经济学人下载:无罪(1)

From the moa in New Zealand to the dodo in Mauritius,
从新西兰的恐鸟到毛里求斯的渡渡鸟，

the arrival of humans has often spelled extinction for tasty but previously isolated animals.
人类的到来通常意味着美味但以前与世隔绝的动物的灭绝。

Many scientists had assumed that the woolly rhinoceros, a shaggy beast that sported an enormous horn, suffered the same fate.
很多科学家认为，毛茸茸、长着巨大角的披毛犀也遭遇了同样的命运。

The animal was common in northern Europe and northern Asia 30,000 years ago, when the first humans arrived. Shortly after, it disappeared.
3万年前，当第一批人类到达时，这种动物在北欧和亚洲北部很常见。不久后，就消失了。

But Love Dalen, a professor at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm,
但斯德哥尔摩古遗传学中心的Love Dalen教授

and Edana Lord, one of Dr Dalen's PHD students, are not so sure.
以及Dalen的博士生之一Edana Lord并不太确定。

In a paper published in Current Biology, they use data from ancient DNA to argue that, this time at least, humans might be innocent.
在发表于《Current Biology》的一篇论文中，他们利用来自于古DNA的数据辩称到，至少这一次，人类可能是无辜的。

Until recently, information on the fate of the great ice-age mammals had been limited to what could be gleaned from fossilised bones.
直到最近，关于大冰期时代哺乳动物命运的信息都仅限于从骨骼化石中收集到的那些。

While useful, bones can only tell you so much. They can reveal the number of animals of different ages present at a specific location at a specific time.
虽然有用，但骨头只能告诉你这么多。它们可以揭示出现在特定时期、特定地点的不同年代的动物的数量。

With some species sex can be determined. Occasionally the cause of death can be detected.
可以确定一些物种的性别。有时可以查出它们的死亡原因

In the past couple of decades, though, scientists have learned to tap another, richer source of information: ancient genomes.
虽然在过去几十年里，科学家已经学会利用另一个更丰富的信息来源：远古基因组。

By itself, DNA degrades quickly, attacked by water and sunlight. But DNA encased within bones and teeth can survive for longer,
就其本身而言，DNA受到水和阳光的攻击，降解迅速。但包裹在骨头和牙齿中的DNA存活时间更长，

especially if those bones and teeth are themselves encased in permafrost.
尤其是如果那些骨头和牙齿本身被包裹在多年冻土中。

It was this sort of DNA that enabled Dr Dalen and Ms Lord to investigate the woolly rhino's disappearance.
就是这种DNA让Dalen博士和Lord能够调查披毛犀的消失之谜。