- The New Continental Land Stage The Age of Early Mammals
- The Recent Flood Stage The Age of Advanced Mammals
- The Modern Mountain Stage Age of the Elephant and the Horse
- The Recent Continental-Elevation Stage The Last Great Mammalian Migration
- The Early Ice Age
- Primitive Man in the Ice Age
- The Continuing Ice Age
61:0.1 (693.1) THE era of mammals extends from the times of the origin of placental mammals to the end of the ice age, covering a little less than fifty million years.
61:0.1 (693.1) 哺乳動物時代始於胎盤哺乳動物起源的時期，直至冰河時代結束，歷時近五千萬年。
61:0.2 (693.2) During this Cenozoic age the world’s landscape presented an attractive appearance—rolling hills, broad valleys, wide rivers, and great forests. Twice during this sector of time the Panama isthmus went up and down; three times the Bering Strait land bridge did the same. The animal types were both many and varied. The trees swarmed with birds, and the whole world was an animal paradise, notwithstanding the incessant struggle of the evolving animal species for supremacy.
61:0.2 (693.2) 在新生代時期，世界的景觀呈現出迷人的風貌——起伏的山巒、遼闊的峽谷、寬廣的河流以及廣袤的森林。在這段時間內，巴拿馬地峽曾兩次抬升與下沉；白令海峽陸橋則經歷了三次這樣的變化。動物種類很多且各不相同。盡管不斷進化的動物物種仍在為爭奪霸權而持續鬥爭，但樹上鳥兒成群，整個世界宛如一個動物天堂。
61:0.3 (693.3) The accumulated deposits of the five periods of this fifty-million-year era contain the fossil records of the successive mammalian dynasties and lead right up through the times of the actual appearance of man himself.
61:0.3 (693.3) 這個五千萬年時代的五個時期所累積的沉積物，包含了歷代哺乳動物的化石記錄，並一直延續到人類自身實際出現的時期。
61:1.1 (693.4) 50,000,000 years ago the land areas of the world were very generally above water or only slightly submerged. The formations and deposits of this period are both land and marine, but chiefly land. For a considerable time the land gradually rose but was simultaneously washed down to the lower levels and toward the seas.
61:1.1 (693.4) 50,000,000萬年前，世界陸地區域普遍都在水面之上，或僅略微被水淹沒。這個時期的巖層和沉積物既有陸生的也有海生的，但主要是陸生的。在相當長的一段時間裏，土地逐漸抬升，但同時也被沖刷到較低層面，並流向海洋。
61:1.2 (693.5) Early in this period and in North America the placental type of mammals suddenly appeared, and they constituted the most important evolutionary development up to this time. Previous orders of nonplacental mammals had existed, but this new type sprang directly and suddenly from the pre-existent reptilian ancestor whose descendants had persisted on down through the times of dinosaur decline. The father of the placental mammals was a small, highly active, carnivorous, springing type of dinosaur.
61:1.2 (693.5) 在這個時期早期，胎盤型哺乳動物突然出現在北美洲，它們構成了迄今為止最重要的進化發展。此前已存在無胎盤類哺乳動物，但這種新類型直接且突然從先前存在的爬行動物祖先中衍生出來，該祖先的後代在恐龍衰落時期堅持延續了下來。胎盤類哺乳動物的祖先是一種小型、高度活躍、食肉的跳躍型恐龍。
61:1.3 (693.6) Basic mammalian instincts began to be manifested in these primitive mammalian types. Mammals possess an immense survival advantage over all other forms of animal life in that they can:
61:1.3 (693.6) 基本的哺乳動物本能開始在這些原始哺乳動物類型中顯現出來。相對於所有其他形式的動物生命而言，哺乳動物具有極大的生存優勢，因為它們能夠：
61:1.4 (693.7) 1. Bring forth relatively mature and well-developed offspring.
61:1.4 (693.7) 1. 生育相對成熟且發育良好的後代。
61:1.5 (693.8) 2. Nourish, nurture, and protect their offspring with affectionate regard.
61:1.5 (693.8) 2. 懷著慈愛滋養、培育並保護他們的後代。
61:1.6 (693.9) 3. Employ their superior brain power in self-perpetuation.
61:1.6 (693.9) 3. 利用其卓越的腦力進行自我延續。
61:1.7 (693.10) 4. Utilize increased agility in escaping from enemies.
61:1.7 (693.10) 4. 利用更強的敏捷性躲避敵人。
61:1.8 (693.11) 5. Apply superior intelligence to environmental adjustment and adaptation.
61:1.8 (693.11) 5. 運用卓越的智慧調整和適應環境。
61:1.9 (694.1) 45,000,000 years ago the continental backbones were elevated in association with a very general sinking of the coast lines. Mammalian life was evolving rapidly. A small reptilian, egg-laying type of mammal flourished, and the ancestors of the later kangaroos roamed Australia. Soon there were small horses, fleet-footed rhinoceroses, tapirs with proboscises, primitive pigs, squirrels, lemurs, opossums, and several tribes of monkeylike animals. They were all small, primitive, and best suited to living among the forests of the mountain regions. A large ostrichlike land bird developed to a height of ten feet and laid an egg nine by thirteen inches. These were the ancestors of the later gigantic passenger birds that were so highly intelligent, and that onetime transported human beings through the air.
61:1.9 (694.1) 45,000,000萬年前，隨著海岸線普遍下沉，各大陸的主要山脈被抬升。哺乳動物的生命正在迅速進化。一種小型爬行類、卵生哺乳動物繁盛起來，後來袋鼠的祖先在澳大利亞遊蕩。不久便出現了小馬、跑得飛快的犀牛、長鼻貘、原始豬、松鼠、狐猴、負鼠以及若幹種猴類動物族群。它們都體型小巧、結構簡單，最適合在山區森林中生活。一種類似鴕鳥的大型陸生鳥類身高可達三米，產下的蛋大小為二十三厘米乘三十三厘米。這些鳥類正是後來那些巨型載人鳥類的祖先，它們是如此高度智能，曾一度載著人類在空中翺翔。
61:1.10 (694.2) The mammals of the early Cenozoic lived on land, under the water, in the air, and among the treetops. They had from one to eleven pairs of mammary glands, and all were covered with considerable hair. In common with the later appearing orders, they developed two successive sets of teeth and possessed large brains in comparison to body size. But among them all no modern forms existed.
61:1.10 (694.2) 新生代早期的哺乳動物棲息於地上、水下、空中以及樹梢之間。它們擁有從一對到十一對不等的乳腺，且全身都長滿了相當濃密的毛發。與後來出現的物種一樣，它們也發展出兩套相繼生長的牙齒，並擁有相對於體型而言較大的大腦。但其中沒有一種是現代形態。
61:1.11 (694.3) 40,000,000 years ago the land areas of the Northern Hemisphere began to elevate, and this was followed by new extensive land deposits and other terrestrial activities, including lava flows, warping, lake formation, and erosion.
