Ancient Man was not a hunter but the hunted, according to new research that suggests that human intelligence and social co-operation evolved to allow our ancestors to escape predators rather than to catch prey.
evolve：v. 進(jìn)化 predator：n. 肉食動物、掠奪者 prey：n. 被掠食者
Studies of fossil teeth and bones from human species that lived millions of years ago indicate that meat did not play a significant part in diet, and that at least one in twenty met their end in a predator's jaws.
fossil：n. 化石
The findings support the idea that the communication skills and group living that are characteristic of modern Homo sapiens evolved as defensive measures against lions, hyenas, crocodiles and eagles.
Homo sapiens：智人（現(xiàn)代人的學(xué)名） hyena：n. 土狼、鬣狗
If the predation hypothesis is correct, it might explain why hominids of the genus Homo, such as Homo erectus, survived to give rise to modern humans while other relatives such as Paranthropus, that lived alongside for hundreds of thousands of years, died out.
hypothesis：n. 假設(shè) hominid：n. 原始人類
If Homo erectus and Paranthropus were threatened by the same predators, but the former's social skills made it even a little more likely to escape, the small difference would have become a great advantage over time. Predators would have taken more and more of the less evasive species, which would eventually have been driven extinct.
evasive：adj. 逃避的 extinct：adj. 滅絕的
Research by Robert Sussman, of Washington University, St Louis, has identified that teeth belonging to an older species of hominid, Australopithecus afarensis, were poorly adapted for meat eating, suggesting that it was not a hunter. About 6 per cent of all A. afarensis bones, however, show tooth marks that are consistent with predation, indicating that this was a major cause of death.
"Fossil teeth weren't good for eating meat, so why would we hunt meat?" Dr. Sussman told the conference. Augustin Fuentes, of Notre Dame University, Indiana, said: "The bottom line is that predation is important for our evolution. Humanity evolved more by helping each other than by fighting with one another."
中文：
古代人類不僅不是捕獵者，反而是其它動物捕食的對象。最新一項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果顯示，人類的聰明才智及社會合作能力之所以不斷進(jìn)化，是為了使自身逃脫捕食動物的追趕，而非獵取它們。
據(jù)《泰晤士報(bào)》2月20日報(bào)道，通過對數(shù)百萬年前的遠(yuǎn)古人類的牙齒及骨骼化石的研究，美國華盛頓大學(xué)的羅伯特-瑟斯曼博士發(fā)現(xiàn)，肉類食物在遠(yuǎn)古人類的日常飲食當(dāng)中并不占據(jù)重要位置；相反，他們中至少有二十分之一的人喪命于食肉動物的口中。這個發(fā)現(xiàn)支持了此前的一個觀點(diǎn)，即認(rèn)為晚期智人（大約從距今四五萬年前開始出現(xiàn)）具備的兩個特征——思想交流能力和過群體生活，是他們?yōu)榉婪丢{子、鬣狗、鱷魚及老鷹等食肉動物的攻擊而進(jìn)化來的。
報(bào)道說，如果上述觀點(diǎn)正確的話，那么將不難解釋為何一些原始人類（如直立人，生活在距今約180萬～20萬年前）能夠生存下來，并進(jìn)化成現(xiàn)在的人類；而另外一些原始人（如傍人Paranthropus）卻最終走向了滅絕。
如果直立人和傍人當(dāng)時面臨著相同的捕食動物的威脅，但前者的社會技能使其較之后者擁有稍多些的逃跑可能。久而久之，這種小小的不同就會演變成一種巨大的生存優(yōu)勢，會有越來越多不善于逃避的原始人類受到捕捉，并最終走向滅亡。
報(bào)道說，瑟斯曼博士對一種原始人類——阿法南猿（Australopithecus afarensis）的牙齒進(jìn)行研究后，確認(rèn)他們的牙齒并不適合吃肉。這說明，阿法南猿并非捕獵者。另外，有大約6％的阿法南猿的骨骼化石上都留有其它食肉動物的牙印，這說明當(dāng)時受到其它動物的捕捉是導(dǎo)致他們死亡的一個主要原因。
evolve：v. 進(jìn)化 predator：n. 肉食動物、掠奪者 prey：n. 被掠食者
Studies of fossil teeth and bones from human species that lived millions of years ago indicate that meat did not play a significant part in diet, and that at least one in twenty met their end in a predator's jaws.
fossil：n. 化石
The findings support the idea that the communication skills and group living that are characteristic of modern Homo sapiens evolved as defensive measures against lions, hyenas, crocodiles and eagles.
