【龙腾网】检测结果显示西藏雪人皮毛其实属于熊

An illustration of how the elusive man-apesknown as yeti might appear.

（图解：神出鬼没、被称为雪人（也梯）的人猿可能的模样图示）

In Nepaland Tibet, where the Himalayas loom large, so too does the legend of the yeti,a legend so pervasive not even science has been able to make a dent in it.

尼泊尔和西藏是喜马拉雅山赫然耸立的地方，而雪人的传说在那里也是赫赫有名，该传说的渗透和流行是如此深广，甚至连科学都一直无法对其取得进展。   
                        
While shadowy creatures have long stalkedthe fringes of popular imagination — from North America’s Sasquatch or Bigfootto the scientific-sounding vagueness of UFO, or Unidentifiable Furry Organisms— the Himalayan version ranks as the man-ape’s oldest manifestation, pre-datingeven the Buddhist faith.

躲在暗处的神秘生物长期以来潜行在大众想象的边缘，从北美的萨斯科奇人（大脚怪），到听起来很科学的UFO的各种影影幢幢，或者是无法辨认的带皮毛的生物体，而喜马拉雅的版本被列入了人猿最古老的表现形式，甚至早于佛教信仰的出现。

And yet, in all this time, the toweringfigure has left scant evidence that he actually exists. Just fragments infolklore, along with a recurring role in stories aimed at scaring the bejesusout of children.

然而在所有这些时期中，这个高拔的身影留下的证明其真实存在的证据很是不足。只有民间传说中的片段，连同那些把孩子门吓破胆的故事中反复出现的角色。

Of course, there’s the occasionalsupersized footprint pressed into the snow, proclaiming to be the very shoesize of the so-called Abominable Snowman. In fact, the idea of the yeti onlyreally ignited in the Western fancy in 1951, when British explorer Eric Shiptonsnapped photographs of several gaping footprints in the snow around MountEverest.

当然，雪地里时不时会出现超大号的脚印，它们被宣布说正是所谓喜马拉雅雪人脚的尺寸。事实上，雪人这个想法真正点燃西方的幻想是在1951年，当时英国探险家艾瑞克·希普顿在珠穆朗玛峰周围捕捉到了若干张雪中脚印的照片。

Is that a yeti print?

（图解：这是一个野人的脚印吗？）

Oncerumors of a mysterious, hairy hominoid washed ashore in the West, there seemedno stopping them — the absence of any recorded encounters with yeti be damned.

一旦一个神秘多毛类人动物的传言在西方上岸，似乎就不可阻挡了，没有任何与雪人遭遇的记录被谴责。

But among Himalayan cultures, there’s acommonly held belief that though the creature may be elusive, he does shed. Andtake potty breaks.

但在喜马拉雅文化中普遍都相信：这种生物也许神出鬼没，但确实会脱发。还会排便。

Like, enough of the stuff for locals togather up and enshrine as evidence of the yeti’s existence.

当地人似乎收集了足够多的这类物什，并供奉了起来，作为雪人存在的证据。

Scientists and powerful forest entitieshave frequently found themselves at odds in recent years.

（图解：近些年，科学家们和强大的林业单位时常发现他们的意见存在分歧）

But scientists, generally known for castingdoubt on magical forest legends, insisted on a poo-ternity test. There had longbeen suspicions that if the yeti really exists, it would likely be a kind ofape — maybe a species that we thought was extinct. Or even a Neanderthal thathad strayed from evolution’s purge.

但是，通常以质疑魔幻森林传说出名的科学家要坚持做一项粪检。长久以来对于雪人是否真的存在一直存有怀疑，它可能是一种猿，也许是我们认为已经灭绝了的一个种类。或者，甚至可能是躲过了演化清洗的尼安德特人。

Primordial guardian of the forest withsupernatural powers? Not so much. So in 2014, scientists took a DNA sample froma tuft of "yeti" fur and the results came back … raccoon.

