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大多数情况下古生物学是事后解释的科学,也就是说,在大多数情况下它的中心任务是解释存在的资料。古生物学成为预测科学的一个罕见的实例见诸于“假磨楔式”这个概念的发展历史中。根据一个假磨楔式哺乳动物的单个齿骨上的下臼齿结构,推测出当时尚不知道的上臼齿结构。随后,被认为很可能属于假磨楔式哺乳动物的单个上臼齿以及更晚的一件具有咬合在一起的上下臼齿的标本的发现证实了最初的假设。磨楔式臼齿结构作为哺乳动物历史中一个关键的创新结构,本身相当复杂。假磨楔式概念的被接受在认识磨楔式臼齿结构方面具有重要意义,这个结构可能发生不止一次。“假磨楔式”这个术语最初提出之后,随着它的使用,一些后来的研究者的用法严重偏离了它的本义。这一术语既被用来描述并不以原始定义的假磨楔式方式咬合的柱齿兽类牙齿,也被用于描述明显属于原始定义的磨楔式而不是假磨楔式牙齿。结果是古生物学界对其定义的理解变得更不准确,这个概念的实用性因此大大削弱。所以,回归最初的定义是合适的。
In most cases palaeontology is the science of ex post facto, that is, in most cases its central task is to interpret the existential information. A rare example of palaeontology as a predictive science is found in the history of the development of the concept of “sham”. According to the lower molars on a single bone of a shaved wedge mammal, the molars structure that was not known at that time was speculated. Subsequently, the discovery of a single upper molars considered likely to belong to the pseudo-wedge mammal, and later a specimen with upper and lower molars that bite together confirmed the original hypothesis. The wedged molar tooth structure, as a key innovation in the history of mammals, is quite complicated in itself. Accepted The concept of sharpening wedges is important in understanding sharpened molar structures that can occur more than once. After the term “fake wedge” was initially proposed, its use later led to the serious deviations of its use by some later researchers. This term is used both to describe spine-free teeth that do not mate in the originally defined sharpened wedge manner and is also used to describe wedge rather than sharpened wedge teeth that clearly belong to the original definition. The result is that the paleontology community’s understanding of its definition becomes less accurate, and the usefulness of this concept is greatly diminished. Therefore, the original definition of return is appropriate.