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While these straightforward mathematical rules account for many of the fundamental forms of seashells, a more convoluted set of interactions generates their most ostentatious features.
雖然這些簡單明了的數(shù)學規(guī)則解釋了貝殼的許多基本形態(tài)，但還有一組比較繁復難懂的交互作用，會產(chǎn)生出貝殼上最浮華招搖的特征。
Spines, knobs, and other ornaments arise from a mismatch between the growth rates of the soft-bodied mollusk's mantle and its rigid shell.
尖刺、瘤和其他裝飾，都是因軟體動物的外套膜和堅硬外殼生長速率不協(xié)調導致的。
This mismatch creates bulges that are exaggerated with each new layer.
每形成新的一層，這種不協(xié)調造成的凸起就會擴大。
The mantle's relative growth rate and stiffness determine the length, thickness, and curvature of these projections.
外套膜的相對生長速率和韌度，決定了這些凸出物的長度、厚度和彎曲度。
Such embellishments may initially form because of a combination of chance mutations and inescapable outcomes of the mechanical forces involved in shell growth.
一開始會形成這樣的裝飾，可能是因為偶然發(fā)生的突變，加上螺殼生長時牽涉到的機械力的必然結果。
If they prove advantageous to a creature's survival and reproduction, however, they may be perpetuated by natural selection, eventually becoming a prevalent trait.
然而，如果后來證明這些凸起對生存與繁衍有好處，就會在自然選擇過程中保留下來，最后變成普遍的特征。
Although we primarily prize shells for their aesthetic attributes, the animals they house value them for a more pragmatic reason: protection.
盡管我們珍視貝殼的主因是美學特質，但住在殼里的動物是因為更務實的理由重視貝殼：自我保護。
About 540 million years ago, during a burst of evolutionary innovation known as the Cambrian explosion, predatory animals became much more numerous and proficient.
大約5億4000萬年前，在稱為寒武紀大爆發(fā)的一波化創(chuàng)新期間，捕食動物數(shù)量大增，捕食技巧也更純熟。
Soft-bodied, slow-moving organisms found themselves in constant jeopardy.
行動緩慢的軟體動物時時刻刻都有危險。
Around this time, marine mollusks evolved simple but robust shells to protect their vulnerable exposed tissues.
差不多在這個時候，海洋軟體動物進化出簡單但結實的殼，保護暴露在外的脆弱組織。
In response, crustaceans, fish, and other predators developed more sophisticated weaponry and hunting techniques.
作為回應，甲殼類、魚類和其他捕食者也發(fā)展出更高明的武器和狩獵技巧。
Eventually, the coevolution of predator and prey contributed to a dramatic increase in the diversity of mollusk shells.
最后，捕食者與被捕食者共同進化，促使軟體動物外殼的多樣性急遽增加。
Some evolved particularly large and thick shells that only the strongest or craftiest animals could crack.
有些進化出特別大又特別厚的殼，只有力氣最大或最詭計多端的動物才打得破。
Narrow openings, sometimes reinforced with doors called opercula, made it more difficult for predators to reach their prey.
狹窄的殼口，有時還加上口蓋，讓捕食者更難抓到獵物。
Tall spires allowed some mollusks to retreat even further from danger.
高聳的螺塔讓某些軟體動物可以退避到更深處，以避開危險。
Spikes, spines, and knobs thwarted pincers and jaws, as did smooth and slippery surfaces.
尖刺、棘和瘤，以及平坦滑溜的表面，都能阻撓螯和大嘴。
Seashells, then, are not purely constructs of either biology or physics, nor can they be adequately described by either mathematical modeling or Darwinian theory alone.
所以，貝殼不只是生物學或物理學的純粹建構，也無法只用數(shù)學建?；蜻_爾文的理論充分描述。
The exacting, sculptural beauty of shells that we find so enchanting emerges from a confluence of geometry, mechanics, ecology, evolution, and luck.
貝殼令人陶醉的精雕細琢之美，源自幾何、力學、生態(tài)、進化和機遇的匯聚。
Every shell you've ever scooped out of the sand or marveled at in a museum is a palimpsest layered with secrets that science is still untangling -- a physical manifestation of our planet's complexity and splendor.
從沙灘里挖出來或在博物館里令人贊嘆的每一件貝殼，都是由科學仍在努力解開的秘密層層交疊的成品--也是地球的復雜與美麗光彩具體的展現(xiàn)。