61:1.11 (694.3) 40,000,000年前，北半球陸地開始抬升，隨之而來的是新的大規模的陸地沉積和其他地質活動，包括熔巖流、地殼變形、湖泊形成和侵蝕。
61:1.12 (694.4) During the latter part of this epoch most of Europe was submerged. Following a slight land rise the continent was covered by lakes and bays. The Arctic Ocean, through the Ural depression, ran south to connect with the Mediterranean Sea as it was then expanded northward, the highlands of the Alps, Carpathians, Apennines, and Pyrenees being up above the water as islands of the sea. The Isthmus of Panama was up; the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were separated. North America was connected with Asia by the Bering Strait land bridge and with Europe by way of Greenland and Iceland. The earth circuit of land in northern latitudes was broken only by the Ural Straits, which connected the arctic seas with the enlarged Mediterranean.
61:1.12 (694.4) 在這個時代的後期，歐洲大部分地區都淹沒了。隨著陸地輕微抬升，整個大陸被湖泊與海灣所覆蓋。北冰洋經烏拉爾低地向南流淌，與當時向北擴展的地中海相連，阿爾卑斯山、喀爾巴阡山、亞平寧山脈和比利牛斯山脈的高地如同海中的島嶼，高聳於水面之上。巴拿馬地峽抬升；大西洋與太平洋被分隔開來。北美洲通過白令海峽陸橋與亞洲相連，並經由格陵蘭島和冰島與歐洲相連。北緯地區的大陸圈，僅被烏拉爾海峽所斷開，該海峽將北冰洋與擴大的地中海連接起來。
61:1.13 (694.5) Considerable foraminiferal limestone was deposited in European waters. Today this same stone is elevated to a height of 10,000 feet in the Alps, 16,000 feet in the Himalayas, and 20,000 feet in Tibet. The chalk deposits of this period are found along the coasts of Africa and Australia, on the west coast of South America, and about the West Indies.
61:1.13 (694.5) 歐洲水域中沉積了大量有孔蟲石灰岩。如今，這種相同的石頭在阿爾卑斯山被抬升到3,000多米的高處，在喜馬拉雅山達到5,000米， 而在西藏則高達6,000多米。這個時期的白堊沉積物分布於非洲和澳大利亞沿岸、南美洲西海岸以及西印度群島周圍。
61:1.14 (694.6) Throughout this so-called Eocene period the evolution of mammalian and other related forms of life continued with little or no interruption. North America was then connected by land with every continent except Australia, and the world was gradually overrun by primitive mammalian fauna of various types.
61:1.14 (694.6) 在整個所謂的始新世時期，哺乳動物及其他相關生命形式的進化持續著，幾乎或完全沒有中斷。當時，北美洲通過陸地與除澳大利亞外的所有大陸相連，世界逐漸被各種原始哺乳動物群所占據。
61:2.1 (694.7) This period was characterized by the further and rapid evolution of placental mammals, the more progressive forms of mammalian life developing during these times.
61:2.1 (694.7) 這一時期以胎盤哺乳動物的進一步快速進化為特徵，哺乳動物在此期間發展出了更先進的形態。
61:2.2 (694.8) Although the early placental mammals sprang from carnivorous ancestors, very soon herbivorous branches developed, and, erelong, omnivorous mammalian families also sprang up. The angiosperms were the principal food of the rapidly increasing mammals, the modern land flora, including the majority of present-day plants and trees, having appeared during earlier periods.
61:2.2 (694.8) 儘管早期胎盤哺乳動物源於肉食性祖先，但很快便發展出草食性分支，不久之後，雜食性哺乳動物家族也出現了。被子植物是快速增長的哺乳動物的主要食物來源，因為現代陸生植物群，包括絕大多數現存的植物與樹木，在更早的時期就已經出現了。
61:2.3 (695.1) 35,000,000 years ago marks the beginning of the age of placental-mammalian world domination. The southern land bridge was extensive, reconnecting the then enormous Antarctic continent with South America, South Africa, and Australia. In spite of the massing of land in high latitudes, the world climate remained relatively mild because of the enormous increase in the size of the tropic seas, nor was the land elevated sufficiently to produce glaciers. Extensive lava flows occurred in Greenland and Iceland, some coal being deposited between these layers.
61:2.3 (695.1) 35,000,000萬年前，胎盤哺乳動物主宰世界的時代開始了。南部的陸橋範圍廣闊，將當時巨大的南極大陸與南美洲、南非和澳大利亞重新連接起來。儘管高緯度地區有大量陸地，但由於熱帶海洋麵積大幅增加，全球氣候仍保持相對溫和，而且陸地的抬升高度還不足以形成冰川。格陵蘭島和冰島曾發生大規模熔岩流，那些熔岩層之間沉積了一些煤炭。
61:2.4 (695.2) Marked changes were taking place in the fauna of the planet. The sea life was undergoing great modification; most of the present-day orders of marine life were in existence, and foraminifers continued to play an important role. The insect life was much like that of the previous era. The Florissant fossil beds of Colorado belong to the later years of these far-distant times. Most of the living insect families go back to this period, but many then in existence are now extinct, though their fossils remain.
61:2.4 (695.2) 行星的動物群正在發生顯著變化。海洋生物正經歷著巨大的改變；現今的大多數海洋生物門類已經存在，有孔蟲繼續發揮著重要作用。昆蟲生命與前一個時代非常相似。科羅拉多州的弗洛裡森特化石層屬於這些遙遠年代的後期。現存的大多數昆蟲家族都可追溯到這個時期，但許多當時存在的昆蟲家族現已滅絕，儘管它們的化石依然存在。
61:2.5 (695.3) On land this was pre-eminently the age of mammalian renovation and expansion. Of the earlier and more primitive mammals, over one hundred species were extinct before this period ended. Even the mammals of large size and small brain soon perished. Brains and agility had replaced armor and size in the progress of animal survival. And with the dinosaur family on the decline, the mammals slowly assumed domination of the earth, speedily and completely destroying the remainder of their reptilian ancestors.
61:2.5 (695.3) 在陸地上，這無疑是哺乳動物更新與擴張的時代。在那個時代結束之前，較早期和較原始的哺乳動物中，有超過一百個物種滅絕了。連體型龐大、腦容量較小的哺乳動物也很快滅絕了。在動物存活的進程中，大腦與敏捷已取代了甲殼與體型。隨著恐龍家族的衰落，哺乳動物逐漸掌控了地球的主導權，並迅速而徹底地消滅了它們爬行動物祖先的殘餘。
61:2.6 (695.4) Along with the disappearance of the dinosaurs, other and great changes occurred in the various branches of the saurian family. The surviving members of the early reptilian families are turtles, snakes, and crocodiles, together with the venerable frog, the only remaining group representative of man’s earlier ancestors.
