ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Prosanta Chakrabarty - Ichthyologist
Prosanta Chakrabarty studies fish to help explain the evolution of human beings and our planet.

Why you should listen

Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty is an Associate Professor and Curator of Fishes at the Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Science at Louisiana State University.

Chakrabarty is a systematist and an ichthyologist studying the evolution and biogeography of both freshwater and marine fishes. His work includes studies of Neotropical (Central and South America, Caribbean) and Indo-West Pacific (Indian and Western Pacific Ocean) fishes. His natural history collecting efforts include trips to Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Madagascar, Panama, Kuwait and many other countries. He has discovered over a dozen new species including new anglerfishes and cavefishes.

The LSU Museum of Natural Science fish collection that Chakrabarty oversees includes nearly half a million fish specimens and nearly 10,000 DNA samples covering most major groups of fishes. He earned his PhD at the University of Michigan and his undergraduate degree is from McGill University in Montreal. He has written two books including A Guide to Academia: Getting into and Surviving Grad School, Postdocs and a Research Job. He is also a former Program Director at the National Science Foundation. He was named a TED Fellow in 2016 and a TED Senior Fellow in 2018.

More profile about the speaker
Prosanta Chakrabarty | Speaker | TED.com
TED2018

Prosanta Chakrabarty: Four billion years of evolution in six minutes

Prosanta Chakrabarty: Quatro bilhões de anos de evolução em seis minutos

Filmed:
3,529,466 views

Os humanos evoluíram dos macacos ou dos peixes? Nesta palestra esclarecedora, o ictiólogo e bolsista TED Prosanta Chakrabarty afasta alguns mitos sobre evolução, incentivando-nos a lembrar que somos uma pequena parte de um processo complexo de 4 bilhões de anos, e não o fim da linha. "Não somos o objetivo da evolução", diz Chakrabarty. "Pense em todos nós como folhas novas nesta árvore antiga e gigantesca da vida, conectados por galhos invisíveis não apenas uns aos outros, mas aos nossos parentes extintos e nossos ancestrais evolutivos."
- Ichthyologist
Prosanta Chakrabarty studies fish to help explain the evolution of human beings and our planet. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
If we evolved from monkeys,
why are there still monkeys?
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Se evoluímos dos macacos,
por que eles ainda existem?
00:17
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
00:18
Well, because we're not monkeys,
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Bem, porque não somos macacos,
00:20
we're fish.
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somos peixes.
00:22
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
00:23
Now, knowing you're a fish
and not a monkey
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Saber que somos peixe e não macaco
00:26
is actually really important
to understanding where we came from.
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é realmente muito importante
para entender de onde viemos.
00:30
I teach one of the largest
evolutionary biology classes in the US,
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Sou professor de uma das maiores
turmas de biologia evolutiva dos EUA,
00:34
and when my students finally understand
why I call them fish all the time,
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e quando meus alunos finalmente entendem
por que eu os chamo de peixe o tempo todo,
00:38
then I know I'm getting my job done.
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então sei que estou fazendo meu trabalho.
00:40
But I always have to start my classes
by dispelling some hardwired myths,
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Mas sempre começo minhas aulas
negando alguns mitos programados,
00:45
because without really knowing it,
many of us were taught evolution wrong.
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pois mesmo sem saber,
muitos de nós aprenderam
a versão equivocada da evolução.
00:50
For instance, we're taught
to say "the theory of evolution."
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Por exemplo, nos ensinaram
a dizer "a teoria da evolução".
00:54
There are actually many theories,
and just like the process itself,
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Na verdade, existem muitas teorias,
e assim como o processo em si,
00:58
the ones that best fit the data
are the ones that survive to this day.
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as que melhor condizem com os dados
são aquelas que sobrevivem até hoje.
01:03
The one we know best
is Darwinian natural selection.
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A teoria que conhecemos melhor
é a da seleção natural darwiniana.
01:06
That's the process by which organisms
that best fit an environment
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É o processo pelo qual os organismos
que melhor se adaptam a um ambiente
01:10
survive and get to reproduce,
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sobrevivem e conseguem se reproduzir,
01:13
while those that are less fit
slowly die off.
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enquanto os que são menos aptos
morrem lentamente.
01:16
And that's it.
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E é isso.
01:17
Evolution is as simple as that,
and it's a fact.
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A evolução é simples assim e é um fato.
01:21
Evolution is a fact
as much as the "theory of gravity."
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Evolução é um fato tanto
quanto a "teoria da gravidade".
01:26
You can prove it just as easily.
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Podemos provar isso
com a mesma facilidade.
01:28
You just need to look at your bellybutton
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É só olharmos para o nosso umbigo,
que compartilhamos com outros
mamíferos placentários
01:30
that you share
with other placental mammals,
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01:32
or your backbone that you share
with other vertebrates,
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ou a espinha dorsal que compartilhamos
com outros vertebrados
ou o nosso DNA que compartilhamos
com qualquer outra vida terrestre.
01:35
or your DNA that you share
with all other life on earth.
