Have you ever taken a good look at your dog and wondered, where did this creature come from?
你是否曾仔细观察过你的狗狗,迫切想知道汪星人这种生物到底来自哪里?
Sure, you know your dog came from the local shelter or a pet store, but what about before that?
当然,你清楚它们是来自当地避难所或宠物商店,但是在这之前呢?
If you were able to trace your dog's lineage back to its origins, what would you find?
如果你能够跟踪狗狗的血统回到它的起源,你会有何发现?
Until recently, scientists believed that domestic dogs originated in the Middle East.
直到最近,科学家们相信国内的狗起源于中东地区。
But reports suggest that almost all domestic dogs began in East Asia as the offspring of three lineages.
但报告显示,几乎所有国内的狗都是东亚血统三代之后。
Virtually all domesticated dogs in the United States descend from dogs brought over by ancient people that crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia to North America.
几乎所有美国家养的狗狗都是从亚洲到北美穿过白令海峡大陆桥的古代人们带过来繁衍生息下来的子孙。
Although the New World had a healthy wolf population that might have given rise to a New World strain of domesticated dogs, by and large these ancient immigrants stuck with the dogs of Asian origin.
虽然新世界繁殖良好的狼可能会为国内狗狗带来新的压力,但总的来说,这些古代移民无法摆脱自己的亚裔血统。
How, you may wonder, have scientists come to these conclusions?
怎么样,你是不是会觉得奇怪,科学家哪来的这些结论?
The same way forensic specialists increasingly solve crimes-through DNA evidence.
这就如同法医专家通过DNA证据破案一样。
Since mitochondria are cellular elements passed from mother to pup, mitochondrial DNA readily reveal genetic footprints stretching back into prehistoric times.
线粒体是通过狗母亲传递的细胞元素,线粒体DNA揭示伸展回到史前时代的遗传印记。
Scientists from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. collected DNA samples from the remains of ancient Old World dogs, ancient New World dogs, and ancient New World wolves.
华盛顿特区史密森学会的科学家们从古老旧世界的狗狗,古代新世界及古代的狼的遗体中收集DNA样本。
Test showed decisively that the New World dogs were genetically more similar to Old World dogs than to New World wolves, effectively proving that the dogs we save from local shelters originally hail from the far East rather than the woods of North America.
试验表明新世界狗狗的基因相比新世界的狼更类似于旧世界,这有力的证明我们从当地避难所中救助的狗狗最初来自远东而非北美的森林。