61:2.6 (695.4) 隨著恐龍的消失，蜥蜴家族的各個分支也發生了其他重大變化。早期爬行動物家族的倖存成員包括龜類、蛇類和鱷魚，以及古老的蛙類，它們是人類早期祖先僅存的族類代表。
61:2.7 (695.5) Various groups of mammals had their origin in a unique animal now extinct. This carnivorous creature was something of a cross between a cat and a seal; it could live on land or in water and was highly intelligent and very active. In Europe the ancestor of the canine family evolved, soon giving rise to many species of small dogs. About the same time the gnawing rodents, including beavers, squirrels, gophers, mice, and rabbits, appeared and soon became a notable form of life, very little change having since occurred in this family. The later deposits of this period contain the fossil remains of dogs, cats, coons, and weasels in ancestral form.
61:2.7 (695.5) 各種類別的哺乳動物都起源於一種現已滅絕的獨特動物。這種食肉生物有點像貓與海豹的雜交物種；它既能在陸地上生活，也能在水中生活，極為聰明且非常活躍。在歐洲，犬科動物的祖先進化出來了，並很快衍生出許多小型犬種。大約在同一時期，齧齒動物出現了，其中包括海狸、松鼠、地松鼠、老鼠和兔子，它們很快成為一種重要的生命形式，此後這個家族幾乎未發生什麼變化。這個時期的後期沉積物中含有狗、貓、浣熊和鼬科動物祖先形態的化石遺骸。
61:2.8 (695.6) 30,000,000 years ago the modern types of mammals began to make their appearance. Formerly the mammals had lived for the greater part in the hills, being of the mountainous types; suddenly there began the evolution of the plains or hoofed type, the grazing species, as differentiated from the clawed flesh eaters. These grazers sprang from an undifferentiated ancestor having five toes and forty-four teeth, which perished before the end of the age. Toe evolution did not progress beyond the three-toed stage throughout this period.
61:2.8 (695.6) 30,000,000萬年前，現代類型的哺乳動物開始出現。以前，哺乳動物主要生活在山區，屬於山居類型；突然間，與爪類食肉動物不同的平原型或蹄類食草動物開始進化。這些食草動物源於一種未分化的祖先，該祖先擁有五個腳趾和四十四顆牙齒，在那個時代結束前便已滅絕。在此期間，腳趾的進化並未超越三趾階段。
61:2.9 (695.7) The horse, an outstanding example of evolution, lived during these times in both North America and Europe, though his development was not fully completed until the later ice age. While the rhinoceros family appeared at the close of this period, it underwent its greatest expansion subsequently. A small hoglike creature also developed which became the ancestor of the many species of swine, peccaries, and hippopotamuses. Camels and llamas had their origin in North America about the middle of this period and overran the western plains. Later, the llamas migrated to South America, the camels to Europe, and soon both were extinct in North America, though a few camels survived up to the ice age.
61:2.9 (695.7) 馬是一種傑出的進化典範，在那些時期同時生活在北美洲和歐洲，儘管它的發展直到冰河時代晚期才全部完成。犀牛家族雖出現在這個時期的末期，但它隨後經歷了最大規模的擴張。一種類似豬的小型生物也形成了，成為許多豬、西猯和河馬物種的祖先。駱駝和羊駝約在本時期中期起源於北美洲，並迅速佔領了西部平原。後來，羊駝遷徙到南美洲，駱駝則遷到歐洲，儘管有少數駱駝存活到了冰河時代，但不久後它們都在北美洲滅絕了。
61:2.10 (696.1) About this time a notable thing occurred in western North America: The early ancestors of the ancient lemurs first made their appearance. While this family cannot be regarded as true lemurs, their coming marked the establishment of the line from which the true lemurs subsequently sprang.
61:2.10 (696.1) 大約在這個時期，北美西部發生了一件值得注意的事情：古代狐猴的早期祖先首次出現了。雖然這個家族不能被視為真正的狐猴，但它們的出現標誌著後來由此分化的真正狐猴譜系的確立。
61:2.11 (696.2) Like the land serpents of a previous age which betook themselves to the seas, now a whole tribe of placental mammals deserted the land and took up their residence in the oceans. And they have ever since remained in the sea, yielding the modern whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions.
61:2.11 (696.2) 正如先前時代前往海洋的陸地蛇類，如今整個胎盤哺乳動物族群也都離開了陸地，在海洋中定居。自此之後，它們便一直棲息于海洋之中，繁衍出了現代的鯨魚、海豚、鼠海豚、海豹和海獅。
61:2.12 (696.3) The bird life of the planet continued to develop, but with few important evolutionary changes. The majority of modern birds were existent, including gulls, herons, flamingoes, buzzards, falcons, eagles, owls, quails, and ostriches.
61:2.12 (696.3) 地球上的鳥類生命繼續發展，但幾乎沒有重大的進化改變。大多數現代鳥類都已存在，其中包括海鷗、蒼鷺、火烈鳥、禿鷲、獵鷹、鷹、貓頭鷹、鵪鶉和鴕鳥。
61:2.13 (696.4) By the close of this Oligocene period, covering ten million years, the plant life, together with the marine life and the land animals, had very largely evolved and was present on earth much as today. Considerable specialization has subsequently appeared, but the ancestral forms of most living things were then alive.
61:2.13 (696.4) 到這個跨越一千萬年的漸新世時期結束時，植物生命，連同海洋生命和陸地動物已在很大程度上完成進化，它們在地球上的生存狀態幾乎與今天一樣。隨後出現了相當程度的分化，但大多數生物的祖先形態當時都已存在。
61:3.1 (696.5) Land elevation and sea segregation were slowly changing the world’s weather, gradually cooling it, but the climate was still mild. Sequoias and magnolias grew in Greenland, but the subtropical plants were beginning to migrate southward. By the end of this period these warm-climate plants and trees had largely disappeared from the northern latitudes, their places being taken by more hardy plants and the deciduous trees.
61:3.1 (696.5) 陸地抬升與海洋分隔正緩慢改變著全球氣候，氣溫逐漸下降，但氣候依然溫和。格陵蘭島上生長著紅杉和木蘭，但亞熱帶植物正開始向南遷移。到這個時期結束時，這些喜溫植物和樹木已基本從北緯地區消失，取而代之的是更耐寒的植物和落葉樹種。
61:3.2 (696.6) There was a great increase in the varieties of grasses, and the teeth of many mammalian species gradually altered to conform to the present-day grazing type.
61:3.2 (696.6) 草類品種數量大幅增加，許多哺乳動物物種的牙齒逐漸改變成現今食草動物的類型。
61:3.3 (696.7) 25,000,000 years ago there was a slight land submergence following the long epoch of land elevation. The Rocky Mountain region remained highly elevated so that the deposition of erosion material continued throughout the lowlands to the east. The Sierras were well re-elevated; in fact, they have been rising ever since. The great four-mile vertical fault in the California region dates from this time.
