A Short History of Nearly Everything-第104章

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。　imagine　ground　sloths　that　could　look　into　an　upstairswindow；　tortoises　nearly　the　size　of　a　small　fiat；　monitor　lizards　twenty　feet　long　baskingbeside　desert　highways　in　western　australia。　alas；　they　are　gone　and　we　live　on　a　muchdiminished　planet。　today；　across　the　whole　world；　only　four　types　of　really　hefty　（a　metric　tonor　more）　land　animals　survive：　elephants；　rhinos；　hippos；　and　giraffes。　not　for　tens　of　millionsof　years　has　life　on　earth　been　so　diminutive　and　tame。

the　question　that　arises　is　whether　the　disappearances　of　the　stone　age　and　disappearancesof　more　recent　times　are　in　effect　part　of　a　single　extinction　event—whether；　in　short；　humansare　inherently　bad　news　for　other　living　things。　the　sad　likelihood　is　that　we　may　well　be。

according　to　the　university　of　chicago　paleontologist　david　raup；　the　background　rate　ofextinction　on　earth　throughout　biological　history　has　been　one　species　lost　every　four　yearson　average。　according　to　one　recent　calculation；　human…caused　extinction　now　may　berunning　as　much　as　120；000　times　that　level。

in　the　mid…1990s；　the　australian　naturalist　tim　flannery；　now　head　of　the　south　australianmuseum　in　adelaide；　became　struck　by　how　little　we　seemed　to　know　about　manyextinctions；　including　relatively　recent　ones。　“wherever　you　looked；　there　seemed　to　be　gapsin　the　records—pieces　missing；　as　with　the　dodo；　or　not　recorded　at　all；”　he　told　me　when　imet　him　in　melbourne　a　year　or　so　ago。

flannery　recruited　his　friend　peter　schouten；　an　artist　and　fellow　australian；　and　togetherthey　embarked　on　a　slightly　obsessive　quest　to　scour　the　world’s　major　collections　to　find　outwhat　was　lost；　what　was　left；　and　what　had　never　been　known　at　all。　they　spent　four　yearspicking　through　old　skins；　musty　specimens；　old　drawings；　and　written　descriptions—whatever　was　available。　schouten　made　life…sized　paintings　of　every　animal　they　couldreasonably　re…create；　and　flannery　wrote　the　words。　the　result　was　an　extraordinary　bookcalled　a　gap　in　nature；　constituting　the　most　plete—and；　it　must　be　said；　moving—catalog　of　animal　extinctions　from　the　last　three　hundred　years。

for　some　animals；　records　were　good；　but　nobody　had　done　anything　much　with　them；sometimes　for　years；　sometimes　forever。　steller’s　sea　cow；　a　walrus…like　creature　related　tothe　dugong；　was　one　of　the　last　really　big　animals　to　go　extinct。　it　was　truly　enormous—anadult　could　reach　lengths　of　nearly　thirty　feet　and　weigh　ten　tons—but　we　are　acquainted　withit　only　because　in　1741　a　russian　expedition　happened　to　be　shipwrecked　on　the　only　placewhere　the　creatures　still　survived　in　any　numbers；　the　remote　and　foggy　mander　islandsin　the　bering　sea。

happily；　the　expedition　had　a　naturalist；　georg　steller；　who　was　fascinated　by　the　animal。

“he　took　the　most　copious　notes；”　says　flannery。　“he　even　measured　the　diameter　of　itswhiskers。　the　only　thing　he　wouldn’t　describe　was　the　male　genitals—though；　for　somereason；　he　was　happy　enough　to　do　the　female’s。　he　even　saved　a　piece　of　skin；　so　we　had　agood　idea　of　its　texture。　we　weren’t　always　so　lucky。”

the　one　thing　steller　couldn’t　do　was　save　the　sea　cow　itself。　already　hunted　to　the　brinkof　extinction；　it　would　be　gone　altogether　within　twenty…seven　years　of　steller’s　discovery　ofit。　many　other　animals；　however；　couldn’t　be　included　because　too　little　is　known　about　them。

the　darling　downs　hopping　mouse；　chatham　islands　swan；　ascension　island　flightless　crake；at　least　five　types　of　large　turtle；　and　many　others　are　forever　lost　to　us　except　as　names。

a　great　deal　of　extinction；　flannery　and　schouten　discovered；　hasn’t　been　cruel　or　wanton；but　just　kind　of　majestically　foolish。　in　1894；　when　a　lighthouse　was　built　on　a　lonely　rockcalled　stephens　island；　in　the　tempestuous　strait　between　the　north　and　south　islands　of　newzealand；　the　lighthouse　keeper’s　cat　kept　bringing　him　strange　little　birds　that　it　had　caught。

the　keeper　dutifully　sent　some　specimens　to　the　museum　in　wellington。　there　a　curator　grewvery　excited　because　the　bird　was　a　relic　species　of　flightless　wrens—the　only　example　of　aflightless　perching　bird　ever　found　anywhere。　he　set　off　at　once　for　the　island；　but　by　the　timehe　got　there　the　cat　had　killed　them　all。　twelve　stuffed　museum　species　of　the　stephens　islandflightless　wren　are　all　that　now　exist。

