人狗情缘——谁驯化了谁？

by Brian Hare & Vanessa Woods

In the story of how the dog came in from the cold and onto our sofas， we 1）tend to give ourselves a little too much 2）credit. The most common theory is that some 3）hunter-gatherer with a 4）soft spot for cuteness found some wolf puppies and 5）adopted them. Over time， these 6）tamed wolves would have shown their skill at hunting， so humans kept them around until they evolved into dogs.

But when we look back at our relationship with wolves throughout history， this doesnt really make sense. For one thing， the wolf was 7）domesticated at a time when modern humans were not very 8）tolerant of 9）carnivorous competitors. In fact， after modern humans arrived in Europe around 43，000 years ago， they almost 10）wiped out every large 11）carnivore that existed.

狗狗从冰天雪地走来，跳上我们的沙发——我们在这个故事中未免有点太看得起自己了。最常见的说法是某个采猎者对可爱的东西特别心软，偶尔发现了几只狼崽子，便收养了它们。随着时间的推移，这些被驯服的狼展现出它们的猎食技能，人类因此将它们养在身边，直至它们演变为犬类。

不过，当我们回顾历史上的人狼关系时，（就会发现）这个说法其实不太讲得通。首先，在狼群被驯养的时期，现代人类对肉食竞争者并不怎么宽容。事实上，在大约四万三千年前抵达欧洲之后，现代人类几乎将当时存在的所有大型食肉动物赶尽杀绝。

The hunting theory， that humans used wolves to hunt， doesnt 12）hold up either. Humans were already successful hunters without wolves， more successful than every other large carnivore. Wolves eat a lot of meat， as much as one deer per ten wolves every day—a lot for humans to feed or compete against.

Humans have a long history of killing wolves， rather than trying to adopt them. Over the last few centuries， almost every culture has hunted wolves to 13）extinction. If this is a 14）snapshot of our behavior toward wolves over the centuries， it presents one of the most troubling problems： How was this misunderstood creature 15）tolerated by humans long enough to evolve into the 16）domestic dog？

We often think of evolution as being the survival of the fittest， where the strong survive and the weak die off. But the success of dogs comes down to survival of the friendliest.

Most likely， it was wolves that came to us， not the other way around， probably while they were searching for 17）scraps around garbage 18）dumps on the edge of human 19）settlements. The wolves that were 20）bold but 21）aggressive would have been killed by humans， so only the ones that were bold and friendly would have been tolerated.

Friendliness caused strange things to happen in the wolves. They started to look different. Domestication gave them 22）splotchy 23）coats， 24）floppy ears， 25）wagging tails. In only several generations， these friendly wolves would have become very different from their more aggressive relatives. But the changes did not just affect their looks. Changes also happened to their 26）psychology. They evolved the ability to read human gestures.

As dog owners， we 27）take for granted that we can point to a ball or toy and our dog will 28）bound off to get it. But the ability of dogs to read human gestures is remarkable. Even our closest relatives—29）chimpanzees and 30）bonobos—cant read our gestures as readily as dogs can. Dogs are quite similar to human 31）infants in the way they pay attention to us. This ability 32）accounts for the extraordinary communication we have with our dogs. Some dogs are so focused on their owners that they can even read a change in eye direction.

With this new ability， these dogs were worth knowing. People who had dogs during a hunt would likely have had an 33）advantage over those who didnt. Even today， 34）tribes in Nicaragua depend on dogs to 35）detect 36）prey. In the Congo， hunters believe they would starve without their dogs.

Dogs would also have served as a warning system， barking at unfriendly strangers from neighboring tribes. They could have 37）defended their humans from 38）predators.

And finally， though this is not a pleasant thought， when times were tough， dogs could have served as an 39）emergency food supply. Thousands of years before 40）refrigeration， and with no crops to store， huntergatherers had no food 41）reserves until the domestication of dogs. In tough times， weaker dogs might have been sacrificed to save the group.

So， far from a kindly human adopting a wolf puppy， it is more likely that a population of wolves adopted us. As the advantages of dog ownership became clear， we were as strongly affected by our relationship with them as they have been by their relationship with us. Dogs may even have been the 42）catalyst for our civilization.

打猎这一理论，即人类用狼群来狩猎，同样是站不住脚的。即使没有狼群，人类本身已经是很优秀的猎人，比其他任何大型肉食动物都要优秀得多。狼群会消耗大量的肉类，平均十匹狼一天就能吃掉一头鹿——这分量足够喂饱很多人，也足以让很多人为之抢破头。

人类消灭狼群——而并非圈养它们——的历史由来已久。过去数个世纪以来，几乎每一种文化都曾将狼群赶尽杀绝。如果这是我们多年以来对狼群态度的基本写照，那就产生了最令人费解的疑问之一：人类怎么会对这种备受误解的动物容忍如此之久，直到它们演变为家犬呢？

我们常常认为“进化”就是适者生存——强者得以存活，弱者遭到淘汰。但犬类的成功延续要归结为“最友善，方可活”。

更有可能的情况是，狼群先来到了我们身边，而不是反过来，或许就是在人类居住地周边翻扒垃圾堆时来的。大胆却凶狠的狼会被人类猎杀，因而只有那些大胆又友好的狼被饶过一命。

与人为善令狼发生了奇妙的变化。它们的外形开始变得不一样了。

驯养让它们的皮毛逐渐斑驳，耳朵耷拉下来，尾巴摇个不停。仅仅经历了几代，这些友好的狼族就和它们那些极具攻击性的亲戚有了天渊之别。但是这种改变并不仅仅停留在外表。它们的内心同样发生了改变。它们进化出读懂人类手势的能力。

我们可以指着一个球或者玩具，狗狗就会跳起来去捡——作为狗主人，我们认为这是理所当然的。但是，犬类这种读懂人类手势的能力其实非常了不起。即便是和我们最接近的（动物）亲戚——黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩都不能像犬类那么迅捷地读懂我们的手势。狗狗对我们的专注度与人类婴儿惊人地相似。这种能力使得我们可以与自己的狗狗进行良好的沟通。有些狗狗把全部注意力都集中到主人身上，甚至主人视线的变化都能察觉到。

有了这种新能力，这些狗狗就值得人们留心了。与犬类一同打猎的人会比没有狗狗在身边的人更有优势。时至今日，尼加拉瓜的部落仍然要靠猎犬来发现猎物。在刚果，猎人们坚信离开自己的猎犬就会饿死。

犬类还能充任报警系统，它们会对来自邻近部落、不怀好意的陌生人狂吠不止，还能替人类抵御猎食动物。

最后一点，尽管这并不是什么让人愉快的想法——犬类在世道艰难时可以作为应急存粮。在冷藏技术还没出现的几千年里，采猎者们没有农作物可以存放，直到驯养了犬类才获得粮食储备。生计不易时，体弱的狗狗也许会成为大伙儿的救命粮。

因此，非但不是某个善人收养了一只狼宝宝，更可能是一个狼群收养了我们。当养狗的优点愈发突出，我们逐渐受到这种人狗关系的深切影响——正如它们被这种关系改变一样。狗狗甚至可能就是我们这个文明的催化剂呢。

Top Ten Most Popular Dog Breeds[品种]in America

Labrador retriever（拉布拉多寻回犬）

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German shepherd（约克夏梗犬）

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Miniature schnauzer（迷你型史猱查梗/迷你雪纳瑞）