61:3.3 (696.7) 25,000,000年前，在漫長的陸地抬升時期之後，發生了輕微的陸地沉降。落基山地區仍高聳入雲，因此侵蝕物質的沉積持續延伸到整個東部低地。綿延的山嶺再次顯著抬升；事實上，它們自那時起一直在升高。加利福尼亞地區高達六千五百米的巨大垂直斷層就形成於這個時期。
61:3.4 (696.8) 20,000,000 years ago was indeed the golden age of mammals. The Bering Strait land bridge was up, and many groups of animals migrated to North America from Asia, including the four-tusked mastodons, short-legged rhinoceroses, and many varieties of the cat family.
61:3.4 (696.8) 20,000,000年前確實是哺乳動物的黃金時代。白令海峽陸橋升起，許多動物群從亞洲遷徙到北美洲，其中包括長著四根長牙的乳齒象、短腿犀牛以及多種貓科動物。
61:3.5 (696.9) The first deer appeared, and North America was soon overrun by ruminants—deer, oxen, camels, bison, and several species of rhinoceroses—but the giant pigs, more than six feet tall, became extinct.
61:3.5 (696.9) 第一隻鹿出現了，不久，北美大陸便佈滿了反芻動物——鹿、牛、駱駝、野牛和幾種犀牛——但身高近兩米的巨型豬卻滅絕了。
61:3.6 (697.1) The huge elephants of this and subsequent periods possessed large brains as well as large bodies, and they soon overran the entire world except Australia. For once the world was dominated by a huge animal with a brain sufficiently large to enable it to carry on. Confronted by the highly intelligent life of these ages, no animal the size of an elephant could have survived unless it had possessed a brain of large size and superior quality. In intelligence and adaptation the elephant is approached only by the horse and is surpassed only by man himself. Even so, of the fifty species of elephants in existence at the opening of this period, only two have survived.
61:3.6 (697.1) 這個時期及之後時期的巨型大象不僅體型龐大，還擁有龐大的腦容量，它們很快便佔據了除澳大利亞以外的整個世界。這一次，世界被一種巨型動物所主宰，它的腦容量足夠大，足以使其繼續生存下去。面對這些時代高度智能的生命，除非擁有一個容量大、品質高的大腦，否則任何體型如大象一樣龐大的動物都無法存活。在智力與適應能力方面，只有馬能與大象相接近，只有人類能超越大象。即便如此，在這一時期開始時存在的五十種象類中，僅有兩種倖存下來。
61:3.7 (697.2) 15,000,000 years ago the mountain regions of Eurasia were rising, and there was some volcanic activity throughout these regions, but nothing comparable to the lava flows of the Western Hemisphere. These unsettled conditions prevailed all over the world.
61:3.7 (697.2) 15,000,000年前，歐亞大陸的山區逐漸升高，這些地區普遍存在著一些火山活動，但其規模遠不及西半球的熔岩流。這些動盪不安的狀況在全世界普遍存在。
61:3.8 (697.3) The Strait of Gibraltar closed, and Spain was connected with Africa by the old land bridge, but the Mediterranean flowed into the Atlantic through a narrow channel which extended across France, the mountain peaks and highlands appearing as islands above this ancient sea. Later on, these European seas began to withdraw. Still later, the Mediterranean was connected with the Indian Ocean, while at the close of this period the Suez region was elevated so that the Mediterranean became, for a time, an inland salt sea.
61:3.8 (697.3) 直布羅陀海峽閉合，西班牙通過古老的陸橋與非洲相連，但地中海則通過一條穿越法國的狹窄海峽流入大西洋，山峰與高原像島嶼一樣浮現在這片古老的海洋之上。後來，這些歐洲海域開始退去。更後來，地中海與印度洋相連，而在這個時期結束時，蘇伊士地區被抬升，地中海一度成為內陸鹹水湖。
61:3.9 (697.4) The Iceland land bridge submerged, and the arctic waters commingled with those of the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic coast of North America rapidly cooled, but the Pacific coast remained warmer than at present. The great ocean currents were in function and affected climate much as they do today.
61:3.9 (697.4) 冰島陸橋沉沒了，北極水域與大西洋水域混合在一起。北美洲大西洋沿岸地區迅速降溫，但太平洋沿岸地區仍比現在溫暖。大洋流的運行和對氣候的影響與今天大致相同。
61:3.10 (697.5) Mammalian life continued to evolve. Enormous herds of horses joined the camels on the western plains of North America; this was truly the age of horses as well as of elephants. The horse’s brain is next in animal quality to that of the elephant, but in one respect it is decidedly inferior, for the horse never fully overcame the deep-seated propensity to flee when frightened. The horse lacks the emotional control of the elephant, while the elephant is greatly handicapped by size and lack of agility. During this period an animal evolved which was somewhat like both the elephant and the horse, but it was soon destroyed by the rapidly increasing cat family.
61:3.10 (697.5) 哺乳動物的生命繼續進化。在北美西部的平原上，龐大的馬群加入了駱駝的行列；這確實是馬與象並存的時代。馬腦在動物品質方面僅次於象腦，但有一個方面卻明顯遜色，馬始終未能完全克服受驚時根深蒂固的逃跑習性。馬缺乏象的情緒控制力，而象則因體型龐大且缺乏敏捷性而受到極大限制。在此期間，一種兼具象和馬某些特徵的動物進化出來了，但很快就被急劇增加的貓科動物滅絕了。
61:3.11 (697.6) As Urantia is entering the so-called “horseless age,” you should pause and ponder what this animal meant to your ancestors. Men first used horses for food, then for travel, and later in agriculture and war. The horse has long served mankind and has played an important part in the development of human civilization.
61:3.11 (697.6) 隨著玉苒廈進入所謂的 “無馬時代” ，你們應該停下來思考一下這種動物對你們的祖先意味著什麼。人類最初將馬作為食物，然後用於交通，後來又將其用於農業和戰爭。馬長期以來一直為人類服務，並在人類文明的發展中發揮了重要作用。
61:3.12 (697.7) The biologic developments of this period contributed much toward the setting of the stage for the subsequent appearance of man. In central Asia the true types of both the primitive monkey and the gorilla evolved, having a common ancestor, now extinct. But neither of these species is concerned in the line of living beings which were, later on, to become the ancestors of the human race.
61:3.12 (697.7) 這一時期的生物發展為人類的後續出現奠定了重要基礎。在中亞，原始猿和猩猩的真正類型都進化出來了，它們有一個共同的祖先，但現已滅絕。但這些物種都與後來成為人類祖先的生命譜系無關。
61:3.13 (697.8) The dog family was represented by several groups, notably wolves and foxes; the cat tribe, by panthers and large saber-toothed tigers, the latter first evolving in North America. The modern cat and dog families increased in numbers all over the world. Weasels, martens, otters, and raccoons thrived and developed throughout the northern latitudes.
