??◆双语阅读
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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美的——不像一般爱猫人士可能欣赏猫的美丽、运动能力和独立精神那样，而是从科学的角度来看。戈斯瓦米是伦敦自然历史博物馆的一名进化生物学家，她研究的是脊椎动物的大规模进化模式。她认为猫科动物——从斑猫到老虎——都是典型的进化产物。她的解释从一种新的有趣的视角揭示了猫科动物，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，猫科动物有不同的毛色。但它们的头都是婴儿头。头是圆的，不会随着动物发育成熟而拉长，这是哺乳动物的标准发育模式。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幼年小猫，不过体型更大了。对于狗，育种员利用这种发育变化创造不同脸型的品种。但因为猫科没有这种发育变化，所以除了毛色之外，没有什么可培养的。
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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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这一切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，它们组成了适合切肉的一对臼齿。很多食肉动物的臼齿都在这对切齿的后面，可以磨碎植物之类的东西。但是猫科动物在它们锋利的切齿后面几乎没有东西。有一些猫科动物可能有一个小疙瘩，被称为钉牙，但它不能处理东西。这就是为什么狐狸非常喜欢翻垃圾，而豹子却会杀死牲畜。
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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. there’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，还是一只巨大的狮子或老虎。它们看起来几乎是一样的。作为一个在肉食动物方面专业相当扎实的专家，如果你递给我一个狮子或老虎的头骨，我根本无法分得清。绝大多数人都很难说得清。他们看起来几乎一模一样。猫科动物就是这么相似。如果他们长得太大，会有少量的异速生长(由于体型的原因，身体某一部分相对于整体的不成比例的变化)：面部的轻微拉长且肌肉量增加。但与你在其他群体(如狗)中看到的变化相比，这种变化微不足道。不管怎么说，大型猫科动物和小型猫科动物真的很相似，比你想象的要相似得多。
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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很好，所有猫科动物都实现了这一点，只是体型略有不同。这就是为什么他们在进化上是完美的。它们不需要发生变化。它们的体型可能会变大或变小，但它们不会改变其他任何东西，因为它们在其他方面已经进化得很好了。他们不是杂而不精的三脚猫；他们在一个方面做到了大师级别。
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本文节选自：scientific american（科学美国人）
发布时间：2023.10.04
作者：kate wong
原文标题：cats are perfect. an evolutionary biologist explains why?
◆词汇积累
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1.admire
英/ ?d?ma??(r) /美/ ?d?ma??r /
v.钦佩，仰慕；欣赏，观赏?
2.athleticism
英/ ?θ?let?s?z?m /美/ ?θ?let?s?z?m /
n.崇尚运动，积极参与运动；运动能力，运动才能?
3.standpoint
英/ ?st?ndp??nt /美/ ?st?ndp??nt /
n.立场，观点，角度；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；竞争，争夺；处理，对付?
6.quintessential
英/ ?kw?nt??sen?l /美/ ?kw?nt??sen?l /
adj.典型的，完美的；<正式>本质的，精髓的
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7.elongate
英/ ?i?l??ɡe?t /美/ ??l???ɡe?t /
vt.拉长；使延长；使伸长
vi.拉长；延长；伸长
adj.伸长的；延长的
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8.snouty
英/ ?sna?t? /
adj.形状像鼻子的（尤指像猪鼻）；有吻状突出物的
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9.variation
英/ ?ve?ri?e??(?)n /美/ ?veri?e??(?)n /
n.变化，变动；变奏曲；变化，变异；（天文）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.要点；小块，结节；瘤；残根?
13.peg
英/ peɡ /美/ peɡ /
n.挂钩，挂钉；<英>晾衣夹子；（系帐篷用的）桩；（标明某物位置的）界桩；（价格、数量等的）限度，标定点；（进一步讨论某事物的）依据，理由；（桶）孔塞；<非正式>（摩托车的）脚镫；赛位（分配给参赛者钓鱼或射击的位置）；<非正式>（人的）腿；少量威士忌（白兰地）；（烈酒的）计量，度量；弦钮，琴栓；<美，非正式>全力投球，钉子球
v.用钉（或桩）固定；使工资、价格等固定于某水平（或与……挂鈎）；用衣夹把（洗的衣服）夹在衣绳上；（钓鱼或射击比赛中）给（比赛者）分派赛位；<非正式>视为，看作；（棒球）投掷快速低球；（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）斑豹造型
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15.gigantic
英/ d?a??ɡ?nt?k /美/ d?a??ɡ?nt?k /
adj.巨大的，庞大的?
16.skull
英/ sk?l /美/ sk?l /
n.颅骨，头骨；<非正式>脑袋，头脑
v.<非正式>击中（某人的）头
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17.hard-pressed
英/ ?hɑ?d ?prest /美/ ?hɑ?rd ?prest /
adj.被紧紧追赶的；任务紧急而繁忙的；处境艰难的?
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；抓住，证明……有罪；戳穿，揭露；（尤指体育运动中）获得，赢得；（选手）锁定（胜局）；<非正式>用力击打；<美，非正式>完美地完成，漂亮地做；(棒球)（外场手）把（跑垒者）杀出局；<美>（选手）击败（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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◆词组搭配
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1.play off ?挑拨；打加时赛；很好地配合；假装不尴尬、不沮丧、不受影响；展示，显示，实施
2.grind up ?研磨成粉末；粉碎
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.
结构：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.????
