For them, our history started approximately 30,000 years ago… In an era where the world was cold, hard to manoeuvre and food even harder to come by. It also didn’t help that at the same time humans were rapidly expanding across the major continents, building up settlements all across the euro-Asia plane, and most importantly of all, competing for the already-limited food sources available. This rise in human activity affected one animal most significantly, one of mankind’s greatest historical rivals; Canis lupus, the grey wolf.
對他們來說，我們的歷史始於大約3萬年前……在一個世界寒冷、難以操縱、食物更難獲得的時代。 与此同时，人类正在各大洲迅速扩张，在整个欧亚平面上建立定居点，最重要的是，在爭奪已經有限的可用食物來源，这也無濟於事。 人类活动的这种增加对一种动物的影响最大，人类最大的历史对手之一；灰狼犬。
Humans and wolves were born to be mortal enemies.
人类和狼生来就是死敌。
To understand this rivalry we must go even further back in time. Both lived across moderate climates across plains in the euro-Asia region, both travelled in large groups consisting of many families, both primarily hunted moderately large mammals and both did so through cooperation in outnumbering their prey and ultimately wearing them down with stamina unmatched by any other living fauna.
为了理解这种竞争，我们必须回到更远的时间。 两者都生活在欧亚地区平原上的温和气候中，都以由许多家庭组成的大群结队旅行，主要猎杀中等大小的哺乳动物，并且都通过合作使猎物数量超过猎物，并最终以任何其他活的动物无法比拟的耐力使它们疲惫不堪。
When humans first arrived in the grey wolf’s territory of the wide euro-Asia plane around 100,000 years ago, the homo-sapien precursors stood a very slim chance against their canine competitors.
大约10万年前，当人类首次到达广阔的欧亚飞机的灰狼领土时，智人前体与它们的犬类竞争对手相比的机会非常渺茫。
Often praised for their extraordinary sense of smell, this was no different 100,000 years ago. Lost your group and can’t find your way out of the woods? Don’t worry, you can always count on a grey wolf’s ability to find its way to you. Most likely they’ll find your lost group too. But they’re not tracking all of you down to be your tour guide through the forest; they’re here to make sure you’ll never find your way out ever again.
人们经常因其非凡的嗅觉而受到赞扬，这在10万年前也没什么不同。 失去了你的团队，找不到走出困境的路？ 别担心，你总是可以依靠灰狼找到你的路的能力。 他们很可能也会找到你丢失的团队。 但他们并没有追踪你们所有人，成为你们穿过森林的导游；他们在这里是为了确保你们再也找不到出路了。
Armed with a bite that can pack a 1,200-psi punch, comparable to the modern day hyena, one chomp can exert more than enough force to crush bones like trucks crush soda cans.
一口可以装上1200磅/平方英寸的拳头，可与现代的鬣狗相媲美，一个咬一口可以施加足够的力量来粉碎骨头，就像卡车碾碎苏打水罐一样。
But 70,000 years later, human tools had evolved to be more and more deadly. In the era known as the Upper Paleolithic age, marking the latter years of the old stone age, rapid advancements in human engineering saw the use of sharp flakes of stone to craft blades and to better their ranged spears.
但7万年后，人类工具进化成越来越致命。 在被称为上旧石器时代的时代，标志着旧石器时代的后期，人类工程的快速发展，使用锋利的石片来制作刀片，并改进其远程长矛。
The development of the atlatls further increased the range and power with which their spears could be thrown. Some evidence even suggests the first instances of long-distance trading between humans arose around this time, allowing for even better tools to be crafted to maximise defence against predators and efficiency in hunting prey.
Atlatls的发展进一步增加了它们可以投掷长矛的范围和力量。 一些证据甚至表明，人类之间的第一次长途交易是在这个时候出现的，这使得可以制作出更好的工具，以最大限度地提高对捕食者的防御和狩猎猎物的效率。
On top of this, our close relatives, the more brute-force focused, hack-and-slash style Neanderthals, saw a massive decrease in population; making way for the more tool-centred homo-sapiens to take control.
除此之外，我们的近亲，更注重蛮力、砍砍砍风格的尼安德特人，人口大幅减少；为更以工具为中心的智人控制权让路。
In the case of our grey wolves, their domestication almost perfectly coincides with this prehistoric era of human development.
