in a burrito, people seem to love avocados.

包在捲餅裡，人們似乎頗愛酪梨

In fact, people in the United States munched through four billion of them in 2014 alone.

其實，美國人光是2014年就大啖了40億個酪梨

They taste great, they’re good for you -- but one of the most amazing things about avocados

它們美味可口，對身體有益，不過關於酪梨最驚人的事情之一

is that ... they still exist.

就是...它們仍存在世上

See, they had a special relationship with huge beasts that lumbered around Central America

瞧，它們和在中美洲一帶龜速移動的巨獸有著特殊的關係

tens of thousands of years ago.

早在幾萬年前

And when these animals went extinct, avocados could easily have gone down with them.

而當這些動物絕種後，酪梨可以輕易和牠們合葬

But, luckily for us, they were saved by some prehistoric farmers.

不過，我們很幸運，它們被一些史前時代的農夫所拯救

The word ‘avocado’ comes from the Aztecs. Specifically, the Nahuatl word ahuacatl, which

酪梨這個字源自阿茲提克族。特別的是，納瓦特爾字ahuacatl

means ... testicle.

就代表...睪丸

I mean, you can kind of see where they got the name -- it probably has something to do

我是指，你可以解釋它們從何處被命名，那也許是

with the, uh, you know the shape and texture of avocados, the way they hang from trees.

和，你知道的，酪梨的形狀以及口感，以及它們掛在樹上的樣子

Anyway, before they became popular in the rest of the world, they were cultivated in

無論如何，在世上其他地區普及之前，它們被栽種在

Mesoamerica for thousands of years.

中美洲好幾千年

Avocados are a fruit – basically, swollen plant ovaries.

酪梨是種水果，基本上是植物膨大的子房

But, nutritionally, they’re very different from other fruits you’d find at the supermarket.

然而，就營養價值來看，它們和你在超市找到的水果不太相同

Fruits like apples and oranges are composed mostly of water and sugar.

像蘋果和柳橙大部分是由水分和糖所組成

And in general, fruit is probably better for you than, say, a bag of sweets or a sugary

且普遍來說，水果可能比，例如一包糖果或含糖飲料對你更有益處

drink because it contains fiber, which slows down sugar absorption and makes you feel fuller, faster.

因為它含有纖維，能減緩糖份的吸收並且使你更快得到飽足感

By comparison, avocados have much less sugar but more protein and fat. That gives them

相較之下，酪梨含較少糖份但更多的蛋白質和脂肪。那賦予它們

that smooth, creamy texture, but also puts them on the calorific side – for a fruit,

一種滑順、如奶油般的口感，但也使它們位居高熱量的排行榜上–就水果來說

anyway.

無論如何

They also contain high levels of potassium and folate nutrients, as well as vitamins

它們也含有高單位的鉀與葉酸類營養素，以及維他命

C, E and K.

Ｃ、E和K

And technically, avocados are berries, like grapes and blueberries.

而學術上來說，酪梨屬莓果類，就像葡萄和藍莓

Rather than holding lots of little seeds, the avocado goes all-in on one big seed – that

並非包覆著很多的籽，酪梨所有的果肉只包著一顆籽

massive ball at the core of each fruit.

那個在每顆果實中心的厚實球狀物

And avocadoes, with their huge seeds, evolved alongside equally huge guts.

有著巨大果核的酪梨同時也逐漸衍生出堅強的意志

Tens of thousands of years ago, during the Pleistocene Epoch, a menagerie of megafauna

數萬年前，在更新世紀期間，巨型的野生動物

-- or, giant animals -- roamed the Americas.

或者，巨獸，遍布美洲地區

While woolly mammoths chilled out in the North, ground sloths weighing three tons and armadillos

當多毛的長毛象在北方休憩時，重達三噸的地懶和汽車般大的穿山甲

the size of cars lived in the warm equatorial forests.

就住在溫暖的赤道雨林

And these giant sloths and armadillos ate a lot of avocados.

