But it was hard for wolves.
但对狼而言却是难事。
Wolves that have been raised by people should have had the same success at finding the sealed container, but they didn't.
被人类所抚养的狼应该和狗一样找到密封容器,但它们却未能成功。
Even chimpanzees, which are very smart animals indeed, weren't as fast at finding the food as dogs.
甚至是黑猩猩这种非常聪明的动物也无法像狗狗那样能够迅速发现其中诀窍。
What does this mean?
这代表着什么呢?
One interpretation is that dogs do, in fact, have a natural ability to understand forms of human communication.
一种解释是狗狗们事实上有一种天然理解人类交流形式的能力。
Even nine-week old puppies found the food, suggesting the skill is there before training.
即使出生刚满9周的小狗也可以找到食物,这表明未经过训练就已经拥有天生技能。
Wolves don't have the skill, suggesting that it has developed in dogs since the time they branched off from their evolutionary predecessors.
而狼并不具备这种能力,这表明自从从先祖中分离时狼已经从狗类中得以进化。
There is debate about this idea.
关于这个想法存在着争论。
But Tomasello thinks that in the past fifteen thousand years, as human beings and dogs have evolved together, the basis for fido's ability to understand what you mean may have become encoded in his genes.
但是托马塞洛认为在过去的15000年里,随着人类和狗一同进化,狗狗理解人类意图的能力可能已经融入到自身基因当中。