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01:39
Those traits didn't pop up in humans.
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Esses traços não surgiram com os humanos;
foram passados de diferentes antepassados
01:41
They were passed down
from different ancestors
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01:44
to all their descendants, not just us.
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para todos os nossos descendentes,
não apenas para nós.
01:47
But that's not really
how we learn biology early on, is it?
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Mas não é assim que aprendemos
biologia desde o início, é?
01:51
We learn plants and bacteria
are primitive things,
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Aprendemos que plantas e bactérias
são seres primitivos,
01:54
and fish give rise to amphibians
followed by reptiles and mammals,
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e peixes dão origem a anfíbios
seguidos por répteis e mamíferos,
01:57
and then you get you,
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e aí chegamos a nós,
01:59
this perfectly evolved creature
at the end of the line.
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esta criatura perfeitamente
evoluída no final da linha.
02:03
But life doesn't evolve in a line,
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Mas a vida não evolui numa linha
02:05
and it doesn't end with us.
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e ela não termina conosco.
02:08
But we're always shown evolution
portrayed something like this,
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Mas sempre nos mostram
a evolução retratada assim,
02:12
a monkey and a chimpanzee,
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um macaco e um chimpanzé,
02:14
some extinct humans,
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alguns humanos extintos,
02:15
all on a forward and steady march
to becoming us.
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todos numa marcha à frente e constante
para nos tornarmos quem somos.
02:19
But they don't become us
any more than we would become them.
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Mas eles não se tornam nós
mais do que nos tornaríamos eles.
02:23
We're also not the goal of evolution.
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Nós também não somos
o objetivo da evolução.
02:27
But why does it matter?
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Mas por que isso importa?
02:28
Why do we need to understand
evolution the right way?
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Por que precisamos entender
evolução da forma correta?
02:32
Well, misunderstanding evolution
has led to many problems,
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A compreensão equivocada da evolução
levou a muitos problemas,
02:36
but you can't ask that age-old question,
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mas não podemos fazer
essa pergunta antiga:
02:40
"Where are we from?"
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"De onde viemos?",
02:42
without understanding
evolution the right way.
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sem entender a evolução da forma correta.
02:45
Misunderstanding it has led
to many convoluted and corrupted views
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A compreensão equivocada levou
a muitas visões complicadas e corrompidas
02:50
of how we should treat
other life on earth,
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de como devemos tratar
outras vidas na Terra,
02:53
and how we should treat each other
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e como devemos tratar uns aos outros
02:55
in terms of race and gender.
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em termos de raça e gênero.
02:59
So let's go back four billion years.
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Então, vamos voltar 4 bilhões de anos.
03:02
This is the single-celled organism
we all came from.
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Este é o organismo unicelular
do qual todos nós viemos.
03:06
At first, it gave rise
to other single-celled life,
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A princípio, ele deu origem
a outra vida unicelular,
03:09
but these are still evolving to this day,
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mas eles continuam evoluindo até hoje,
03:11
and some would say
the Archaea and Bacteria
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e alguns diriam que a arquea e bactérias
que compõem a maior parte deste grupo
03:14
that make up most of this group
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03:16
is the most successful on the planet.
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são as mais bem-sucedidas do planeta
03:18
They are certainly going
to be here well after us.
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e, certamente, continuarão
por aqui bem depois de nós.
03:21
About three billion years ago,
multicellularity evolved.
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Cerca de 3 bilhões de anos atrás,
a multicelularidade evoluiu.
03:25
This includes your fungi
and your plants and your animals.
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Isso inclui nossos fungos,
plantas e animais.
03:29
The first animals to develop
a backbone were fishes.
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Os primeiros animais a desenvolver
uma espinha dorsal foram os peixes.
03:33
So technically,
all vertebrates are fishes,
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Então, tecnicamente,
todos os vertebrados são peixes,
03:37
so technically, you and I are fish.
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Então, tecnicamente,
você e eu somos peixes.
03:40
So don't say I didn't warn you.
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Não digam que não avisei.
03:43
One fish lineage came onto land
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Uma linhagem de peixes veio para a terra
03:45
and gave rise to, among other things,
the mammals and reptiles.
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e deu origem, entre outras coisas,
aos mamíferos e aos répteis.
03:49
Some reptiles become birds,
some mammals become primates,
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Alguns répteis se tornaram pássaros,
alguns mamíferos se tornam primatas,
03:53
some primates become monkeys with tails,
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alguns primatas se tornaram