61:3.13 (697.8) 犬科動物由幾個類群代表，尤其是狼和狐狸；貓科家族則由美洲豹和大型劍齒虎代表，後者最初在北美洲進化而成。現代貓科和犬科動物的數量在世界各地不斷增加。鼬、貂、水獺和浣熊在整個北緯地區繁衍生息並不斷髮展。
61:3.14 (698.1) Birds continued to evolve, though few marked changes occurred. Reptiles were similar to modern types—snakes, crocodiles, and turtles.
61:3.14 (698.1) 鳥類繼續進化，儘管幾乎沒有發生顯著的變化。爬行動物——蛇、鱷魚和龜，與現代類型相似。
61:3.15 (698.2) Thus drew to a close a very eventful and interesting period of the world’s history. This age of the elephant and the horse is known as the Miocene.
61:3.15 (698.2) 世界歷史上一個豐富多彩且有趣的時期就此落幕。這個象與馬的時代被稱為中新世。
61:4.1 (698.3) This is the period of preglacial land elevation in North America, Europe, and Asia. The land was greatly altered in topography. Mountain ranges were born, streams changed their courses, and isolated volcanoes broke out all over the world.
61:4.1 (698.3) 這是北美、歐洲和亞洲冰河期前陸地抬升的時期。陸地的地貌發生了巨大變化。山脈誕生，河流改道，孤立的火山在世界各地噴發。
61:4.2 (698.4) 10,000,000 years ago began an age of widespread local land deposits on the lowlands of the continents, but most of these sedimentations were later removed. Much of Europe, at this time, was still under water, including parts of England, Belgium, and France, and the Mediterranean Sea covered much of northern Africa. In North America extensive depositions were made at the mountain bases, in lakes, and in the great land basins. These deposits average only about two hundred feet, are more or less colored, and fossils are rare. Two great fresh-water lakes existed in western North America. The Sierras were elevating; Shasta, Hood, and Rainier were beginning their mountain careers. But it was not until the subsequent ice age that North America began its creep toward the Atlantic depression.
61:4.2 (698.4) 10,000,000年前，一個時代開始了，大陸低地上出現了廣泛的局部陸地沉積，但這些沉積後來大多被清除了。當時，歐洲的大部分地區仍被水淹沒，包括英格蘭、比利時和法國的部分地區，而地中海則覆蓋了北非的大部分地區。在北美洲，山麓、湖泊及廣闊的大陸盆地中形成了大量的沉積物。這些沉積物平均厚度僅約六十米，或多或少帶有顏色，且很少含有化石。北美西部曾有兩個巨大的淡水湖。綿延的山嶺正在升起；雪士達山、胡德山和雷尼爾山正開始成為山脈。但直到後來的冰河時期，北美大陸才開始向大西洋凹地滑動。
61:4.3 (698.5) For a short time all the land of the world was again joined excepting Australia, and the last great world-wide animal migration took place. North America was connected with both South America and Asia, and there was a free exchange of animal life. Asiatic sloths, armadillos, antelopes, and bears entered North America, while North American camels went to China. Rhinoceroses migrated over the whole world except Australia and South America, but they were extinct in the Western Hemisphere by the close of this period.
61:4.3 (698.5) 除了澳大利亞之外，地球上所有陸地再次短暫地連在一起，最後一次全球性的動物大遷徙就此開始。北美洲與南美洲和亞洲相連，動物生命自由地遷徙。亞洲樹懶、犰狳、羚羊和熊進入北美洲，而北美駱駝則去了中國。犀牛曾遷徙到除澳大利亞和南美洲外世界各地，但在本時期結束時，它們已在西半球滅絕。
61:4.4 (698.6) In general, the life of the preceding period continued to evolve and spread. The cat family dominated the animal life, and marine life was almost at a standstill. Many of the horses were still three-toed, but the modern types were arriving; llamas and giraffelike camels mingled with the horses on the grazing plains. The giraffe appeared in Africa, having just as long a neck then as now. In South America sloths, armadillos, anteaters, and the South American type of primitive monkeys evolved. Before the continents were finally isolated, those massive animals, the mastodons, migrated everywhere except to Australia.
61:4.4 (698.6) 總體而言，前一時期的生命在繼續進化和擴張。貓科動物主宰著動物世界，而海洋生命則幾乎處於停滯狀態。許多馬種仍是三趾的，但現代品種正在出現；美洲駝與長頸鹿般的駱駝正在草原上與馬群混雜在一起。長頸鹿出現在非洲，那時它就有和現在一樣長的脖子。在南美洲，樹懶、犰狳、食蟻獸以及南美洲類型的原始猿猴進化出來了。在各大洲最終分離之前，那些龐然巨獸，乳齒象，曾遷徙到除澳大利亞以外的所有地方。
61:4.5 (698.7) 5,000,000 years ago the horse evolved as it now is and from North America migrated to all the world. But the horse had become extinct on the continent of its origin long before the red man arrived.
61:4.5 (698.7) 5,000,000年前，馬進化成如今的模樣，並從北美洲遷徙至世界各地。但在紅種人抵達之前，馬早已在其原生大陸上滅絕了。
61:4.6 (698.8) The climate was gradually getting cooler; the land plants were slowly moving southward. At first it was the increasing cold in the north that stopped animal migrations over the northern isthmuses; subsequently these North American land bridges went down. Soon afterwards the land connection between Africa and South America finally submerged, and the Western Hemisphere was isolated much as it is today. From this time forward distinct types of life began to develop in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
61:4.6 (698.8) 氣候逐漸變冷；陸地植物正緩慢向南遷移。起初，北方的日漸寒冷阻斷了動物穿越北部地峽的遷徙；後來，這些北美陸橋沉沒了。不久之後，非洲與南美洲之間的陸地連接最終沉沒了，西半球變得孤立，幾乎和今天一樣。從那時起，不同類型的生命開始在東西半球發展起來。
61:4.7 (699.1) And thus does this period of almost ten million years’ duration draw to a close, and not yet has the ancestor of man appeared. This is the time usually designated as the Pliocene.
61:4.7 (699.1) 就這樣，這個持續了近一千萬年的時期即將結束，而人類的祖先尚未出現。這段時期通常被稱為上新世。
61:5.1 (699.2) By the close of the preceding period the lands of the northeastern part of North America and of northern Europe were highly elevated on an extensive scale, in North America vast areas rising up to 30,000 feet and more. Mild climates had formerly prevailed over these northern regions, and the arctic waters were all open to evaporation, and they continued to be ice-free until almost the close of the glacial period.
