曾经生活在中国南方的“步氏巨猿”是有史以来最大的灵长类动物，在人类到达该地区之前就灭绝了。最近，来自中国、澳大利亚和美国的研究人员发现了新的证据，证明了这些遥远的人类祖先遭遇的命运。这一结果再次印证了“适者生存”这一无可辩驳的结论。
An ancient species of great ape likely disappeared hundreds of thousands of years ago when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists recently reported. The species is known as Gigantopithecus blacki. It once lived in southern China. It stood 3 meters tall and weighed up to 295 kilograms. It represents the largest great ape known to scientists.
科学家最近报告说，数十万年前，气候变化使一种古老的类人猿最喜欢的水果在干旱季节无法获得，它们可能就因此而灭绝了。该物种被称为步氏巨猿。它曾经生活在中国南方。它站3米高，重达295公斤。它代表了科学家已知的最大的类人猿。
“It’s just a massive animal — just really, really big,” said Renaud Joannes-Boyau. He is a researcher at Australia’s Southern Cross University. He helped write the study, which recently appeared in the publication Nature. But its size may also have been a weakness. Joannes-Boyau said, “When food starts to be scarce, it’s so big that it can’t climb trees to explore new food sources.”
“这是一种巨大的动物，非常非常大，”雷诺·乔恩斯-博约说。他是澳大利亚南十字星大学的一名研究员。他帮助撰写了这项研究，该研究最近发表在《自然》杂志上。但它的大体型也可能是一个弱点。乔恩斯-博约说:“当食物开始短缺时，它体型太大了，以至于不能爬上树去探索新的食物来源。”
The huge apes likely looked similar to the modern orangutan (红毛猩猩). It survived for around 2 million years in the forested land of China’s Guangxi area. They ate plants that included fruits and flowers — until the environment began to change. Starting about 600,000 years ago, Guangxi’s forests began producing fewer fruits. The area was experiencing more periods of dry weather. Researchers examined pollen (花粉) and sediment (沉积物) found in caves to learn more about the changes and their effects. The giant apes did not disappear quickly, the researchers say. They likely went extinct sometime between 215, 000 and 295, 000 years ago.
这种巨大的猿类看起来很像现代的红毛猩猩。它在中国广西地区的森林土地上存活了大约200万年。它们吃一些要开花结果的植物——直到环境开始改变。从大约60万年前开始，广西森林的果实产量开始减少。该地区正经历更多的干旱期。研究人员检查了洞穴中发现的花粉和沉积物，以了解更多关于变化及其影响的信息。研究人员说，该类巨猿并没有很快消失。它们可能在21.5万到29.5万年前的某个时候灭绝的。
As the climate changed, smaller apes may have been able to climb trees to search for different food. But the researchers found that the giant apes ate more food that provided less nutrients. That less nutritious food included tree bark and thin grasses called reeds. “When the forest changed, there was not enough food preferred by the species,” said Zhang Yingqi of China’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. He helped write the study.
随着气候的变化，较小的类人猿可能已经能够爬树寻找不同的食物。但研究人员发现，这种巨猿吃的食物提供的营养更少。那些营养价值较低的食物包括树皮和被称为芦苇的植物。中科院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所的张颖奇说:“当森林发生变化时，这种动物喜欢的食物就不够了。”他帮助撰写了这项研究。
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