◎魏國金
Man’s best friend may have been his companion for far longer than believed, scientists reported, publishing an analysis that dates domesticated dogs to over 27,000 years ago.
人類最好的朋友可能陪伴人類遠比所認定的還久遠，科學家發表的一份分析指出，犬隻的馴化可追溯超過2萬7000年前。
Humans possibly domesticated dogs 27,000 to 40,000 years ago, according to Swedish researchers whose work was published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.
根據瑞典研究人員，人類可能在2萬7000年至4萬年前馴化狗狗，其研究成果週四刊載於「當代生物學」期刊。
The scientists based their analysis on an ancient Siberian jaw fragment. Previous estimates said modern dogs diverged from their wolf ancestors 16,000 years ago after the last ice age.
科學家的分析建構在一塊西伯利亞古生物下頜殘骨上。此前看法認為，現代犬在上一次冰河時期後的1萬6000年前，從牠們的狼祖先分出。
The "Taimyr" wolf bone in the study, dated to 35,000 years ago, shows that the animal was the most recent ancestor of wolves and modern dogs.
該研究中的「泰梅爾」狼骨顯示，這個生存在3萬5000年前的動物，是狼與現代犬最近的祖先。
"Dogs may have been domesticated much earlier than is generally believed," said Love Dalen from the Swedish Museum of Natural History.
「狗狗或許遠比普遍認定的還早被馴化，」瑞典自然史博物館的洛夫．達倫表示。
The Taimyr wolf lived a few thousand years after Neanderthals disappeared and modern humans spread throughout Asia and Europe, the study said.
泰梅爾古狼在尼安德塔人消失、現代人在歐亞兩大洲拓展足跡後，生存了數千年之久，研究指出。
DNA analysis also showed modern Siberian Huskies and Greenland sled dogs have an "unusually large" number of genes in common with the Taimyr wolf.
DNA分析並顯示，現代的西伯利亞哈士奇犬與格陵蘭雪橇犬有「異常大量」的基因與泰梅爾狼相同。
新聞辭典
domesticate：動詞，馴養、馴化，或喜愛理家。例句：I am not at all domesticated.（我一點都不愛做家務。）
diverge (from)：動詞，偏離、背離、分歧。例句：On this matter he diverged from the views of his colleagues.（對於這件事，他與同事的看法不一致。）
in common with：片語，與……一樣。例句：In common with most Englishmen, he enjoys rugby.（他與多數英國人一樣，喜歡英式橄欖球。）
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