Episode Details

Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are killed every year by malaria and other diseases that are spread through mosquito bites. 

全世界每年有数十万人死于疟疾和其他通过蚊虫叮咬传播的疾病。

Female mosquitoes are responsible for these deadly bites because they have a special mouth design that male mosquitoes do not have. 

雌性蚊子对这些致命的叮咬负有责任，因为它们具有雄性蚊子没有的特殊嘴部设计。 

But it has not always been that way. Researchers said they have discovered the oldest-known fossils of mosquitoes - two males located in pieces of an ancient orange-colored substance known as amber. 

但情况并非总是如此。研究人员表示，他们发现了已知最古老的蚊子化石——两只雄性蚊子位于一种古老的橙色物质琥珀中。 

The male mosquitoes date to 130 million years ago. They were found near the modern town of Hammana in Lebanon. To researchers' surprise, the male mosquitoes had long mouthparts seen now only in females. 

雄性蚊子的历史可以追溯到1.3亿年前。它们是在黎巴嫩现代城镇哈马纳附近发现的。令研究人员惊讶的是，雄性蚊子有长长的口器，现在只见于雌性蚊子。 

Dany Azar is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology and Lebanese University. Azar said they were clearly blood-eaters. The lead writer of the study, recently published in Current Biology, added, "This discovery is a major one in the evolutionary history of mosquitoes." 

丹尼·阿扎尔（Dany Azar）是中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所和黎巴嫩大学的研究员。阿扎尔说，他们显然是食血者。这项研究最近发表在《当代生物学》上，该研究的主要作者补充道：“这一发现是蚊子进化史上的重大发现。” 

The two fossilized mosquitoes, both representing the same species that has died off, are similar in size and appearance to modern mosquitoes. However, the mouthparts used for getting blood are shorter than in today's female mosquitoes. 

这两种蚊子化石均代表已灭绝的同一物种，其大小和外观与现代蚊子相似。然而，用于吸血的口器比今天的雌性蚊子短。

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