万物简史英文版_比尔·布莱森- 第123节

the　question　that　arises　is　whether　the　disappearances　of　the　stone　age　and　disappearancesof　more　recent　times　are　in　effect　part　of　a　single　extinction　event鈥攚hether；　in　short；　humansare　inherently　bad　news　for　other　living　things。　the　sad　likelihood　is　that　we　may　well　be。


according　to　the　university　of　chicago　paleontologist　david　raup；　the　background　rate　ofextinction　on　earth　throughout　biological　history　has　been　one　species　lost　every　four　yearson　average。　according　to　one　recent　calculation；　human…caused　extinction　now　may　berunning　as　much　as　120；000　times　that　level。


in　the　mid…1990s；　the　australian　naturalist　tim　flannery；　now　head　of　the　south　australianmuseum　in　adelaide；　became　struck　by　how　little　we　seemed　to　know　about　manyextinctions；　including　relatively　recent　ones。　鈥渨herever　you　looked；　there　seemed　to　be　gapsin　the　records鈥攑ieces　missing；　as　with　the　dodo；　or　not　recorded　at　all；鈥潯�he　told　me　when　imet　him　in　melbourne　a　year　or　so　ago。


flannery　recruited　his　friend　peter　schouten；　an　artist　and　fellow　australian；　and　togetherthey　embarked　on　a　slightly　obsessive　quest　to　scour　the　world鈥檚　major　collections　to　find　outwhat　was　lost；　what　was　left；　and　what　had　never　been　known　at　all。　they　spent　four　yearspicking　through　old　skins；　musty　specimens；　old　drawings；　and　written　descriptions鈥攚hatever　was　available。　schouten　made　life…sized　paintings　of　every　animal　they　couldreasonably　re…create；　and　flannery　wrote　the　words。　the　result　was　an　extraordinary　bookcalled　a　gap　in　nature；　constituting　the　most　plete鈥攁nd；　it　must　be　said；　moving鈥攃atalog　of　animal　extinctions　from　the　last　three　hundred　years。


for　some　animals；　records　were　good；　but　nobody　had　done　anything　much　with　them；sometimes　for　years；　sometimes　forever。　steller鈥檚　sea　cow；　a　walrus…like　creature　related　tothe　dugong；　was　one　of　the　last　really　big　animals　to　go　extinct。　it　was　truly　enormous鈥攁nadult　could　reach　lengths　of　nearly　thirty　feet　and　weigh　ten　tons鈥攂ut　we　are　acquainted　withit　only　because　in　1741　a　russian　expedition　happened　to　be　shipwrecked　on　the　only　placewhere　the　creatures　still　survived　in　any　numbers；　the　remote　and　foggy　mander　islandsin　the　bering　sea。


happily；　the　expedition　had　a　naturalist；　georg　steller；　who　was　fascinated　by　the　animal。


鈥渉e　took　the　most　copious　notes；鈥潯�says　flannery。　鈥渉e　even　measured　the　diameter　of　itswhiskers。　the　only　thing　he　wouldn鈥檛　describe　was　the　male　genitals鈥攖hough；　for　somereason；　he　was　happy　enough　to　do　the　female鈥檚。　he　even　saved　a　piece　of　skin；　so　we　had　agood　idea　of　its　texture。　we　weren鈥檛　always　so　lucky。鈥�


the　one　thing　steller　couldn鈥檛　do　was　save　the　sea　cow　itself。　already　hunted　to　the　brinkof　extinction；　it　would　be　gone　altogether　within　twenty…seven　years　of　steller鈥檚　discovery　ofit。　many　other　animals；　however；　couldn鈥檛　be　included　because　too　little　is　known　about　them。


the　darling　downs　hopping　mouse；　chatham　islands　swan；　ascension　island　flightless　crake；at　least　five　types　of　large　turtle；　and　many　others　are　forever　lost　to　us　except　as　names。


a　great　deal　of　extinction；　flannery　and　schouten　discovered；　hasn鈥檛　been　cruel　or　wanton；but　just　kind　of　majestically　foolish。　in　1894；　when　a　lighthouse　was　built　on　a　lonely　rockcalled　stephens　island；　in　the　tempestuous　strait　between　the　north　and　south　islands　of　newzealand；　the　lighthouse　keeper鈥檚　cat　kept　bringing　him　strange　little　birds　that　it　had　caught。


the　keeper　dutifully　sent　some　specimens　to　the　museum　in　wellington。　there　a　curator　grewvery　excited　because　the　bird　was　a　relic　species　of　flightless　wrens鈥攖he　only　example　of　aflightless　perching　bird　ever　found　anywhere。　he　set　off　at　once　for　the　island；　but　by　the　timehe　got　there　the　cat　had　killed　them　all。　twelve　stuffed　museum　species　of　the　stephens　islandflightless　wren　are　all　that　now　exist。


