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The scientific community was transfixed.
整个科学界惊呆了
For decades the coelacanth had been touted as a possible transitional form between fish and tetrapods,
几十年来，腔棘鱼一直被奉为鱼和四足动物之间的过渡型物种
but no one had really known enough about it. It existed only as a fossil.
不过，当时无人对它有足够了解，人们只把它当成是一种活化石
Smith proclaimed the coelacanth a transitional form
Smith声称腔棘鱼就是过渡型物种
and as proof he announced that it would actually walk on the bottom of the sea.
为了自圆其说，他提出它应该能在海底行走
I have no doubt that this fish crawls about on the bottom quite easily.
我完全肯定这种鱼能在海底轻松地爬行
Yes, the Professor says the fish is a kind of ancestor of man. Poor fish.
是的，教授说这种鱼就是人类的一个祖先，可怜的鱼
But he knew he would have to find one alive and walking to prove the coelacanth was the elusive transitional form.
可是他很清楚他必须找到另一条活着且能行走的腔棘鱼，以证明腔棘鱼确实是难得一见的过渡型物种
He looked for 13 years until another one was found, and it didn't walk - it swam.
他寻找了13年，最后终于找到了一条，但它不会行走，只会游泳
It was just another fish.
它只是一条鱼
Well it was thrown out. There were quite a lot of nasty letters send to J.L.B. too
它被完全否定了，J.L.B.Smith收到了很多写满污言秽语的信件
to say that he was having a daydream.
说他简直是白日做梦
There were still no transitional forms,
看来还是没有过渡型物种
nothing to show that a fish with fins had walked over land and evolved into our first ancestor with legs,
没有什么能说明长着鳍的鱼为何会爬到陆地上，进化成我们最早的长着腿的祖先
nothing to silence the creationists and there it rested for 30 years.
也没有什么能堵住神创论者们的嘴，这个问题搁置了30多年。
