钩，挂钉；<英>晾衣夹子；（系帐子用的）桩；（标明某物方位的）界桩；（价格、数量等的）极限，标定点；（进一步谈论某事物的）根据，理由；（桶）孔塞；<非正式>（摩托车的）脚镫；赛位（分配给参赛者垂钓或射击的方位）；<非正式>（人的）腿；少量威士忌（白兰地）；（烈酒的）计量，衡量；弦钮，琴栓；<美，非正式>全力投球，钉子球
v.用钉（或桩）固定；使薪酬、价格等固定于某水平（或与……挂鈎）；用衣夹把（洗的衣裳）夹在衣绳上；（垂钓或射击竞赛中）给（竞赛者）分配赛位；<非正式>视为，看作；（棒球）抛掷快速低球；（在克里比奇牌戏中）用得分枚计分；疾行，孜孜不倦地做某事
adj.越往下端越细的

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14.leopard

英/ ?lep?d /美/ ?lep?rd /
n.豹；豹斑；（纹章）斑豹外型

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15.gigantic

英/ d?a??ɡ?nt?k /美/ d?a??ɡ?nt?k /

adj.无量的，巨大的?

16.skull

英/ sk?l /美/ sk?l /
n.颅骨，头骨；<非正式>脑袋，脑筋
v.<非正式>击中（或人的）头

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17.hard-pressed

英/ ?hɑ?d ?prest /美/ ?hɑ?rd ?prest /

adj.被紧紧追逐的；使命紧迫而繁忙的；境况困难的?

18.allometry

英/ ??l?m?tri /美/ ??lɑ?m?tri /
n.异速生长，体形变异

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19.nail

英/ ne?l /美/ ne?l /
n.钉子；指甲，趾甲；（一些软喙鸟类）上喙的硬甲壳；纳尔（布匹长度单位）
v.（用钉子）钉住，钉牢；捉住，证明……有罪；拆穿，戳穿；（尤指体育运动中）获得，赢得；（选手）断定（胜局）；<非正式>用力击打；<美，非正式>完满地结束，秀丽地做；(棒球)（外场手）把（跑垒者）杀出局；<美>（选手）打败（或智胜）（对手）；<美，俚>（男性）与……性交；（外场手）把（跑垒者）杀出局

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◆词组分配

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1.play off ?挑拨；打加时赛；极好地协作；假装不为难、不沮丧、不受影响；展示，闪现，施行

2.grind up ?研磨成粉末；损坏

3.jacks-of-all-trades 万事通；杂而不精的人；三脚猫；万能博士

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◆写作句总结

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原句：cats have nailed this one thing so well that they all do it and just come up with slightly different sizes.

规划：主语 + have nailed + this one thing + so well? that they all do it and just come up with [sht].

例句：china has nailed this one strategy of economic development so well that they continue to implement it and just come up with slightly different approaches.????