at　least　we　have　those。　all　too　often；　it　turns　out；　we　are　not　much　better　at　looking　afterspecies　after　they　have　gone　than　we　were　before　they　went。　take　the　case　of　the　lovelycarolina　parakeet。　emerald　green；　with　a　golden　head；　it　was　arguably　the　most　striking　andbeautiful　bird　ever　to　live　in　north　america鈥攑arrots　don鈥檛　usually　venture　so　far　north；　asyou　may　have　noticed鈥攁nd　at　its　peak　it　existed　in　vast　numbers；　exceeded　only　by　thepassenger　pigeon。　but　the　carolina　parakeet　was　also　considered　a　pest　by　farmers　and　easilyhunted　because　it　flocked　tightly　and　had　a　peculiar　habit　of　flying　up　at　the　sound　of　gunfire（as　you　would　expect）；　but　then　returning　almost　at　once　to　check　on　fallen　rades。


in　his　classic　american　omithology；　written　in　the　early　nineteenth　century；　charleswillson　peale　describes　an　occasion　in　which　he　repeatedly　empties　a　shotgun　into　a　tree　inwhich　they　roost：


at　each　successive　discharge；　though　showers　of　them　fell；　yet　the　affection　of　thesurvivors　seemed　rather　to　increase；　for；　after　a　few　circuits　around　the　place；　they　againalighted　near　me；　looking　down　on　their　slaughtered　panions　with　such　manifestsymptoms　of　sympathy　and　concern；　as　entirely　disarmed　me。


by　the　second　decade　of　the　twentieth　century；　the　birds　had　been　so　relentlessly　huntedthat　only　a　few　remained　alive　in　captivity。　the　last　one；　named　inca；　died　in　the　cincinnatizoo　in　1918　（not　quite　four　years　after　the　last　passenger　pigeon　died　in　the　same　zoo）　andwas　reverently　stuffed。　and　where　would　you　go　to　see　poor　inca　now？　nobody　knows。　thezoo　lost　it。


what　is　both　most　intriguing　and　puzzling　about　the　story　above　is　that　peale　was　a　lover　ofbirds；　and　yet　did　not　hesitate　to　kill　them　in　large　numbers　for　no　better　reason　than　that　itinterested　him　to　do　so。　it　is　a　truly　astounding　fact　that　for　the　longest　time　the　people　whowere　most　intensely　interested　in　the　world鈥檚　living　things　were　the　ones　most　likely　toextinguish　them。


no　one　represented　this　position　on　a　larger　scale　（in　every　sense）　than　lionel　walterrothschild；　the　second　baron　rothschild。　scion　of　the　great　banking　family；　rothschild　was　astrange　and　reclusive　fellow。　he　lived　his　entire　life　in　the　nursery　wing　of　his　home　at　tring；in　buckinghamshire；　using　the　furniture　of　his　childhood鈥攅ven　sleeping　in　his　childhoodbed；　though　eventually　he　weighed　three　hundred　pounds。


his　passion　was　natural　history　and　he　became　a　devoted　accumulator　of　objects。　he　senthordes　of　trained　men鈥攁s　many　as　four　hundred　at　a　time鈥攖o　every　quarter　of　the　globe　toclamber　over　mountains　and　hack　their　way　through　jungles　in　the　pursuit　of　newspecimens鈥攑articularly　things　that　flew。　these　were　crated　or　boxed　up　and　sent　back　torothschild鈥檚　estate　at　tring；　where　he　and　a　battalion　of　assistants　exhaustively　logged　andanalyzed　everything　that　came　before　them；　producing　a　constant　stream　of　books；　papers；　andmonographs鈥攕ome　twelve　hundred　in　all。　altogether；　rothschild鈥檚　natural　history　factoryprocessed　well　over　two　million　specimens　and　added　five　thousand　species　of　creature　to　thescientific　archive。


remarkably；　rothschild鈥檚　collecting　efforts　were　neither　the　most　extensive　nor　the　mostgenerously　funded　of　the　nineteenth　century。　that　title　almost　certainly　belongs　to　a　slightlyearlier　but　also　very　wealthy　british　collector　named　hugh　cuming；　who　became　sopreoccupied　with　accumulating　objects　that　he　built　a　large　oceangoing　ship　and　employed　acrew　to　sail　the　world　full…time；　picking　up　whatever　they　could　find鈥攂irds；　plants；　animalsof　all　types；　and　especially　shells。　it　was　his　unrivaled　collection　of　barnacles　that　passed　todarwin　and　served　as　the　basis　for　his　seminal　study。


however；　rothschild　was　easily　the　most　scientific　collector　of　his　age；　though　also　themost　regrettably　lethal；　for　in　the　1890s　he　became　interested　in　hawaii；　perhaps　the　mosttemptingly　vulnerable　environment　earth　has　yet　produced。　millions　of　years　of　isolation　hadallowed　hawaii　to　evolve　8；800　unique　species　of　animals　and　plants。　of　particular　interest　torothschild　were　the　islands鈥櫋�colorful　and　distinctive　birds；　often　consisting　of　very　smallpopulations　inhabiting　extremely　specific　ranges。


the　tragedy　for　many　hawaiian　birds　was　that　t