macacos com cauda,
03:56
and others become the great apes,
including a variety of human species.
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e outros se tornaram grandes macacos,
com uma variedade de espécies humanas.
04:01
So you see, we didn't evolve from monkeys,
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Então, nós não evoluímos de macacos,
04:03
but we do share
a common ancestor with them.
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mas compartilhamos
um ancestral comum com eles.
04:06
All the while, life
around us kept evolving:
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Esse tempo todo, a vida
ao nosso redor continuou evoluindo:
04:09
more bacteria, more fungi,
lots of fish, fish, fish.
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mais bactérias, mais fungos,
muitos peixes, peixes e peixes.
04:13
If you couldn't tell --
yes, they're my favorite group.
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Se ainda não deduziram,
sim, eles são meu grupo favorito.
04:16
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
04:17
As life evolves, it also goes extinct.
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Conforme a vida evolui,
ela também é extinta.
04:20
Most species just last
for a few million years.
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A maioria das espécies acaba
durando alguns milhões de anos.
04:23
So you see, most life on earth
that we see around us today
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Grande parte da vida terrestre
que vemos ao nosso redor hoje
04:26
are about the same age as our species.
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tem aproximadamente
a mesma idade que nossa espécie.
04:28
So it's hubris,
it's self-centered to think,
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É arrogância e egocentrismo pensar:
"Plantas e bactérias são primitivas,
04:32
"Oh, plants and bacteria are primitive,
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04:34
and we've been here
for an evolutionary minute,
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e estamos aqui por um minuto evolutivo,
então somos, de algum modo, especiais".
04:37
so we're somehow special."
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04:39
Think of life as being this book,
an unfinished book for sure.
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Pensem na vida como sendo
um livro, inacabado, certamente.
04:44
We're just seeing the last
few pages of each chapter.
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Estamos apenas vendo as últimas
poucas páginas de cada capítulo.
04:48
If you look out
on the eight million species
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Se observarmos as 8 milhões de espécies
com as quais compartilhamos o planeta,
04:50
that we share this planet with,
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04:52
think of them all being
four billion years of evolution.
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pensem em todas elas como sendo
4 bilhões de anos de evolução.
04:56
They're all the product of that.
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Todas são o produto disso.
04:59
Think of us all as young leaves
on this ancient and gigantic tree of life,
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Pensem em todos nós como folhas novas
nesta antiga e gigantesca árvore da vida,
05:04
all of us connected by invisible branches
not just to each other,
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todos conectados por galhos invisíveis
não apenas um ao outro,
05:08
but to our extinct relatives
and our evolutionary ancestors.
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mas aos nossos parentes extintos
e nossos ancestrais evolucionários.
05:12
As a biologist, I'm still
trying to learn, with others,
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Como biólogo, ainda estou
tentando aprender, com os outros,
05:15
how everyone's related to each other,
who is related to whom.
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como todos nos relacionamos,
quem é relacionado a quem.
05:20
Perhaps it's better still
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Talvez seja melhor ainda
05:23
to think of us
as a little fish out of water.
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pensar em todos nós
como um peixinho fora d'água.
05:26
Yes, one that learned to walk and talk,
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Sim, um que aprendeu a andar e falar,
mas que ainda tem muito a aprender
05:29
but one that still has
a lot of learning to do
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05:32
about who we are and where we came from.
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sobre quem somos e de onde viemos.
05:35
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
05:36
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Maricene Crus
Reviewed by Carolina Aguirre

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Prosanta Chakrabarty - Ichthyologist
Prosanta Chakrabarty studies fish to help explain the evolution of human beings and our planet.

Why you should listen

Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty is an Associate Professor and Curator of Fishes at the Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Science at Louisiana State University.

Chakrabarty is a systematist and an ichthyologist studying the evolution and biogeography of both freshwater and marine fishes. His work includes studies of Neotropical (Central and South America, Caribbean) and Indo-West Pacific (Indian and Western Pacific Ocean) fishes. His natural history collecting efforts include trips to Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Madagascar, Panama, Kuwait and many other countries. He has discovered over a dozen new species including new anglerfishes and cavefishes.

The LSU Museum of Natural Science fish collection that Chakrabarty oversees includes nearly half a million fish specimens and nearly 10,000 DNA samples covering most major groups of fishes. He earned his PhD at the University of Michigan and his undergraduate degree is from McGill University in Montreal. He has written two books including A Guide to Academia: Getting into and Surviving Grad School, Postdocs and a Research Job. He is also a former Program Director at the National Science Foundation. He was named a TED Fellow in 2016 and a TED Senior Fellow in 2018.

More profile about the speaker
Prosanta Chakrabarty | Speaker | TED.com

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