TED2016
Prosanta Chakrabarty: Clues to prehistoric times, found in blind cavefish
Prosanta Chakrabarty: 没有眼睛的洞穴鱼告诉你史前的秘密
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TED Fellow Prosanta Chakrabarty 喜欢探索世界的未知, 寻找生活在洞穴中的鱼类新物种. 这些生活在地下的生物为了适应生存环境做出的奇妙的进化, 不仅让我们对于人类视觉的原理有了进一步的认识, 对于上亿年前的地球大陆漂移历史也提供了准确的时间标记. 演讲虽短, 内容深刻.
Prosanta Chakrabarty - Ichthyologist
Prosanta Chakrabarty studies fish to help explain the evolution of human beings and our planet. Full bio
Prosanta Chakrabarty studies fish to help explain the evolution of human beings and our planet. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Ichthyology,
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鱼类学(Ichthyology)
00:14
the study of fishes.
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是研究鱼类的学科。
00:16
It looks like a big, boring word,
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这个词看着很无聊,
00:18
but it's actually quite exciting,
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其实不然,
00:21
because ichthyology is the only "ology"
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这个词是唯一个学科名里
00:24
with "YOLO" in it.
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带有"YOLO"短语的。
00:25
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
00:27
Now, to the cool kids in the audience,
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对于台下很时髦的年轻人来说,
00:29
you already know, YOLO stands for
"you only live once,"
"you only live once,"
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你们已经知道"YOLO"这个缩写
代表着"你的人生只有一次",
代表着"你的人生只有一次",
00:33
and because I only have one life,
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因为人生不能重来,
00:35
I'm going to spend it doing
what I always dreamt of doing:
what I always dreamt of doing:
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我希望去做我真正梦想的事情:
00:37
seeing the hidden wonders of the world
and discovering new species.
and discovering new species.
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去探索世界的未知,
去发现新的物种。
去发现新的物种。
00:41
And that's what I get to do.
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我说到做到了。
00:42
Now, in recent years, I really focused
on caves for finding new species.
on caves for finding new species.
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最近这几年我的研究重点放在了
洞穴鱼类新物种的发现上。
洞穴鱼类新物种的发现上。
00:47
And it turns out, there's lots of new
cavefish species out there.
cavefish species out there.
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我们发现洞穴里有很多的新物种。
00:50
You just have to know where to look,
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你只需要知道去哪里找就行了,
00:52
and to maybe be a little thin.
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可能还要身材苗条一点。
00:54
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
00:55
Now, cavefishes can tell me
a lot about biology and geology.
a lot about biology and geology.
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研究洞穴鱼类能够获得许多
生物学和地理学的发现。
生物学和地理学的发现。
01:00
They can tell me how the landmasses
around them have changed and moved
around them have changed and moved
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它们虽然只是蜷缩在小小洞穴里,
却能够告诉我们世界的大格局,
却能够告诉我们世界的大格局,
01:04
by being stuck in these little holes,
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告诉我们大陆如何漂移和变化,
01:06
and they can tell me about
the evolution of sight, by being blind.
the evolution of sight, by being blind.
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它们没有眼睛, 却让我们看到
眼睛的进化过程。
眼睛的进化过程。
01:11
Now, fish have eyes
that are essentially the same as ours.
that are essentially the same as ours.
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一般而言鱼类都有眼睛, 跟我们一样。
01:14
All vertebrates do, and each time
a fish species starts to adapt
a fish species starts to adapt
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所有的脊椎动物本来都有眼睛,
但是当生存环境变了,
但是当生存环境变了,
01:18
to this dark, cold, cave environment,
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如果一种鱼要适应阴冷的洞穴环境,
01:20
over many, many generations,
they lose their eyes and their eyesight
they lose their eyes and their eyesight
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经过一代又一代的演化,
这些鱼的视力逐渐退化,
这些鱼的视力逐渐退化,
01:24
until the end up like an eyeless
cavefish like this one here.
cavefish like this one here.
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现在的洞穴鱼类已经没有眼睛了。
01:27
Now, each cavefish species
has evolved in a slightly different way,
has evolved in a slightly different way,
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每种洞穴鱼类的进化路线略有不同,
01:31
and each one has a unique geological
and biological story to tell us,
and biological story to tell us,
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每种鱼类都可以向我们讲述一段特别的地质和生物的故事,
01:35
and that's why it's so exciting
when we find a new species.
when we find a new species.