Homo sapiens：智人（現(xiàn)代人的學(xué)名） hyena：n. 土狼、鬣狗
If the predation hypothesis is correct, it might explain why hominids of the genus Homo, such as Homo erectus, survived to give rise to modern humans while other relatives such as Paranthropus, that lived alongside for hundreds of thousands of years, died out.
hypothesis：n. 假設(shè) hominid：n. 原始人類
If Homo erectus and Paranthropus were threatened by the same predators, but the former's social skills made it even a little more likely to escape, the small difference would have become a great advantage over time. Predators would have taken more and more of the less evasive species, which would eventually have been driven extinct.
evasive：adj. 逃避的 extinct：adj. 滅絕的
Research by Robert Sussman, of Washington University, St Louis, has identified that teeth belonging to an older species of hominid, Australopithecus afarensis, were poorly adapted for meat eating, suggesting that it was not a hunter. About 6 per cent of all A. afarensis bones, however, show tooth marks that are consistent with predation, indicating that this was a major cause of death.
"Fossil teeth weren't good for eating meat, so why would we hunt meat?" Dr. Sussman told the conference. Augustin Fuentes, of Notre Dame University, Indiana, said: "The bottom line is that predation is important for our evolution. Humanity evolved more by helping each other than by fighting with one another."
中文：
古代人類不僅不是捕獵者，反而是其它動物捕食的對象。最新一項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果顯示，人類的聰明才智及社會合作能力之所以不斷進(jìn)化，是為了使自身逃脫捕食動物的追趕，而非獵取它們。
據(jù)《泰晤士報(bào)》2月20日報(bào)道，通過對數(shù)百萬年前的遠(yuǎn)古人類的牙齒及骨骼化石的研究，美國華盛頓大學(xué)的羅伯特-瑟斯曼博士發(fā)現(xiàn)，肉類食物在遠(yuǎn)古人類的日常飲食當(dāng)中并不占據(jù)重要位置；相反，他們中至少有二十分之一的人喪命于食肉動物的口中。這個發(fā)現(xiàn)支持了此前的一個觀點(diǎn)，即認(rèn)為晚期智人（大約從距今四五萬年前開始出現(xiàn)）具備的兩個特征——思想交流能力和過群體生活，是他們?yōu)榉婪丢{子、鬣狗、鱷魚及老鷹等食肉動物的攻擊而進(jìn)化來的。
報(bào)道說，如果上述觀點(diǎn)正確的話，那么將不難解釋為何一些原始人類（如直立人，生活在距今約180萬～20萬年前）能夠生存下來，并進(jìn)化成現(xiàn)在的人類；而另外一些原始人（如傍人Paranthropus）卻最終走向了滅絕。
如果直立人和傍人當(dāng)時面臨著相同的捕食動物的威脅，但前者的社會技能使其較之后者擁有稍多些的逃跑可能。久而久之，這種小小的不同就會演變成一種巨大的生存優(yōu)勢，會有越來越多不善于逃避的原始人類受到捕捉，并最終走向滅亡。
報(bào)道說，瑟斯曼博士對一種原始人類——阿法南猿（Australopithecus afarensis）的牙齒進(jìn)行研究后，確認(rèn)他們的牙齒并不適合吃肉。這說明，阿法南猿并非捕獵者。另外，有大約6％的阿法南猿的骨骼化石上都留有其它食肉動物的牙印，這說明當(dāng)時受到其它動物的捕捉是導(dǎo)致他們死亡的一個主要原因。