A study in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology finds that many more animals have appendixes than was thought, and that the appendix is not merely a remnant of a digestive organ called the cecum. All of which means that the appendix might not be so useless.

    發表在《進化生物學雜志》（Journal of Evolutionary Biology ）上的一項研究發現，和我們原來認為的不一樣，更多動物具有闌尾。該研究認為闌尾不僅僅是消化器官盲腸進化后的殘留部分。所有這些研究結果意味著闌尾可能有用。

    That's No Vestigial Organ, That's My Appendix

    Two years ago, Duke University Medical Center researchers said that the supposedly useless appendix is actually where good gut bacteria safely hide out during some unpleasant intestinal conditions.

    Now the research team has looked at the appendix over evolutionary history. They found that animals have had appendixes for about 80 million years. And the organ has evolved separately at least twice, once among the weird Australian marsupials and another time in the regular old mammal lineage that we belong to.

    Darwin thought that only a few animals have an appendix and that the human version was what was left of a digestive organ called the cecum. But the new study found that 70 percent of rodent and primate groups have species with an appendix. And some living animals have a cecum and an appendix. If Darwin had known about species that had both organs, he probably would have revised his views of the appendix, the researchers note.

    Ironically, it's natural selection that keeps the human appendix from shrinking away completely. Because smaller ones are more likely to become infected. And keep your genes out of the pool.

    闌尾并非可有可無

    兩年前，來自杜克大學醫學中心（Duke University Medical Center）的研究人員說，以前被認為沒有作用的闌尾實際上有用，因為在腸內環境不好的時候，體內好的腸菌正是躲藏在那里。

    目前該研究小組從進化論歷史的角度來研究闌尾。他們發現動物有闌尾的時間超過了8千萬年。闌尾至少有兩次獨立地進化過，一次是在澳大利亞的有袋類動物身上，這令人感到有些奇怪。另外一次是在通常的古老哺乳類動物身上，而我們人類就屬于哺乳類動物。

    達爾文認為，僅僅只有少部分動物具有闌尾，他還認為人的闌尾是盲腸進化過程中殘留下來的部分。但是，這項新的研究發現，70%的嚙齒動物和靈長目動物的物種具有闌尾。有些活著的動物既有盲腸又有闌尾。研究者們說，如果達爾文知道有這樣的物種的話，他或許會改變他對闌尾的觀點。

    具有諷刺意味的是，正是自然選擇使得人類的闌尾沒有完全消失掉。因為闌尾越小，它越容易被感染。這樣就可以把人類的基因保持下來。

    Vocabulary:

    Evolutionary:進化論的

    Appendix:闌尾；（書、文件的）附錄

    Remnant:剩余部分；殘余部分

    Digestive:消化的

    Organ:器官

    Cecum:盲腸

    Useless:無用的

    Vestigial:殘余的；退化的；殘留的

    Supposedly:據信；據傳；據說

    Gut:消化道；腸道

    Bacteria:細菌

    Intestinal:腸的

    Weird:奇怪的

    Marsupial: 有袋類動物（如袋鼠和樹袋熊）

    Mammal: 哺乳動物

    Lineage: 血統；家系；總系

    Rodent: 嚙齒動物

    Primate: 靈長類

    Revise: 修改；改正

    Ironically: 具有諷刺意味的

    Shrink: 縮小

    Infect: 感染

    Gene Pool: 基因庫