万物简史 第642期:神秘的两足动物(20)（在线收听）

At one point between three and two million years ago, it appears there may have been as many as six hominid types coexisting in Africa. Only one, however, was fated to last: Homo, which emerged from the mists beginning about two million years ago. No one knows quite what the relationship was between australopithecines and Homo, but what is known is that they coexisted for something over a million years before all the australopithecines, robust and gracile alike, vanished mysteriously, and possibly abruptly, over a million years ago. No one knows why they disappeared. "Perhaps," suggests Matt Ridley, "we ate them."

在300万年前列200万年前之间的某一时期，估计有多达6个人科动物群共同生活在非洲大陆。然而，只有其中一种命中注定要延续下去，即人属。他们大约起源于200万年前的某一时间。没有人十分了解南方古猿和人属之间存在何种关系，惟一所能知道的就是他们与南方古猿一起生活了约100万年的时间。然后，约100多万年前，所有的南方古猿，不论是粗壮型还是纤细型的，全都神秘地，或者可能是突然地消失了。没有人知道这是什么原因。“也许，”马特·里得雷说，“我们把他们吃了。”

Conventionally, the Homo line begins with Homo habilis, a creature about whom we know almost nothing, and concludes with us, Homo sapiens (literally "man the thinker"). In between, and depending on which opinions you value, there have been half a dozen other Homo species: Homo ergaster, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo rudolfensis, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo erectus, and Homo antecessor.

一般认为，人属始自能人，一种我们几乎一无所知的动物，最后进化成我们智人（字面意思是“会动脑的人”）。之间还有6种别的人属取决于你重视哪种意见：匠人、尼安德特人、鲁道夫人、海德堡人，直立人和先驱人。