美国国家公共电台 NPR--Believe it or not: dry western Kansas is the place to study prehistoric oceans

Believe it or not: dry western Kansas is the place to study prehistoric¹ oceans

Transcript²

Scientists seeking to learn about prehistoric oceans have flocked to an unlikely place: western Kansas. And now, the fossils embedded³ in these Great Plains could hold clues about the future of life.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Students of prehistoric oceans often travel to dry, dusty western Kansas. David Condos of the Kansas News Service tells us why.

DAVID CONDOS, BYLINE⁴: Just south of Interstate 70, in western Kansas, there's a spot where pillars of white and golden rock tower over the flat plains, the Castle Rock Badlands. Today, paleobiologist David Levering is leading a group from Fort Hays State University through the rock formations.

DAVID LEVERING: It's obviously quite barren and rocky now, but in the Cretaceous, where we're standing⁵ would have been the bottom of a sea.

CONDOS: It's hard to imagine, but 80 million years ago, this dry, desolate⁶ landscape sat beneath the waves of the Western Interior Seaway, which stretched from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf⁷ of Mexico. Back then, sea monsters patrolled these waters - bus-length reptiles⁹ with razor-sharp teeth, giant carnivorous fish, clams¹⁰ the size of car hoods¹¹.

LAURA WILSON: My favorite description I'd heard of the Western Interior Seaway is Hell's Aquarium¹².

CONDOS: That's Laura Wilson, a paleontologist with the Sternberg Museum in nearby Hays. She studies prehistoric sea turtles that survived on what was a very hot greenhouse planet. And her research could inform conservationists about how today's turtles might adapt to a warming climate. Her work is just the latest chapter in a surprisingly rich tradition here that shaped our understanding of ancient ocean life for more than a century.

WILSON: I consider western Kansas the birthplace of American paleontology.

CONDOS: From swimming mosasaurs to flying pteranodons, discoveries from western Kansas now grace the halls of world-class museums in New York, London and Germany. Sternberg Museum collections manager Aly Baumgartner says most visitors find it hard to believe that this often overlooked region plays such a pivotal role in the scientific world.

ALY BAUMGARTNER: It's fun to tell people from Kansas how important this is because we are often the butt¹³ of jokes, and it shouldn't be the case. Like, the history of Kansas includes sea monsters. Like, how cool is that?

CONDOS: In the museum basement, she slides open drawer after drawer of specimens¹⁴. Many of them can fit in your hand - shells, teeth, toes. In all, this collection is home to more than 20,000 fossils. And that is what continues to draw researchers here from as far away as Japan, Brazil and Australia. So what makes dry-as-dust western Kansas so special? Well, it's one of the few spots on earth where the rock around these fossils is more delicate than the fossils themselves. These badlands are made of soft chalk, so scientists can gently brush it away without wrecking¹⁵ the fragile skeletons.

An hour west of the Castle Rock Badlands, Chuck Bonner flips¹⁶ through photos from decades of family fossil expeditions. He remembers his dad putting together plesiosaur bones on the dining room table and cleaning fossils by warming them up in their oven. On the wall hangs a childhood portrait of his sister at a fossil hunt, using a white cloth to shade her head from the sun.

CHUCK BONNER: That's my diaper. So that's how long I've been in the fossil biz. I was just born into it.

CONDOS: He's given some to big museums in LA or Chicago, but most sit right here in the Keystone Gallery in rural western Kansas, where visitors can gawk at his pizza-sized fish skulls¹⁷ and wall-length reptile⁸ skeletons. For Bonner, fossil hunting isn't about fame or money. It's about the thrill of discovery, the chance to unearth¹⁸ a new piece of bizarre aquatic¹⁹ history in this unexpected place. And when people ask him which fossil is his favorite, he says the next one.

For NPR News, I'm David Condos in Gove County, Kan.

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1 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

7 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

8 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

9 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

11 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

12 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

13 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

14 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句

16 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

17 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

18 unearth   

v.发掘，掘出，从洞中赶出

参考例句：

• Most of the unearth relics remain intact.大多数出土文物仍保持完整无损。
• More human remains have been unearthed in the north.北部又挖掘出了更多的人体遗骸。

19 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。