纪录片《巨龙的奥秘》 第13期 同生共死

Sites like these where many plant-eating dinosaurs¹ have been killed in an accident

像这种植食恐龙集体死于意外的地点

lead paleontologists to believe these herbivores were living together in herds³ when they died together.

使得古生物学家相信，这些植食动物直到死前都是群居生活

With plant-eating dinosaurs, it's very frequent to find groups of animals preserved together in the rocks.

对于植食恐龙来说，成批的骨骼一起埋葬于岩石中是很常见的现象

Because they're all associated together closely, and they're mixed ages together,

因为它们都亲密无间，大大小小都聚在一起

that's good evidence they were living together as a herd².

这些证据都能充分说明，它们是群居生活的

Bone beds containing herds of plant-eating dinosaurs are common.

植食恐龙的骨骼化石群是很常见的

But there was no such convincing evidence that large meat-eating dinosaurs lived and died in groups.

但是并没有类似的证据能证明大型食肉恐龙也是同生共死

In the case of the early fossil finds of meat-eating dinosaurs,

根据早期发现的食肉恐龙化石

they sort of reinforce this idea of meat-eaters as solitary⁴ hunters.

他们更加确信了大型食肉恐龙独自狩猎的观点

People had only found individual specimens⁵ of each of the species.

人们每次只能找到某种恐龙的一具标本

They never found a group of assemblages, they never found a bunch of individuals together.

他们从来没有发现过一群食肉恐龙，或是聚在一起的食肉恐龙

All of the evidence indicated these predators⁶ lived and died as solitary hunters.

所有证据都显示，这些掠食动物是孤独的猎手

And if they were solitary hunters, no single carnivore, however big,

倘若它们真是独自狩猎，单凭一只食肉恐龙，无论它有多大

would have gone for a prey⁷ as huge as the giant herbivore, Argentinosaurus.

也不可能将巨大的植食恐龙--阿根廷龙变成它的腹中之物

It looks like the tantalizing⁸ idea of a clash of the titans down in Patagonia was doomed⁹.

看来调足人们胃口的巴塔哥尼亚，巨兽之争纯粹只是天方夜谭

Or so most paleontologists thought.

至少大部分古生物学家是这么想的

1 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

3 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

4 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

5 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》

6 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

8 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

9 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。