而這些巨大的地懶和穿山甲吃掉大量的酪梨

Their digestive systems would break down the tough skin and absorb the high-energy pulp.

它們的消化系統能夠分解外皮並吸收內部高能量的果肉

Then, the indigestible seed, which contains bitter toxins that kept the animals from chewing

然後，難消化且含有苦毒素的果核可避免這些動物咀嚼吞食

it up, passed right out the other end.

而直接將它們排出體外

The animals got a tasty meal, and the avocado trees got to scatter their offspring throughout

動物們獲得美味佳餚，而酪梨樹開始成功地將它們的子嗣繁殖到整個

Mesoamerican forests.

中美洲雨林裡

Plus, the seeds got some nice, warm fertilizer to give them a nutritious boost.

另外，這些種子獲得一些優質、溫暖的肥料提升它們的養分

And with these megafauna around to eat the fruit, avocado trees could keep growing berries

這些巨獸食用這水果的同時，酪梨樹持續繁殖漿果

with increasingly massive seeds.

有著越來越大果核的

The bigger the seed, the more nutrients could be stored inside as a “starter kit” for

果核越大，裡面就儲存越多生長的基本養分給

the baby tree.

小樹

This is especially useful in dense, tropical forests where canopies of older trees block

這對於大樹茂密如天篷般遮蔽了陽光的熱帶雨林

out much of the light from the saplings below.

底下的樹苗來說是特別有用的

So instead of depending entirely on sunlight for energy, the avocado seedlings could supplement

因此，並非全然依賴陽光以獲取能量，酪梨的幼苗能夠

photosynthesis with the nutrients in their seed to survive.

藉由它們種籽內的養分補充光合作用來生存

This happy evolutionary match didn’t last, though. Eventually, the megafauna suffered

儘管如此，這幸福的演化無法同生共死。最後，這些巨獸無一倖免

a mass extinction around ten to thirteen thousand years ago.

大約在一萬到一萬三千年前一次大規模的滅絕

We don’t know exactly why, but scientists think the warming climate at the end of the

我們無法知道確切原因，但科學家認為日漸暖化的氣候

last Ice Age was partly responsible.

在冰河世紀末期在某種程度上要負起責任

Though it was also suspiciously close to the time humans began spreading across the Americas

雖然仍未證實和人類開始遍布美洲地區的時代很相近

-- no doubt enjoying lots of giant-mammal meat along the way!

無疑地，人類在這過程當中享用了許多大型哺乳類的肉

This meant avocados were in trouble.

這代表酪梨有麻煩了

Without their large-gutted evolutionary partners, the trees stopped thriving -- their fruit

沒有了它們大肚子的進化同伴，酪梨樹停止繁衍─它們的果實

fell to the ground, and the seeds mostly just became food for mold.

掉到地上，而大部分的種籽成為黴菌的食物

But more hungry creatures were nearby!

但更飢餓的生物就在不遠處

The new human arrivals loved the avocado’s flesh as much as the ground sloths did. They

新來的人類和地懶同樣喜愛酪梨的果肉。他們

also had the tools to eat them, and the brains to figure out how to grow them.

也擁有食用它們的工具，而且還有想出如何種植它們的大腦

Avocados were all set for domestication.

酪梨們全被重新教化

The avocados we eat today are probably a little different from the ones that grew tens of

我們現今所食用的酪梨可能和數萬年前所生長的有些不同

thousands of years ago -- for example, thanks to artificial selection, they probably have

例如，多虧人工的挑選，它們可能

more pulp than their ancestors.

比它們的祖先更有肉

But they’ve kept their huge seeds, ready and waiting for the guts of long-dead beasts.

不過它們已保住了巨大的種籽，正等待著飢腸轆轆的作古野獸們

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謝謝收看這集的科學節目，由阿甘創意贊助中心提供

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如果你想要協助支持這個節目，請上網站patreon.com/scishow，並且別忘了

to go to youtube.com/scishow and subscribe!

上youtube.com/scishow訂閱！