萬物簡史 第96期:勢不兩立的科學(xué)(4)

In their keenness to demonstrate the incognitum'sbulk and ferocity, the American naturalists appearto have become slightly carried away. Theyoverestimated its size by a factor of six and gave itfrightening claws, which in fact came from aMegalonyx, or giant ground sloth, found nearby.Rather remarkably, they persuaded themselves thatthe animal had enjoyed "the agility and ferocity ofthe tiger," and portrayed it in illustrations aspouncing with feline grace onto prey from boulders.

在熱心展示那頭不知名動物如何龐大和如何兇猛的過程中，博物學(xué)家們似乎有點兒得意忘形。他們把它的個兒拔高了6倍，還給它加上了可怕的爪子。實際上，那不過是在附近發(fā)現(xiàn)的一只大樹懶的爪子。很有意思的是，他們認為那種動物“靈活和兇猛得像老虎”，在插圖里把它描繪成躲在巨礫后面，以貓科動物的優(yōu)美姿態(tài)準(zhǔn)備撲向獵物。

When tusks were discovered, they were forced into the animal's head in any number ofinventive ways. One restorer screwed the tusks in upside down, like the fangs of a saber-toothed cat, which gave it a satisfyingly aggressive aspect. Another arranged the tusks so thatthey curved backwards on the engaging theory that the creature had been aquatic and hadused them to anchor itself to trees while dozing. The most pertinent consideration about theincognitum, however, was that it appeared to be extinct—a fact that Buffon cheerfully seizedupon as proof of its incontestably degenerate nature.

長牙發(fā)現(xiàn)以后，他們又挖空心思地以各種方式把它們安在它的頭上。有一位用螺絲把長牙倒著擰在上面，就像劍齒虎的犬牙那樣，使其看上去特別氣勢逼人。另一位把長牙向后彎曲，其動聽的道理是，那個家伙原本是水生動物，打盹時用牙齒將自己泊在樹上。然而，最貼近事實的看法是，這種不知名的動物已經(jīng)滅絕——布豐連忙抓住了這一點，把它作為那種動物已經(jīng)無可爭議地退化的證據(jù)。

Buffon died in 1788, but the controversy rolled on. In 1795 a selection of bones made theirway to Paris, where they were examined by the rising star of paleontology, the youthful andaristocratic Georges Cuvier. Cuvier was already dazzling people with his genius for takingheaps of disarticulated bones and whipping them into shapely forms. It was said that he coulddescribe the look and nature of an animal from a single tooth or scrap of jaw, and often namethe species and genus into the bargain. Realizing that no one in America had thought to writea formal description of the lumbering beast, Cuvier did so, and thus became its officialdiscoverer. He called it a mastodon (which means, a touch unexpectedly, "nipple-teeth").

布豐死于1788年，但爭論沒有停止。1795年，一批精心挑選的骨頭運到了巴黎，接受古生物學(xué)界的新秀、年少氣盛的貴族喬治·居維葉的審查。居維葉不費多少工夫就能把一堆堆支離破碎的骨頭安放成形，人們已經(jīng)對他的才華贊嘆不已。據(jù)說，只要看一顆牙齒或一塊下巴骨，他就可以描述出那個動物的樣子和性情，而且往往還說得出它是哪個種，哪個屬。居維葉發(fā)現(xiàn)美國還沒有人想到要寫一本正式描述那類大動物的書，便自己動手寫了，于是成了發(fā)現(xiàn)那種動物的第一人。他把它叫做“乳齒象”(意思是“長有乳頭般隆起的牙齒的象”。出人意料的是，這還真有點兒像)。