61:5.1 (699.2) 在前一時期結束時，北美東北部和北歐地區的陸地在很大範圍內顯著抬升，北美洲的大片區域海拔高達9,000米以上。這些北方地區以前氣候溫和，所有北極水域都敞開著蒸發，直至冰河時期即將結束時，它們仍然沒有結冰。
61:5.2 (699.3) Simultaneously with these land elevations the ocean currents shifted, and the seasonal winds changed their direction. These conditions eventually produced an almost constant precipitation of moisture from the movement of the heavily saturated atmosphere over the northern highlands. Snow began to fall on these elevated and therefore cool regions, and it continued to fall until it had attained a depth of 20,000 feet. The areas of the greatest depth of snow, together with altitude, determined the central points of subsequent glacial pressure flows. And the ice age persisted just as long as this excessive precipitation continued to cover these northern highlands with this enormous mantle of snow, which soon metamorphosed into solid but creeping ice.
61:5.2 (699.3) 隨著這些陸地的抬升，洋流隨之改變，季風也改變了方向。這些條件最終導致了北部高地因高度飽和的大氣移動所產生的水氣而出現幾乎持續不斷的降水。雪開始飄落在這些海拔高因而涼爽的地區，並持續降雪，直至積雪厚度達到6,000米。積雪最深的區域與海拔高度共同決定了後續冰川壓力流的中心點。冰河時代持續的時間，恰恰等同於這場異常降水持續覆蓋北方高地、形成厚重雪毯的時長，這些積雪很快就變成了堅硬卻緩慢移動的冰層。
61:5.3 (699.4) The great ice sheets of this period were all located on elevated highlands, not in mountainous regions where they are found today. One half of the glacial ice was in North America, one fourth in Eurasia, and one fourth elsewhere, chiefly in Antarctica. Africa was little affected by the ice, but Australia was almost covered with the antarctic ice blanket.
61:5.3 (699.4) 這一時期的巨大冰蓋都位於抬升的高地上，而不是像今天這樣位於山區。一半的冰川冰位於北美洲，四分之一位於歐亞大陸，其餘四分之一位於其他地方，主要在南極洲。非洲受冰川影響較小，但澳大利亞幾乎被南極冰層覆蓋。
61:5.4 (699.5) The northern regions of this world have experienced six separate and distinct ice invasions, although there were scores of advances and recessions associated with the activity of each individual ice sheet. The ice in North America collected in two and, later, three centers. Greenland was covered, and Iceland was completely buried beneath the ice flow. In Europe the ice at various times covered the British Isles excepting the coast of southern England, and it overspread western Europe down to France.
61:5.4 (699.5) 世界北部地區經歷了六次獨立且截然不同的冰川入侵，儘管每次冰蓋活動都伴隨著許多次進退。北美洲的冰層最初聚集在兩個中心，後來又聚集在三個中心。格陵蘭島被冰層覆蓋，冰島則完全被埋在冰流之下。在歐洲，冰層曾多次覆蓋除英格蘭南部沿海地區外的不列顛群島，並橫跨西歐，直到法國。
61:5.5 (699.6) 2,000,000 years ago the first North American glacier started its southern advance. The ice age was now in the making, and this glacier consumed nearly one million years in its advance from, and retreat back toward, the northern pressure centers. The central ice sheet extended south as far as Kansas; the eastern and western ice centers were not then so extensive.
61:5.5 (699.6) 2,000,000年前，北美第一道冰川開始向南推進。冰河時代由此開始，這道冰川用了近一百萬年的時間從北方的氣壓中心推進，又撤回到北方的氣壓中心。中央冰蓋向南延伸至堪薩斯州；當時東部和西部冰蓋中心的範圍沒有那麼廣。
61:5.6 (699.7) 1,500,000 years ago the first great glacier was retreating northward. In the meantime, enormous quantities of snow had been falling on Greenland and on the northeastern part of North America, and erelong this eastern ice mass began to flow southward. This was the second invasion of the ice.
61:5.6 (699.7) 1,500,000年前，第一道大冰川開始向北撤退。與此同時，格陵蘭島和北美東北部地區降下了大量的雪，不久之後，這片東部冰體開始向南流動。這是冰川的第二次入侵。
61:5.7 (699.8) These first two ice invasions were not extensive in Eurasia. During these early epochs of the ice age North America was overrun with mastodons, woolly mammoths, horses, camels, deer, musk oxen, bison, ground sloths, giant beavers, saber-toothed tigers, sloths as large as elephants, and many groups of the cat and dog families. But from this time forward they were rapidly reduced in numbers by the increasing cold of the glacial period. Toward the close of the ice age the majority of these animal species were extinct in North America.
61:5.7 (699.8) 前兩次冰川入侵在歐亞大陸的規模並不大。在冰河時代的早期，北美洲遍佈乳齒象、猛獁象、馬、駱駝、鹿、麝牛、野牛、地懶、巨型海狸、劍齒虎、與大象一樣大的樹懶，以及許多貓科和犬科動物群體。但從那時起，隨著冰河時期日漸寒冷，它們的數量迅速減少。冰河時代末期，北美的大多數這些動物物種都已滅絕。
61:5.8 (700.1) Away from the ice the land and water life of the world was little changed. Between the ice invasions the climate was about as mild as at present, perhaps a little warmer. The glaciers were, after all, local phenomena, though they spread out to cover enormous areas. The coastwise climate varied greatly between the times of glacial inaction and those times when enormous icebergs were sliding off the coast of Maine into the Atlantic, slipping out through Puget Sound into the Pacific, and thundering down Norwegian fiords into the North Sea.
61:5.8 (700.1) 遠離冰川的地方，世界的陸地和水生生命幾乎沒有變化。在兩次冰川入侵之間，氣候與現在差不多溫和，或許還要稍微暖和一些。儘管冰川擴展開來覆蓋了巨大的區域，但畢竟它們只是局部現象。在冰川活動停滯時期和巨大的冰山從緬因州海岸滑入大西洋、穿過普吉特海灣滑入太平洋、轟然落入挪威峽灣進入北海的時期之間，沿海地區的氣候差異很大。
61:6.1 (700.2) The great event of this glacial period was the evolution of primitive man. Slightly to the west of India, on land now under water and among the offspring of Asiatic migrants of the older North American lemur types, the dawn mammals suddenly appeared. These small animals walked mostly on their hind legs, and they possessed large brains in proportion to their size and in comparison with the brains of other animals. In the seventieth generation of this order of life a new and higher group of animals suddenly differentiated. These new mid-mammals—almost twice the size and height of their ancestors and possessing proportionately increased brain power—had only well established themselves when the Primates, the third vital mutation, suddenly appeared. (At this same time, a retrograde development within the mid-mammal stock gave origin to the simian ancestry; and from that day to this the human branch has gone forward by progressive evolution, while the simian tribes have remained stationary or have actually retrogressed.)
