2001年 BBC纪录片 地平线系列 进化缺环 Horizon The Missing Link [全1集]

还在上一个世纪，英国生物学家赫胥黎在研究了尼安德特人的头骨以后，认为这是一个具有猿之脸的头骨，但决不是人与猿之间的中间缺环。这不告诉我们，人与猿之间的亲缘关系，似乎还应该有一环。从19世纪中叶至19世纪末，一直没有找到这个缺少的化石。那么，在猿与人之间到底应该是什么样的一环呢?日本人类学家把它称为“类猿人”(注意，不是类人猿)。如果这一缺环确实是存在的话，那么，应该相信，类猿人将会被发现，或者正处于发现之中。

Last year the discovery of a tiny fossilised jawbone hit the headlines. The jawbone, only a few centimetres long, and with 7 rows of teeth, had been found lying abandoned in a dusty museum where it had lain unnoticed for decades. It’s rediscovery has caused a sensation in the world of palaeontology because scientists now believe it may be a tiny remnant of a “missing link”, an ancient extinct animal that could provide a vital clue in our understanding of one of the great mysteries of science – how, 360 million years ago, a slimy fish-like creature grew legs and walked out of the sea, onto the land, and became our ancestor. This mystery, of how and why, long ago, we grew legs and crawled out of the water, has taken scientists a century to unravel. And this tiny jawbone may be a final clue.