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Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are killed every year by malaria and other diseases that are spread through mosquito bites.
全世界每年有数十万人死于疟疾和其他通过蚊子叮咬传播的疾病。
Female mosquitoes are responsible for these deadly bites because they have a special mouth design that male mosquitoes do not have.
这些致命的叮咬是由雌性蚊子造成的，因为它们有一种雄性蚊子没有的特殊的嘴巴结构。
But it has not always been that way.
但情况并非一直如此。
Researchers said they have discovered the oldest-known fossils of mosquitoes - two males located in pieces of an ancient orange-colored substance known as amber.
研究人员表示，他们发现了已知最古老的蚊子化石——两只被封存在一种古老的橙色物质（即琥珀）中的雄性蚊子。
The male mosquitoes date to 130 million years ago.
这两只雄性蚊子可以追溯到1.3亿年前。
They were found near the modern town of Hammana in Lebanon.
它们是在黎巴嫩现代城镇哈马纳附近被发现的。
To researchers' surprise, the male mosquitoes had long mouthparts seen now only in females.
令研究人员惊讶的是，这两只雄性蚊子的口器很长，现在只有雌性蚊子才有长口器。
Dany Azar is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology and Lebanese University.
丹尼·阿扎尔是中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所和黎巴嫩大学的研究员。
Azar said they were clearly blood-eaters.
阿扎尔说，它们显然是食血动物。
The lead writer of the study, recently published in Current Biology, added, "This discovery is a major one in the evolutionary history of mosquitoes."
这篇最近发表在《当代生物学》上的研究论文的主要作者补充道，“这一发现是蚊子进化史上的一项重要发现。”
The two fossilized mosquitoes, both representing the same species that has died off, are similar in size and appearance to modern mosquitoes.
这两个蚊子化石都代表了已经灭绝的同一物种，在大小和外观上都与现代蚊子相似。
However, the mouthparts used for getting blood are shorter than in today's female mosquitoes.
然而，用来吸血的口器比如今的雌性蚊子的口器要短。
Study co-writer Andre Nel of the National Museum of Natural History of Paris described the finding as "quite surprising."
该研究论文的合著者、巴黎国家自然历史博物馆的安德烈·内尔称这一发现“相当令人惊讶”。
The special anatomy of the two mosquitoes was beautifully saved in the fossils.
这两只蚊子的特殊身体部位被很好地保存在化石中。
Both insects had sharp and triangle-shaped jaw anatomy and a long structure with tooth-like elements.
这两只昆虫都有锋利的三角形下巴和带有齿状元素的长口器。
The researchers said they suspect that mosquitoes evolved from insects that did not consume blood.
研究人员表示，他们怀疑蚊子是从不吸血的昆虫进化而来的。
They think that the mouthparts that were developed for getting blood meals were originally used to pierce plants to get nutritious fluids.
他们认为，为了吸血而进化而来的口器最初是用来刺穿植物以获取营养液体的。
Plant evolution may have affected the differences in feeding between male and female mosquitoes.
植物进化可能影响了雄性和雌性蚊子的取食差异。
At the time when these two mosquitoes became stuck in tree sap that eventually became amber, flowering plants were beginning to spread for the first time.
当这两只蚊子被困在最终变成琥珀的树液中时，开花植物第一次开始传播。
From the findings, Azar said that all early mosquitoes, both male and female, were bloodsucking.
根据这些发现，阿扎尔说，所有早期的蚊子，无论是雄性还是雌性，都是吸血的。
And male mosquitoes lost the ability later.
雄性蚊子后来失去了这种能力。
The researchers said while these are the oldest mosquito fossils, mosquitoes probably appeared millions of years earlier.
研究人员表示，虽然这些是最古老的蚊子化石，但蚊子可能在数百万年前就出现了。
They noted that molecular evidence suggests mosquitoes developed from about 200 million to 145 million years ago.
他们指出，分子证据表明，蚊子是在大约2亿到1.45亿年前进化而来的。
There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes worldwide, found everywhere except Antarctica.
全世界有超过3500种蚊子，除了南极洲外，到处都有蚊子。
Some species spread diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, Zika fever, dengue and others.
一些蚊子物种传播疾病，如疟疾、黄热病、寨卡热、登革热等。
The World Health Organization says more than 400,000 people die annually from malaria - a parasitic infection - mostly children under age 5.
世界卫生组织表示，每年有超过40万人死于疟疾——一种寄生虫感染病，其中大多数是5岁以下的儿童。
I'm John Russell.
约翰·罗素为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
