CNN News:一名教授稱在南非發(fā)現(xiàn)新的人類物種

From Japan, we're moving over to South Africa where a professor claims to have discovered a new species of human relative.

我們把視線從日本轉(zhuǎn)移到南非，一名教授稱在南非發(fā)現(xiàn)了新的人類物種。

In 2013, an amateur caver found a fossilized jawbone deep in an underground chamber. It led to the largest discovery of its kind in the continent of Africa. And the director of the recovery expedition says the find turns science on its head.

2013年，一名洞穴探查愛好者在一個(gè)地下室里發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)顎骨化石。該項(xiàng)發(fā)現(xiàn)促使了非洲大陸最偉大的發(fā)現(xiàn)。并且該發(fā)現(xiàn)的負(fù)責(zé)人稱，在這項(xiàng)發(fā)現(xiàn)打開了科學(xué)研究之門。

PROF. LEE BERGER, UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND: This is like opening up Tutankhamen's tomb.

LEE BERGER,教授，金山大學(xué)：這就像打開了圖坦卡蒙(埃及法老的名字)的墳?zāi)埂?/p>

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT : Berger and his team of scientists say they've uncovered a new species of the human family tree.

大衛(wèi)·麥肯齊，CNN 記者：Berger和他的科學(xué)團(tuán)隊(duì)稱他們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種新的人類家譜。

They call it Homo naledi.

他們將它稱為 Homo naledi。

What they found was extraordinary -- a chamber of more than 1,500 fossilized bones, coming up with the controversial conclusion that this is a burial ground, and that Home naledi could have used fire to light the way.

他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)非常讓人吃驚——地下室里有1500多個(gè)化石骨頭，這樣有爭(zhēng)議的結(jié)論就產(chǎn)生了這是一個(gè)墳地? Home naledi 曾經(jīng)使用火把來照路?

(on camera): That's extraordinarily human-like.

視頻：這和人類的行為非常的相似。

BERGER: It is in part superficially, short fingers, long thumb.

BERGER:表面上看來，是手指短，拇指長(zhǎng)。

MCKENZIE : Homo naledi is not human, but at times comes close.

MCKENZIE： Homo naledi不屬于人類，但是，有些方面已經(jīng)和人類很接近。

The original fossils are a strange mosaic of ancient and surprisingly modern, a brain no bigger than an orange, but feet almost identical to ours.

這些原始的化石是對(duì)古代和現(xiàn)代神奇的鑲嵌，大腦和橘子般大小，但是腳的尺寸卻和我們相似。

(on camera): And every one of these tells a story.

視頻:每一個(gè)化石都可以講述一個(gè)故事。

BERGER: Every one of them is a mystery to science.

BERGER：每一個(gè)都是一個(gè)科學(xué)之謎。

MCKENZIE : And leaves many unanswered questions. They haven't been able to date the fossils yet, so Homo naledi may have lived tens of thousands of years ago or even millions.

MCKENZIE：并留下了許多未解之謎。目前研究人員尚不能追溯這些化石的年代，所以，Homo naledi可能生活在數(shù)萬年以前，也有可能生活在數(shù)百萬年以前。

AZUZ: Or maybe not. As you heard, still a lot of questions about this and some anthropologists are skeptical about whether it's a newly discovered species at all. They say it looks like one that was first identified in the 1800s.

AZUZ:可能兩者都不是。你剛剛也聽到了，還有很多的問題有待解決，有些人類學(xué)家懷疑，這到底是不是一個(gè)新的人類物種。這些人類學(xué)家稱，這些化石看起來和最初發(fā)現(xiàn)的18世紀(jì)化石很相似。

There's also doubt about whether the location is really an ancient burial ground. Either way, it has scientists talking and theorizing worldwide.

關(guān)于該地址是否是一個(gè)古老的墓地，尚有疑問。無論哪種方式，都有自己的科學(xué)說法和全球理論。