61:6.1 (700.2) 冰河時期最重大的事件是原始人類的進化。在印度略偏西的地方，在現已被淹沒的陸地上，在較古老北美狐猴類型的亞洲遷徙者後代中，開端哺乳動物突然出現了。這些小型動物通常用後腿行走，而且相對於它們的體型以及與其他動物的大腦相比，它們的大腦很大。在這種生命類別的第七十代，突然分化出一個新的、更高等的動物群體。這些新的中間哺乳動物——體型和身高几乎是其祖先的兩倍，並且擁有相應擴增的腦力——剛剛站穩腳跟，靈長類動物，即第三種關鍵的變體就突然出現了。（與此同時，中間哺乳動物譜系內的逆行發展產生了猿猴的祖先；從那時起直到今天，人類分支通過漸進的進化向前發展，而猿猴群落則停滯不前，或實際上已經退化了。）
61:6.2 (700.3) 1,000,000 years ago Urantia was registered as an inhabited world. A mutation within the stock of the progressing Primates suddenly produced two primitive human beings, the actual ancestors of mankind.
61:6.2 (700.3) 1,000,000年前，玉苒廈被登記為一個有人居住的世界。靈長類動物譜系在不斷進步中發生的一次基因突變，突然產生了兩個原始人類，他們是人類真正的祖先。
61:6.3 (700.4) This event occurred at about the time of the beginning of the third glacial advance; thus it may be seen that your early ancestors were born and bred in a stimulating, invigorating, and difficult environment. And the sole survivors of these Urantia aborigines, the Eskimos, even now prefer to dwell in frigid northern climes.
61:6.3 (700.4) 這一事件大約發生在第三次冰期推進開始之時；由此可見，你們的早期祖先出生併成長在一個充滿刺激、活力和艱辛的環境中。而這些玉苒廈土著居民的唯一倖存者——愛斯基摩人，至今仍然更喜歡居住在寒冷的北方氣候中。
61:6.4 (700.5) Human beings were not present in the Western Hemisphere until near the close of the ice age. But during the interglacial epochs they passed westward around the Mediterranean and soon overran the continent of Europe. In the caves of western Europe may be found human bones mingled with the remains of both tropic and arctic animals, testifying that man lived in these regions throughout the later epochs of the advancing and retreating glaciers.
61:6.4 (700.5) 直到冰河時代末期，人類才出現在西半球。但在間冰期，它們繞過地中海向西移動行進，並很快佔領了歐洲大陸。在西歐的山洞裡，可以發現了人類骨骼與熱帶和北極動物遺骸混雜在一起，這證明在冰川進退的後期，人類一直生活在這些地區。
61:7.1 (700.6) Throughout the glacial period other activities were in progress, but the action of the ice overshadows all other phenomena in the northern latitudes. No other terrestrial activity leaves such characteristic evidence on the topography. The distinctive boulders and surface cleavages, such as potholes, lakes, displaced stone, and rock flour, are to be found in connection with no other phenomenon in nature. The ice is also responsible for those gentle swells, or surface undulations, known as drumlins. And a glacier, as it advances, displaces rivers and changes the whole face of the earth. Glaciers alone leave behind them those telltale drifts—the ground, lateral, and terminal moraines. These drifts, particularly the ground moraines, extend from the eastern seaboard north and westward in North America and are found in Europe and Siberia.
61:7.1 (700.6) 在整個冰河時期，其他活動也在進行，但冰川的活動掩蓋了北緯地區的所有其他現象。沒有任何其他地質活動會在地貌上留下如此獨特的痕跡。獨特的巨礫和地表裂縫，如壺穴、湖泊、移位的石頭和巖粉，在其他任何自然現象中都無法找到。冰川也造就了那些被稱為冰磧丘的輕微隆起或地表起伏。冰川推進時，會改變河流走向，並改變整個地球面貌。只有冰川才會留下那些標誌性的的漂移物——底磧、側磧和終磧。這些漂移物，特別是底磧，從北美東海岸向北和向西延伸，在歐洲和西伯利亞都能找到。
61:7.2 (701.1) 750,000 years ago the fourth ice sheet, a union of the North American central and eastern ice fields, was well on its way south; at its height it reached to southern Illinois, displacing the Mississippi River fifty miles to the west, and in the east it extended as far south as the Ohio River and central Pennsylvania.
61:7.2 (701.1) 750,000年前，第四冰蓋（北美中部和東部冰原的合併體）正向南移動；在其鼎盛時期，它到達了伊利諾伊州南部，將密西西比河向西推移了八十公里，在東部，它向南延伸至俄亥俄河和賓夕法尼亞州中部。
61:7.3 (701.2) In Asia the Siberian ice sheet made its southernmost invasion, while in Europe the advancing ice stopped just short of the mountain barrier of the Alps.
61:7.3 (701.2) 在亞洲，西伯利亞冰蓋推進到最南端，而在歐洲，冰蓋推進到距離阿爾卑斯山脈屏障僅一步之遙的地方才停止。
61:7.4 (701.3) 500,000 years ago, during the fifth advance of the ice, a new development accelerated the course of human evolution. Suddenly and in one generation the six colored races mutated from the aboriginal human stock. This is a doubly important date since it also marks the arrival of the Planetary Prince.
61:7.4 (701.3) 500,000年前，在第五次冰川推進期間，一個新的發展加速了人類進化的進程。突然，僅僅一代人的時間，六個有色人種就從原始人類的血統中變異出來。這是一個意義非凡的日子，因為它也標誌著行星王子的到來。
61:7.5 (701.4) In North America the advancing fifth glacier consisted of a combined invasion by all three ice centers. The eastern lobe, however, extended only a short distance below the St. Lawrence valley, and the western ice sheet made little southern advance. But the central lobe reached south to cover most of the state of Iowa. In Europe this invasion of the ice was not so extensive as the preceding one.
61:7.5 (701.4) 在北美洲，不斷推進的第五次冰川是由所有三個冰川中心的聯合入侵構成的。然而，東部冰葉僅向聖勞倫斯河谷下方延伸了一小段距離，西部冰蓋幾乎沒有向南推進。但中央冰葉向南延伸，覆蓋了愛荷華州的大部分地區。在歐洲，這次冰川入侵的規模不如前一次那麼大。
61:7.6 (701.5) 250,000 years ago the sixth and last glaciation began. And despite the fact that the northern highlands had begun to sink slightly, this was the period of greatest snow deposition on the northern ice fields.
61:7.6 (701.5) 250,000年前，第六次也是最後一次冰期開始了。儘管北部高地已經開始略微下沉，但這卻是北部冰原積雪量最大的時期。
61:7.7 (701.6) In this invasion the three great ice sheets coalesced into one vast ice mass, and all of the western mountains participated in this glacial activity. This was the largest of all ice invasions in North America; the ice moved south over fifteen hundred miles from its pressure centers, and North America experienced its lowest temperatures.
61:7.7 (701.6) 在這次冰川入侵中，三大冰蓋合併成一個巨大的冰體，所有西部山脈都參與了這次冰川活動。這是北美歷史上規模最大的一次冰川入侵；冰川從其壓力中心向南移動了超過 2400 公里，北美經歷了最低氣溫。
61:7.8 (701.7) 200,000 years ago, during the advance of the last glacier, there occurred an episode which had much to do with the march of events on Urantia—the Lucifer rebellion.