at　least　we　have　those。　all　too　often；　it　turns　out；　we　are　not　much　better　at　looking　afterspecies　after　they　have　gone　than　we　were　before　they　went。　take　the　case　of　the　lovelycarolina　parakeet。　emerald　green；　with　a　golden　head；　it　was　arguably　the　most　striking　andbeautiful　bird　ever　to　live　in　north　america—parrots　don’t　usually　venture　so　far　north；　asyou　may　have　noticed—and　at　its　peak　it　existed　in　vast　numbers；　exceeded　only　by　thepassenger　pigeon。　but　the　carolina　parakeet　was　also　considered　a　pest　by　farmers　and　easilyhunted　because　it　flocked　tightly　and　had　a　peculiar　habit　of　flying　up　at　the　sound　of　gunfire（as　you　would　expect）；　but　then　returning　almost　at　once　to　check　on　fallen　rades。

in　his　classic　american　omithology；　written　in　the　early　nineteenth　century；　charleswillson　peale　describes　an　occasion　in　which　he　repeatedly　empties　a　shotgun　into　a　tree　inwhich　they　roost：

at　each　successive　discharge；　though　showers　of　them　fell；　yet　the　affection　of　thesurvivors　seemed　rather　to　increase；　for；　after　a　few　circuits　around　the　place；　they　againalighted　near　me；　looking　down　on　their　slaughtered　panions　with　such　manifestsymptoms　of　sympathy　and　concern；　as　entirely　disarmed　me。

by　the　second　decade　of　the　twentieth　century；　the　birds　had　been　so　relentlessly　huntedthat　only　a　few　remained　alive　in　captivity。　the　last　one；　named　inca；　died　in　the　cincinnatizoo　in　1918　（not　quite　four　years　after　the　last　passenger　pigeon　died　in　the　same　zoo）　andwas　reverently　stuffed。　and　where　would　you　go　to　see　poor　inca　now？　nobody　knows。　thezoo　lost　it。

what　is　both　most　intriguing　and　puzzling　about　the　story　above　is　that　peale　was　a　lover　ofbirds；　and　yet　did　not　hesitate　to　kill　them　in　large　numbers　for　no　better　reason　than　that　itinterested　him　to　do　so。　it　is　a　truly　astounding　fact　that　for　the　longest　time　the　people　whowere　most　intensely　interested　in　the　world’s　living　things　were　the　ones　most　likely　toextinguish　them。

no　one　represented　this　position　on　a　larger　scale　（in　every　sense）　than　lionel　walterrothschild；　the　second　baron　rothschild。　scion　of　the　great　banking　family；　rothschild　was　astrange　and　reclusive　fellow。　he　lived　his　entire　life　in　the　nursery　wing　of　his　home　at　tring；in　buckinghamshire；　using　the　furniture　of　his　childhood—even　sleeping　in　his　childhoodbed；　though　eventually　he　weighed　three　hundred　pounds。

his　passion　was　natural　history　and　he　became　a　devoted　accumulator　of　objects。　he　senthordes　of　trained　men—as　many　as　four　hundred　at　a　time—to　every　quarter　of　the　globe　toclamber　over　mountains　and　hack　their　way　through　jungles　in　the　pursuit　of　newspecimens—particularly　things　that　flew。　these　were　crated　or　boxed　up　and　sent　back　torothschild’s　estate　at　tring；　where　he　and　a　battalion　of　assistants　exhaustively　logged　andanalyzed　everything　that　came　before　them；　producing　a　constant　stream　of　books；　papers；　andmonographs—some　twelve　hundred　in　all。　altogether；　rothschild’s　natural　history　factoryprocessed　well　over　two　million　specimens　and　added　five　thousand　species　of　creature　to　thescientific　archive。

remarkably；　rothschild’s　collecting　efforts　were　neither　the　most　extensive　nor　the　mostgenerously　funded　of　the　nineteenth　century。　that　title　almost　certainly　belongs　to　a　slightlyearlier　but　also　very　wealthy　british　collector　named　hugh　cuming；　who　became　sopreoccupied　with　accumulating　objects　that　he　built　a　large　oceangoing　ship　and　employed　acrew　to　sail　the　world　full…time；　picking　up　whatever　they　could　find—birds；　plants；　animalsof　all　types；　and　especially　shells。　it　was　his　unrivaled　collection　of　barnacles　that　passed　todarwin　and　served　as　the　basis　for　his　seminal　study。

however；　rothschild　was　easily　the　most　scientific　collector　of　his　age；　though　also　themost　regrettably　lethal；　for　in　the　1890s　he　became　interested　in　hawaii；　perhaps　the　mosttemptingly　vulnerable　environment　earth　has　yet　produced。　millions　of　years　of　isolation　hadallowed　hawaii　to　evolve　8；800　unique　species　of　animals　and　plants。　of　particular　interest　torothschild　were　the　islands’　colorful　and　distinctive　birds；　often　consisting　of　very　smallpopulations　inhabiting　extremely　specific　ranges。

the　tragedy　for　many　hawaiian　birds　was　that　they　were　not　only　distinctive；　desirable；　andrare—a　dangerous　bination　in　the　best　of　circumstances—but　also　often　heartbreakinglyeasy　to　take。　the　greater　koa　finch；　an　innocuous　member　of　the　honeycreeper　family；　lurkedshyly　in　the　canopies　of　koa　trees；　but　if　someone　imitated　its　song　it　would　abandon　its　coverat　once　and　fly　down　in　a　show　of　wele。　the　last　of　the　species　vanished　in　1896；　killedby　rothschild’s　ace　collector　harry　palmer；　five　years　after　the　disappearance　of　its　cousin　thelesser　koa　finch；　a　bird　so　sublimely　rare　that　only　one　has　ever　been　seen：　the　one　shot　forrothschild’s　collection。　al