中國古墓中發(fā)現(xiàn)已絕種的全新屬種長臂猿

British researchers have identified a gibbon found in an ancient Chinese tomb as a never-before seen, now-extinct genus and species.

英國研究人員確認，在中國一處古墓中發(fā)現(xiàn)的長臂猿是一種前所未見且現(xiàn)已滅絕的屬種。

Samuel Turvey, a conservationist and gibbon expert, was touring a Chinese museum in 2009 when a partial skull caught his eye. It had been found buried, along with several other animals in the tomb of Lady Xia, a grandmother of China’s first emperor Qin Shihuang, in what is now Shaanxi, China. The tomb was estimated to be 2,200 to 2,300 years old.

2009年，環(huán)保主義者、長臂猿專家塞繆爾·特維(Samuel Turvey)在中國一座博物館內(nèi)參觀時，一個不完整的頭骨吸引了他的注意。頭骨是在位于中國陜西的夏姬墓中發(fā)現(xiàn)的，同時被埋葬的還有其他動物。夏姬是中國第一位皇帝秦始皇的祖母，這座墓估計有2200至2300年的歷史。

Dr. Turvey was struck by the shape of the head, which didn’t look like any modern animal he knew, said James Hansford, a postdoctoral student in Turvey’s lab at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London.

在特維的倫敦動物學會(Zoological Society of London)動物研究所實驗室讀博士后的詹姆斯·漢斯福德(James Hansford)說，這個頭部的形狀讓特維吃了一驚，它看起來不像他所知的任何現(xiàn)代動物。

A new paper, published Thursday in Science, confirms that his instinct was correct. Dr. Turvey’s research team, identified the animal as a member of a new genus and species, Junzi imperialis. Gibbons were seen as a symbol of scholar-officials in ancient China, and junzi means “scholarly gentlemen.”

周四在《科學》(Science)雜志上發(fā)表的一篇新論文證實，他的直覺沒錯。特維的研究團隊明確了該生物是一種新的屬和種——帝王君子(Junzi imperialis)長臂猿。在古代中國，長臂猿被視為是士大夫的象征，君子則有“有修養(yǎng)的學者”之意。

There are four gibbon genera alive in Asia today, including a species that is the most endangered mammal on earth.

亞洲如今現(xiàn)存四個長臂猿屬，其中一個物種還是地球上最瀕危的哺乳動物。

In comparison to living gibbons, the new one has a comparatively flat, small face, Mr. Hansford said, with canines that are particularly long for the animal’s size.

漢斯福德說，與現(xiàn)存的長臂猿相比，新發(fā)現(xiàn)的這個物種有著相對較扁平且較小的面部，且按該物種的大小來說牙齒特別的長。

The team was not able to do DNA analysis on the cranium and jaw, but, using digital scans, compared its shape to skulls from hundreds of animals across Asia and in collections in Germany and England, Dr. Hansford said. “This one sticks out as really different, something definitely separate as a genus,” he said.

該團隊無法對顱骨和下頜進行DNA分析，但漢斯福德表示，通過數(shù)字掃描并將其形狀與亞洲數(shù)百個同類動物以及德國和英國的收藏進行比較，“該物種十分突出，非常的不一樣，絕對可以另外歸為一屬，”他說。

No other gibbon has ever been found in a tomb, said Susan Cheyne, who was not involved in the research, but who collaborates with team members. It’s extremely rare, she said, to find such old gibbon remains anywhere because their forest habitat tends to degrade bones quickly.

未參與研究但與團隊成員有協(xié)作的蘇珊·切尼(Susan Cheyne)表示，此前從未在墳墓內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)過長臂猿。她表示，不論在哪里找到如此古老的長臂猿遺骸都是極其罕見的，因為它們的棲息地在森林，這往往會讓它們的骨骼迅速降解。

The animal’s placement in the tomb suggests it was kept as a pet. Such a practice could have been devastating to the species, and may explain why it went extinct, said Dr. Cheyne, an associate lecturer in primate conservation at Oxford Brookes University.

長臂猿在墓中的放置表明它曾被當作寵物飼養(yǎng)。作為牛津布魯克斯大學(Oxford Brookes University)靈長類動物保護副講師的切尼表示，這一點對該物種來說可能是毀滅性的，可能也解釋了為什么它會走向滅絕。

The gibbon probably would have been captured as a youngster, she said, because they are particularly “small and cute and fluffy.” That could have meant killing its mother, “potentially impacting the social structure of entire group, which may not survive the loss of an adult,” Dr. Cheyne said. “So each live individual being kept as a pet certainly represents a bigger loss of individuals from the wild.”

她表示，這一長臂猿可能幼年就被人捕獲，因為小長臂猿尤其“又小又可愛，毛絨絨的”。這有可能意味著要殺掉它的母親，“有可能影響整個種群的社會結(jié)構(gòu)，而它們的社會結(jié)構(gòu)在失去一只成年長臂猿后可能難以維系，”切尼說。“所以，每次捕回一只活體當做寵物，必然意味著在野外失去了更多的長臂猿。”

Its presence in the tomb strongly suggests that humans played a role in the species’ extinction, she said.

她說，長臂猿在墓中的出現(xiàn)充分顯示了人類對該物種的滅絕產(chǎn)生了影響。

The field of gibbon research has taken off in recent years, Cheyne said, with eight new species of living gibbons discovered since 2000 and two just in the last two years. “It goes to show how much we still have to learn about these animals,” she said.

切尼說，長臂猿研究領(lǐng)域近幾年已開始蓬勃發(fā)展，自2000年起，已新發(fā)現(xiàn)現(xiàn)存的八種長臂猿，僅在過去兩年就發(fā)現(xiàn)了兩種。“這不斷證明著我們對于這些生物還有許多需要了解的地方，”她說。

The 20 known living species include, in China, the recently discovered Skywalker gibbon, and the Hainan, which is found only in a small part of Hainan Island, off the southern tip of China. It is considered the most endangered mammal on earth, with fewer than 30 known individuals left in the species, she said.

已知現(xiàn)存的20個物種包括最近在中國發(fā)現(xiàn)的天行長臂猿，以及在中國最南部只能在海南島上的一小塊地區(qū)找到的海南長臂猿。她說，這種長臂猿被視為地球上最瀕危的哺乳動物，已知只剩不到30只。

Dr. Cheyne said that conserving a species requires a multipronged effort, including the end of hunting and the preservation of habitat.

切尼說，保護一個物種需要多方努力，包括停止捕獵以及棲息地保護。

Jo Setchell, a professor of anthropology at Durham University and president of the Primate Society of Great Britain, who was not involved in the work, said the discovery provided new insights.

杜倫大學(Durham University)人類學教授、大英靈長類動物協(xié)會(Primate Society of Great Britain)主席喬·塞切爾(Jo Setchell)并未參與研究工作，她表示該發(fā)現(xiàn)提供了新的視角。

“The broader message is that we might have underestimated the number of primate extinctions caused by humans in the past,” she wrote in an email. “Understanding past extinctions will help us to predict how vulnerable current species are, and therefore help us to protect them more effectively.”

“更廣層面的信息是，我們可能低估了過去因人類而滅絕的靈長類動物數(shù)量，”她在郵件中寫道。“了解過去的滅絕情況將有助于我們預測現(xiàn)有物種的脆弱程度，從而幫助我們更加有效地進行保護。”