61:7.8 (701.7) 200,000年前，在最後一次冰川推進期間，發生了一件與玉苒廈的各項進程密切相關的事件——路西法反叛。
61:7.9 (701.8) 150,000 years ago the sixth and last glacier reached its farthest points of southern extension, the western ice sheet crossing just over the Canadian border; the central coming down into Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois; the eastern sheet advancing south and covering the greater portion of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
61:7.9 (701.8) 150,000年前，第六次也是最後一次冰川到達了其向南延伸的最遠點，西部冰蓋剛好越過了加拿大邊境；中部冰蓋向下延伸到堪薩斯州、密蘇里州和伊利諾伊州；東部冰蓋向南推進，覆蓋了賓夕法尼亞州和俄亥俄州的大部分地區。
61:7.10 (701.9) This is the glacier that sent forth the many tongues, or ice lobes, which carved out the present-day lakes, great and small. During its retreat the North American system of Great Lakes was produced. And Urantian geologists have very accurately deduced the various stages of this development and have correctly surmised that these bodies of water did, at different times, empty first into the Mississippi valley, then eastward into the Hudson valley, and finally by a northern route into the St. Lawrence. It is thirty-seven thousand years since the connected Great Lakes system began to empty out over the present Niagara route.
61:7.10 (701.9) 正是這片冰川噴發出了許多冰舌，或者說冰葉，它們雕刻出了現今大大小小的湖泊。在它撤退期間，形成了北美五大湖水系。玉苒廈的地質學家非常準確地推斷出這一發展過程的不同階段，並正確地推測出這些水體的確在不同的時期，先是流入密西西比河谷，然後向東流入哈德遜河谷，最後沿著北部路線流入聖勞倫斯河。自從相互連通的五大湖水系開始通過現在的尼亞加拉河道排水以來，已經過去了三萬七千年。
61:7.11 (702.1) 100,000 years ago, during the retreat of the last glacier, the vast polar ice sheets began to form, and the center of ice accumulation moved considerably northward. And as long as the polar regions continue to be covered with ice, it is hardly possible for another glacial age to occur, regardless of future land elevations or modification of ocean currents.
61:7.11 (702.1) 100,000年前，在最後一次冰川消退期間，巨大的極地冰蓋開始形成，冰層積累中心大幅向北移動。只要極地地區仍然被冰雪覆蓋，無論未來是否發生陸地抬升或洋流改變，都很難再出現另一個冰河時代。
61:7.12 (702.2) This last glacier was one hundred thousand years advancing, and it required a like span of time to complete its northern retreat. The temperate regions have been free from the ice for a little over fifty thousand years.
61:7.12 (702.2) 這最後一次冰川推進了十萬年，完成其向北的撤退也需要同樣的時間。溫帶地區擺脫冰川覆蓋已經五萬多年了。
61:7.13 (702.3) The rigorous glacial period destroyed many species and radically changed numerous others. Many were sorely sifted by the to-and-fro migration which was made necessary by the advancing and retreating ice. Those animals which followed the glaciers back and forth over the land were the bear, bison, reindeer, musk ox, mammoth, and mastodon.
61:7.13 (702.3) 嚴酷的冰川時期摧毀了許多物種，並徹底改變了許多其他物種。由於冰川的進退，動物們不得不來回遷徙，許多物種因此遭受了嚴重的淘汰。那些隨著冰川在陸地上來回遷徙的動物有熊、野牛、馴鹿、麝牛、猛獁象和乳齒象。
61:7.14 (702.4) The mammoth sought the open prairies, but the mastodon preferred the sheltered fringes of the forest regions. The mammoth, until a late date, ranged from Mexico to Canada; the Siberian variety became wool covered. The mastodon persisted in North America until exterminated by the red man much as the white man later killed off the bison.
61:7.14 (702.4) 猛獁象喜歡開闊的草原，而乳齒象則更喜歡森林地區掩蔽的邊緣地帶。直到近代，猛獁象的分佈範圍還從墨西哥到加拿大；西伯利亞猛獁象則全身長滿了毛髮。乳齒像一直生活在北美洲，直到紅種人將它們滅絕，就像白種人後來殺光了野牛一樣。
61:7.15 (702.5) In North America, during the last glaciation, the horse, tapir, llama, and saber-toothed tiger became extinct. In their places sloths, armadillos, and water hogs came up from South America.
61:7.15 (702.5) 在北美洲，在最後一次冰川時期，馬、貘、羊駝和劍齒虎滅絕了。取而代之的是來自南美洲的樹懶、犰狳和水豬。
61:7.16 (702.6) The enforced migration of life before the advancing ice led to an extraordinary commingling of plants and of animals, and with the retreat of the final ice invasion, many arctic species of both plants and animals were left stranded high upon certain mountain peaks, whither they had journeyed to escape destruction by the glacier. And so, today, these dislocated plants and animals may be found high up on the Alps of Europe and even on the Appalachian Mountains of North America.
61:7.16 (702.6) 冰川推進迫使生物遷徙，導致動植物非同尋常的混合，隨著最後一次冰川入侵的撤退，許多北極動植物物種被困在某些山峰的高處，它們為了躲避冰川帶來的毀滅而遷移到那裡。 因此，如今我們可以在歐洲阿爾卑斯山脈的高處，甚至在北美阿巴拉契亞山脈找到這些遷徙的動植物。
61:7.17 (702.7) The ice age is the last completed geologic period, the so-called Pleistocene, over two million years in length.
61:7.17 (702.7) 冰河時期是最後一個完整的地質時期，即所謂的更新世，它持續了兩百多萬年。
61:7.18 (702.8) 35,000 years ago marks the termination of the great ice age excepting in the polar regions of the planet. This date is also significant in that it approximates the arrival of a Material Son and Daughter and the beginning of the Adamic dispensation, roughly corresponding to the beginning of the Holocene or postglacial period.
61:7.18 (702.8) 35,000年前，除地球的極地地區外，大冰河時期結束。這個日期也意義重大，因為它大致接近物質之子和物質之女的到來以及亞當時代的開始，大致對應全新世或後冰河時期的開始。
61:7.19 (702.9) This narrative, extending from the rise of mammalian life to the retreat of the ice and on down to historic times, covers a span of almost fifty million years. This is the last—the current—geologic period and is known to your researchers as the Cenozoic or recent-times era.
61:7.19 (702.9) 這篇敘述從哺乳動物的出現一直到冰川的撤退，直到有歷史記載的時期，涵蓋了近五千萬年的時間。 這是最後一個——也是當前的——地質時期，你們的研究人員稱之為新生代或近代。
61:7.20 (702.10) [Sponsored by a Resident Life Carrier.]
61:7.20 (702.10) [由一位常駐的生命載運者保薦。]