世界最老生物被科學家弄死了

When scientists inadvertently killed what turned out to be the world’s oldest living creature, it was bad enough.

一隻被證明是世界上最古老的生物被科學家不小心弄死了，這似乎已經夠糟糕的了。

Now, their mistake has been compounded after further research found it was even older – at 507 years.

然而更糟糕的是，人們進一步研究發現，這隻軟體動物比人們想象的還要古老——它已經有507歲高齡。

The ocean quahog - a type of deep-sea clam - was dredged alive from the bottom of the North Atlantic near Iceland in 2006 by researchers. They then put it in a freezer, as is normal practice, unaware of its age.

2006年，研究者們從冰島附近的北大西洋海底將這隻海蛤——一種生活在深海中的蛤蜊——活生生的捕撈上岸。他們並不知道它如此年邁，只是按照慣例將它放在冷凍箱裏。

It was only when it was taken to a laboratory that scientists from Bangor University studied it and concluded it was 400 years old.

直到後來它被送往實驗室進行研究，這時英國班戈大學的科學家們才發現它如此長壽，科學家們斷言它已經有400歲高齡了。

The discovery made it into the Guinness Book of World Records however by this time, it was too late for Ming the Mollusc – named after the Chinese dynasty on the throne when its life rtunately researchers who calculated Ming’s age killed it instantly by opening its shell.

這一年齡上的發現使它被載入了世界吉尼斯紀錄，然而此刻，對這隻被命名爲“明” 的軟體動物來說，一切都爲時已晚。名字取自它的生命開始時中國正經歷的歷史朝代。不幸的是，這些推測出了“明”年齡的科學家在打開它的殼的一瞬間已經弄死了它。

The researchers opened the ancient clam up to judge its age by counting growth rings the rings were so close together that scientists ended up having to count the rings on the outside to be accurate, leading CBS to point out that Ming could have lived on, had scientists just started there.

爲了推測它的年齡，科學家們必須數清殼內部的線圈，所以他們打開了這隻年邁的貝殼。可是這隻軟體動物殼內部的線圈實在是太密集了，爲了力求準確，最後科學家們還是不得不從殼外部來數清線圈圈數。CBS新聞記者由此評論說，如果科學家們一開始就決定數清殼外的線圈數，“明”或許現在還活着。

Now, after examining the ocean quahog more closely, using more refined methods, the researchers have found the animal was actually 100 years older than they first thought.

現在經過更精密儀器的更細緻研究，科學家們發現這隻海洋圓蛤實際上比他們預先設想的還要老100歲。

Dr Paul Butler, from the University’s School of Ocean Sciences, said: “We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we’ve got the right age now.”

班戈大學海洋科學學院的勞爾·巴特勒教授說：“我們一開始就估計錯誤，也許我們當時發表自己的研究成果過於倉促了。但是現在我們能完全確定、我們估算出了它的準確年齡。”

A quahog’s shell grows by a layer every year, in the summer when the water is warmer and food is plentiful. It means that when its shell is cut in half, scientists can count the lines in a similar way trees can be dated by rings in their trunks.

在每年的夏季，如果水溫適宜、食物充足，蛤蠣的殼就會長出一層線圈。這意味着，如果將蛤蠣的殼剖成兩半，科學家們就能夠通過殼的層數推算蛤蠣的年齡，就像根據樹的年輪推算樹的年齡一樣。

The mollusc was born in 1499 – just seven years after Columbus discovered America and before Henry VIII had even married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in 1509.

這隻軟體動物出生於1499年——它出生的時間比哥倫布發現美洲大陸只晚了七年，甚至在英國國王亨利八世與第一任皇后阿拉貢的凱瑟琳成婚（1509年）之前。

Jan Heinemeier, associate professor at the University of Denmark, who helped date Ming, told Science Nordic: “The fact alone that we got our hands on an animal that’s 507 years old is incredibly fascinating, but the really exciting thing is of course everything we can learn from studying the mollusc.”

丹麥大學助理教授楊·海涅邁爾也參與了對“明”年齡的研究。他對北歐科學協會說：“我們捕到了一隻507歲高齡的動物，僅這一事實就夠不可思議的了。不過，最不可思議的事情當然還是我們從這隻軟體動物的研究中可以獲知的知識。”