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这是我们在发现新物种的时候
激动不已的原因。
激动不已的原因。
01:39
So this is a new species
we described, from southern Indiana.
we described, from southern Indiana.
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这是我们从印第安纳南部发现的新物种。
01:43
We named it Amblyopsis hoosieri,
the Hoosier cavefish.
the Hoosier cavefish.
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我们叫它" Amblyopsis hoosieri",
就是印第安纳洞穴鱼的意思。
就是印第安纳洞穴鱼的意思。
01:46
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
01:48
Its closest relatives
are cavefishes in Kentucky,
are cavefishes in Kentucky,
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它的近亲是肯塔基州的一种洞穴鱼,
01:51
in the Mammoth Cave system.
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生活在猛犸洞穴系统中。
01:52
And they start to diverge
when the Ohio River split them
when the Ohio River split them
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他们因俄亥俄河的出现被分隔开,
01:55
a few million years ago.
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已经分开了有几百年了.
01:57
And in that time they developed
these subtle differences
these subtle differences
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从那时起它们的进化路线就不同了
02:00
in the genetic architecture
behind their blindness.
behind their blindness.
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各自在基因结构上演化,
视力各自退化了.
视力各自退化了.
02:03
There's this gene called rhodopsin
that's super-critical for sight.
that's super-critical for sight.
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有一种名叫"视紫红质"的基因,
对视力的形成起到关键作用,
对视力的形成起到关键作用,
02:06
We have it, and these species have it too,
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人类和这些鱼类都有同样的基因,
02:09
except one species has lost
all function in that gene,
all function in that gene,
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但是有种洞穴鱼在进化中
完全丢掉了这个基因,
完全丢掉了这个基因,
02:12
and the other one maintains it.
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而其它的洞穴鱼类还保留着.
02:14
So this sets up this beautiful
natural experiment
natural experiment
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大自然为我们做了完美的实验
02:18
where we can look at the genes
behind our vision,
behind our vision,
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让我们能够从基因角度
学习我们视觉的原理,
学习我们视觉的原理,
02:21
and at the very roots of how we can see.
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能够知道视觉感知的最根本原因.
02:25
But the genes in these cavefishes
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而且这些洞穴鱼类的基因
02:26
can also tell us
about deep geological time,
about deep geological time,
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能够向我们讲述
地理环境的变化,
地理环境的变化,
02:29
maybe no more so
than in this species here.
than in this species here.
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可能没有谁比它们更能展示这种变化了.
02:32
This is a new species
we described from Madagascar
we described from Madagascar
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这是我们在马达加斯加
发现的新物种
发现的新物种
02:34
that we named Typhleotris mararybe.
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取名为"Typhleotris mararybe".
02:38
That means "big sickness" in Malagasy,
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在马达加斯加语中是"大病"的意思,
02:41
for how sick we got trying
to collect this species.
to collect this species.
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你们不知道为了找这个物种
我们吃了多少苦头.
我们吃了多少苦头.
02:44
Now, believe it or not,
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不管你信不信,
02:46
swimming around sinkholes
full of dead things
full of dead things
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在污水坑里游泳, 周围都是动物尸体
02:48
and cave full of bat poop
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在满是蝙蝠粪便的洞穴里翻找
02:50
isn't the smartest thing you could
be doing with your life,
be doing with your life,
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肯定不是你生命中
做的最明智的选择,
做的最明智的选择,
02:53
but YOLO.
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但是, YOLO!
02:55
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
02:58
Now, I love this species despite the fact
that it tried to kill us,
that it tried to kill us,
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尽管这个鱼差点要杀死我,
我还是很爱它,
我还是很爱它,
03:03
and that's because
this species in Madagascar,
this species in Madagascar,
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因为这种生活在马达加斯加的鱼,
03:05
its closest relatives
are 6,000 kilometers away,
are 6,000 kilometers away,
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最近的近亲远在6000公里之外,
03:08
cavefishes in Australia.
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是一种生活在澳大利亚的鱼类.
03:10
Now, there's no way a three-inch-long
freshwater cavefish
freshwater cavefish
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我们很清楚这种巴掌大的淡水鱼
03:14
can swim across the Indian Ocean,
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是无法在印度洋里游过来的,
03:16
so what we found when we compared
the DNA of these species
the DNA of these species
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所以我们通过对比这两个物种的DNA,
03:19
is that they've been separated
for more than 100 million years,
for more than 100 million years,
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知道他们在一亿年前就已经分隔开了,
03:22
or about the time that the southern
continents were last together.
continents were last together.
