2007-12-31<BR>　　Wild Mustangs, South Dakota, 2004<BR>　　Photograph by Maggie Steber<BR>　　<BR>　　In the wind-tossed plains of Lantry, South Dakota, two wild mustangs playfully kick and cavort. Descended from Spanish horses brought in by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, mustangs represent a tenuous link to America's frontier past. Researchers estimate the U.S. was once home to more than two million mustangs; today there are fewer than 50,000. <BR>　　<BR>　　(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Indian Scenes From a Renaissance," September 2004, National Geographic magazine) <BR>　　<BR>　　<BR>　　在南达科塔州的兰特里平原上，风吹草低，两匹野马正在腾跃嬉戏。野马是西班牙征服者们在16世纪带过来的西班牙马的后代，与美国的边疆历史有着微妙的联系。研究者们估计美国曾有超过2百万匹的野马，但现在仅存不到5万匹。<BR><BR><IMG src="http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/w/wild-mustangs-south-dakota-956789-xl.jpg">