拥有超自然力量的这片森林的远古守护者？也不太像。所以在2014年，科学家从一撮“雪人”皮毛中采集了DNA样本，然后结果传回来了...是浣熊的。

Hang in there, true believers

真正的信徒们，坚持住

Earlier this year, Charlotte Lindqvist, thesame evolutionary biologist at the University at Buffalo from the raccoonstudy, led a second study — this time spanning a much broader sample size.

今年早些时候，同一个演化生物学家，来自布法罗大学浣熊研究领域的夏洛特·林科斯威特领导了第二次研究，这一次极大扩充了样本数量。

The team gathered bits of bone, tooth,skin, hair and and fecal samples (don’t act like mythical man-apes don’t dothat) — all of it touted by locals as certified yeti.

该团队采集了少量的骨骼、牙齿、皮肤、毛发和粪便样本（别搞得像是神秘的人猿不排泄似的），所有这些都被当地人拿出来当成货真价实的野人在兜售。

This week, the results of exhaustive DNAtests were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B — and forAbominable Snowman enthusiasts, they results are not good.

本周，巨细无遗的DNA检测结果发表在了英国皇家学会学报B上，而对于雪人爱好者来说，结果可不好。
         
Among the nine sample tested, eight matchedup tidily with brown bears. And the ninth? A dog.

在被检测的九件样本中，有八件和棕熊完美匹配上了。而第九件呢？是一条狗的。

What the ... Himalaya were bears doing inthe forests that ringed the mountains? And a dog? Who left their dog there?!

喜马拉雅熊在环山树林里做什么？还有那条狗，是谁把他们家的狗扔那儿了？！

Well, let’s face it — and with apologies toshambling, man-ape enthusiasts worldwide — they were probably just beingregular old animals. The kind you might to expect to find leaving fur, amongother things, in the wild.

好吧，让我们面对现实吧，而且要向全世界步履蹒跚的人猿爱好者致以歉意，它们可能只是常见的老年动物。是你可能预见得到会在野外掉下毛发杂掺在其他东西之中的品种。

Besides, for some of us at least, there'ssomething to get excited about: the latest research suggests Himalayan brownbears are a kind of shambling, hairy wonder in their own right. Scientistsdetermined that these bears occupied their own unique genetic strain, apartfrom the nearby Tibetan brown bears. According to researchers, the Himalayanbears that roam these high altitudes belong to a lineage that split from otherbears around 650,000 years ago.

除此以外，至少对我们中的一部分来说，有一些事情让人兴奋：最新研究表明喜马拉雅棕熊本身就是一只摇摇晃晃的多毛的奇迹。科学家们判定，这些熊占据着它们自己独特的遗传品系，在基因上远离附近的西藏棕熊。按照研究者们的说法，在高海拔地区漫游的喜马拉雅熊属于在约65万年前和其他熊分道扬镳的一支血统。

So there’s that.

所以这就是它

The Himalayan brown bear traces a uniquegenetic ancestry that's almost as interesting as a furry forest-dwellingman-ape.

（图解：喜马拉雅棕熊可以追溯到一支独特的基因血统，几乎和的居住在林间的毛茸茸的人猿同样有趣）

"Itwas exciting to find that the purported yeti samples, without doubt, are notstrange hybrid bear creatures, but simply related to local brown and blackbears," Lindqvist told LiveScience. "Modern science, and genetic datain particular, can help answer and resolve old mysteries."

“我们的发现让我们很激动，即声称是雪人样本的，毫无疑问并不是什么奇怪的混种熊类，不过就是本地的棕熊和黑熊，”林科斯威特告诉《生活科学》网站。“现代科学尤其是基因数据，能帮助回答和解开古老的谜团。”

Exciting indeed. Thanks for clearing thatup, science. At least, until someone steps in the next Abominable Snowmandropping in the woods.

确实令人激动。感谢你澄清了那个问题，科学。至少，直到有人撞见下一个在林子里走动的雪人前是如此。