就我们的灰狼而言，它们的驯化几乎完全符合人类发展的史前时代。
After many millennia in a competition they are starting to lose, some factions of wild wolves living near human dwellings decided maybe it was time for a change. It started with just small things; scavenging scraps like vultures, taking advantage of campfires for warmth, gaining some trust among humans by being tamer and less aggressive. From then, more and more wolves found a reliable way of living by depending on human settlements, and over time, humans also found plenty of uses for these more docile canines.
在经历了几千年的竞争中，他们开始输掉比赛，一些生活在人类住所附近的野狼派别决定，也许是时候做出改变了。 它只是从小事开始；像秃鹰一样捡拾碎片，利用篝火取暖，通过更驯服和不那么咄咄逼人来赢得人类的信任。 从那时起，越来越多的狼通过依靠人类定居找到了可靠的生活方式，随着时间的推移，人类也找到了这些更温順的犬類的大量用途。
This developing symbiotic relationship saw wolves tracking down prey and guarding food stores for humans, and in return gaining shelter, warmth and free meals everyday.
这种不断发展的共生关系见证了狼群追踪猎物并守护人类的食品储存，作为回报，他们每天获得庇护所、温暖和免费膳食。
However these first tamed wolves would have looked nothing like the dogs we know today, and like many other domesticated animals, most likely evolved through a drawn-out process of natural selection and selective breeding. The transformation of the wild Canis lupus into the sub-species, Canis lupus familiaris, the common dog, was affected heavily by humans’ changing needs.
然而，这些最初被驯服的狼看起来与我们今天所知道的狗毫无同，和许多其他驯养动物一样，很可能是通过自然选择和选择性繁殖的冗长的过程进化而来的。 野生狼疮犬转变为普通犬亚种，即普通犬，受到人类不断变化的需求的严重影响。
Human settlements trusted less-violent wolves, so more and more of those with shorter snouts, smaller teeth, began breeding with each other to grant their lineage the best chance of survival alongside their two-legged friends.
人类定居点信任暴力程度较低的狼，因此越来越多的鼻子较短、牙齿较小的狼群开始相互繁殖，以赋予他们的血统与两条腿的朋友一起生存的最佳机会。
As human roles in society expanded, so did the preferred attributes for these domesticated canines. Shorter, stockier builds were bred together to better herd livestock; tall, sleeker builds were bred to maximise speed and tracking; big, muscular builds were bred specifically for guard duty. After thousands of years of this selective breeding, wild wolves finally began to show some resemblance to the dog breeds we know today.
随着人类在社会中的作用的扩大，这些驯化犬类的首选属性也在扩大。 更短、更粗壮的体型被一起繁殖，以更好地饲养牲畜；高大、更光滑的体型被繁殖，以最大限度地提高速度和跟踪；大而肌肉发达的体型被专门用于警卫。 经过数千年的这种选择性繁殖，野狼终于开始与我们今天所知的狗品种有一些相似之处。
The first dog builds similar to those around now began appearing approximately 15,000 years ago. And as we approached the modern era, dogs more and more took on the role of morale-boosting companions rather than hunting partners.
大约15,000年前，第一批与现在相似的狗开始出现。 隨著我們接近現代，狗越來越多地扮演鼓舞士氣的同伴的角色，而不是狩獵夥伴。
The English Victorian era saw the rise in dog shows, popularising the breeding of distinct types. The parallels between the most popular dog breeds nowadays and those most-widely prioritised 15,000 years ago are uncanny; Collies reflecting the stockier builds of herd dogs, Bloodhounds reflecting the sleek tracking dogs, Bulldogs descending from the muscular lineage previously utilised in guarding humans against threats.
英国维多利亚时代见证了狗展的兴起，普及了不同品种的繁殖。 当今最受欢迎的狗品种与15000年前最优先的犬种之间的相似之处是不可思议的；牧羊犬反映了牧羊犬的粗壮结构，猎犬反映了光滑的跟踪犬，斗牛犬是以前用于保护人类免受威胁的肌肉血统。
While nowadays we’re probably feeding our dogs better than we feed ourselves, it is interesting to consider that both our ancestors used to fight for their survival against each other over the same food we get so easily today. The greatest rivals are born through their similarities, making them also the best companions for each other, even if that relationship takes many thousands of years to develop.
虽然如今，我们喂养我们的狗可能比喂养自己更好，但有趣的是，考虑到我们的祖先曾经为了我们今天如此容易得到的食物而互相争斗。 最大的对手是通过他们的相似性而诞生的，使他们也是彼此最好的伴侣，即使这种关系需要数千年才能发展。