Global warming could make humans shorter, warn scientists who claim to have found evidence that it caused the world's first horses to shrunk nearly 50 million years ago.
In fact, a team from the universities of Florida and Nebraska says it has found a link between the Earth heating up and the size of mammals -- horses, in this case, the last time the world heated up.
The scientists used fossils to follow the evolution of horses from their earliest appearance 56 million years ago.
As temperatures went up their size went down, and vice versa; at one point they were as small as a house cat, said Dr Jonathan Bloch, curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History, was quoted by the "Daily Mail" as saying.
The scientists say that the current warming could have the same effect on mammals -- and could even make humans smaller.
"Horses started out small, about the size of a small dog like a miniature schnauzer. What's surprising is that after they first appeared, they then became even smaller and then dramatically increased in size, and that exactly corresponds to the global warming event, followed by cooling.
"It had been known that mammals were small during that time and that it was warm, but we hadn't understood that temperature specifically was driving the evolution of body size," Dr Bloch said in the "Science" journal.
(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
双语资讯
(Agencies)
科学家警告说,全球变暖可能会使人类变矮。科学家宣称已经找到证据:近5000万年前全球变暖就曾让世界上最早的马个头变小。
事实上,来自佛罗里达州和内布拉斯加州的大学的一支研究团队称,他们已经找到地球变暖和哺乳动物个头之间的联系。这一案例中马变矮的现象是上一次全球变暖时发生的。
科学家用化石来追溯马从5600万年前诞生至今的进化历程。
随着气温的上升,马的个头变小,反之马的个头就变大。《每日邮报》援引佛罗里达自然历史博物馆馆长乔纳森•布洛赫博士的话说,它们曾一度像家猫那么小。
科学家称,当前的全球变暖可能也会对哺乳动物产生同样的影响,甚至可能会让人类的个子也变小。
布洛赫博士在《科学》杂志中写道:“马最初的个头很小,和一只小狗的个头差不多,大约也就像一只迷你型雪纳瑞犬那么大。令人惊讶的是,在马诞生后过了一段时间,它们的个子变得更小,之后个头又显著变大,而这些变化与全球变暖和变冷正好是相对应的。
“我们已经知道哺乳动物在那个时期个头较小,而那个时期气候也较暖,但我们还未意识到正是温度驱动着身体大小的进化。”
Vocabulary:
exactly: 恰好地,正好地
效仿赫敏的丢书大作战 为何在中国遇尴尬?
一个难忘的人A Person I will Never Forget
出名趁早 To Be Famous in the Early Age
吃自助餐的经验 My Experience to Eat Buffet
参加朋友的生日聚会 Joining My Friend’s Birthday Party
如何使用红包 How to Use the Lucky Money
幸福感爆棚的食物
感恩节怎么过?人们在感恩节都做些什么?
戴耳机1h细菌增700倍!10个耳朵冷知识惊呆你
二孩政策The Second Child Policy
20几岁的时候最应该做什么?
冬天里的晴朗日子 Those Sunny Days In the Winter
川普上台脸书背锅?扎克伯格:对假资讯说NO
旅游日记Travelling Diary
别让悲伤困住你 Don’ t have sadness haunt you
恶意软件让多台取款机同时“自动吐钞”
父母的期望 Parents’ Expectation
将下台的奥巴马 给所有黑川普的名人颁了勋章
高考记忆 The Memory About College Entrance Exam
别对我说谎,七种方法教你一眼识谎言
快递的优势 The Advantages of Express Deliver
这个季节你应吃7种水果与蔬菜
专八好文共赏:假如我能改变家乡
享受比赛 Enjoy the Match
米老鼠88岁啦!10则趣闻带你认识不一样的米奇
我的暑假计划 My Summer Vacation Plan
参加课外活动Join Activity
军训 Military Training
5本与感恩节有关的好书
第一次上讲台 The First to Stand In Front of the Platform
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |