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

一只被證明是世界上最古老的生物被科學(xué)家不小心弄死了，這似乎已經(jīng)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(jìn)一步研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，這只軟體動物比人們想象的還要古老——它已經(jīng)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只海蛤——一種生活在深海中的蛤蜊——活生生的捕撈上岸。他們并不知道它如此年邁，只是按照慣例將它放在冷凍箱里。

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

直到后來它被送往實驗室進(jìn)行研究，這時英國班戈大學(xué)的科學(xué)家們才發(fā)現(xiàn)它如此長壽，科學(xué)家們斷言它已經(jīng)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 began.Unfortunately researchers who calculated Ming’s age killed it instantly by opening its shell。

這一年齡上的發(fā)現(xiàn)使它被載入了世界吉尼斯紀(jì)錄，然而此刻，對這只被命名為“明” 的軟體動物來說，一切都為時已晚。名字取自它的生命開始時中國正經(jīng)歷的歷史朝代。不幸的是，這些推測出了“明”年齡的科學(xué)家在打開它的殼的一瞬間已經(jīng)弄死了它。

The researchers opened the ancient clam up to judge its age by counting growth rings inside.But 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。

為了推測它的年齡，科學(xué)家們必須數(shù)清殼內(nèi)部的線圈，所以他們打開了這只年邁的貝殼�？墒沁@只軟體動物殼內(nèi)部的線圈實在是太密集了，為了力求準(zhǔn)確，最后科學(xué)家們還是不得不從殼外部來數(shù)清線圈圈數(shù)。CBS新聞記者由此評論說，如果科學(xué)家們一開始就決定數(shù)清殼外的線圈數(shù)，“明”或許現(xiàn)在還活著。

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(xiàn)在經(jīng)過更精密儀器的更細(xì)致研究，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)這只海洋圓蛤?qū)嶋H上比他們預(yù)先設(shè)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(xué)海洋科學(xué)學(xué)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(dāng)時發(fā)表自己的研究成果過于倉促了。但是現(xiàn)在我們能完全確定、我們估算出了它的準(zhǔn)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。這意味著，如果將蛤蠣的殼剖成兩半，科學(xué)家們就能夠通過殼的層數(shù)推算蛤蠣的年齡，就像根據(jù)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.

這只軟體動物出生于1499年——它出生的時間比哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)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(xué)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(xué)協(xié)會說：“我們捕到了一只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(dāng)然還是我們從這只軟體動物的研究中可以獲知的知識。”