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这大概就是大陆开始漂移的时候.
03:27
So in fact, these species
didn't move at all.
didn't move at all.
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事实上这些洞穴鱼根本没挪过窝.
03:30
It's the continents that moved them.
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是大陆板块在移动.
03:31
And so they give us, through their DNA,
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这些洞穴鱼类通过它们的DNA,
03:33
this precise model and measure
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为我们提供了精确的模型,
03:36
of how to date and time
these ancient geological events.
these ancient geological events.
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让我们知道远古时代
地理变化的具体时间.
地理变化的具体时间.
03:41
Now, this species here is so new
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这个鱼类刚刚发现
03:43
I'm not even allowed
to tell you its name yet,
to tell you its name yet,
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还没有取好名字,
03:45
but I can tell you
it's a new species from Mexico,
it's a new species from Mexico,
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这个鱼类是在墨西哥发现的,
03:48
and it's probably already extinct.
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已经频临绝种.
03:50
It's probably extinct because
the only known cave system it's from
the only known cave system it's from
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这种鱼类之所以绝种是因为
它们生存的唯一的洞穴环境
它们生存的唯一的洞穴环境
03:54
was destroyed when a dam was built nearby.
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因为附近修建的一座大坝而被破坏了.
03:56
Unfortunately for cavefishes,
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对洞穴鱼类而言, 很不幸地,
03:58
their groundwater habitat
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它们栖息的地下水
04:00
is also our main source of drinking water.
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正好被人类作为饮用水源.
04:03
Now, we actually don't know
this species' closest relative, yet.
this species' closest relative, yet.
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我们目前还不知道这中鱼的近亲.
04:07
It doesn't appear to be
anything else in Mexico,
anything else in Mexico,
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它跟墨西哥任何物种都不像,
04:10
so maybe it's something in Cuba,
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可能来自古巴,
04:12
or Florida, or India.
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或者佛罗里达, 或者印度.
04:14
But whatever it is, it might tell us
something new about the geology
something new about the geology
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不管来自哪里, 它都很有可能
告诉我们加勒比海的变迁,
告诉我们加勒比海的变迁,
04:19
of the Caribbean, or the biology
of how to better diagnose
of how to better diagnose
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也可能让我们对于视觉的
生物学原理有进一步认识
生物学原理有进一步认识
04:22
certain types of blindness.
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帮助我们治疗人类的眼疾.
04:24
But I hope we discover this species
before it goes extinct too.
before it goes extinct too.
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我希望能够在物种灭绝前发现它们.
04:28
And I'm going to spend my one life
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我愿意用我一生努力
04:30
as an ichthyologist
trying to discover and save
trying to discover and save
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作为一名鱼类学家,
去发现和保护
去发现和保护
04:34
these humble little blind cavefishes
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这些不起眼的、没有眼睛的
洞穴鱼类
洞穴鱼类
04:36
that can tell us so much
about the geology of the planet
about the geology of the planet
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它们能够告诉我们太多
这个星球的地理变化
这个星球的地理变化
04:40
and the biology of how we see.
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解释为何我们能看见
这五彩的世界.
这五彩的世界.
04:42
Thank you.
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谢谢.
04:43
(Applause)
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(掌声)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Prosanta Chakrabarty - IchthyologistProsanta Chakrabarty studies fish to help explain the evolution of human beings and our planet.
Why you should listen
Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty is an Associate Professor and Curator of Fishes at the Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Science at Louisiana State University.
Chakrabarty is a systematist and an ichthyologist studying the evolution and biogeography of both freshwater and marine fishes. His work includes studies of Neotropical (Central and South America, Caribbean) and Indo-West Pacific (Indian and Western Pacific Ocean) fishes. His natural history collecting efforts include trips to Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Madagascar, Panama, Kuwait and many other countries. He has discovered over a dozen new species including new anglerfishes and cavefishes.
The LSU Museum of Natural Science fish collection that Chakrabarty oversees includes nearly half a million fish specimens and nearly 10,000 DNA samples covering most major groups of fishes. He earned his PhD at the University of Michigan and his undergraduate degree is from McGill University in Montreal. He has written two books including A Guide to Academia: Getting into and Surviving Grad School, Postdocs and a Research Job. He is also a former Program Director at the National Science Foundation. He was named a TED Fellow in 2016 and a TED Senior Fellow in 2018.
Prosanta Chakrabarty | Speaker | TED.com