纪录片《巨龙的奥秘》 第14期 推翻观点

But one man was going to change all that.

可是有一个人打算推翻这种观点

Phil Currie is one of the world's most accomplished¹ paleontologists.

Philip Currie是世界上最有成就的古生物学家之一

He is one of the few scientists in the world who can identify any meat-eating dinosaur² from a single tooth.

他是少数几位仅凭一颗牙齿便能判断出食肉恐龙种类的科学家之一

It was Currie's passion for predatory dinosaurs³ that led him down to work with Rodolfo Coria on the plains of Patagonia.

Currie对掠食恐龙的痴迷使得他来到巴塔哥尼亚平原，与Rodolfo Coria一起工作

When an opportunity came up in 1995 to go to Argentina

1995年，我有机会来到阿根廷

and see Rodolfo and all the fantastic fossil finds he'd made, of course I jumped at it.

见到了Rodolfo和他那些了不起的发现，我简直是兴奋不已

Like his colleagues, Currie had always believed the mega-carnivores were solitary⁴ creatures and didn't hunt in packs.

和他的同事们一样，Currie一直认为大型食肉恐龙是独居动物，从来都不会集体狩猎

But over time, as he began to think things through, he made a connection.

不过随着时间的推移，他再三思考后得出了一种观点

From looking at modern animals, it became very clear that

只要看看现代动物，

maybe it wasn't such an unusual thing that big meat-eating dinosaurs were in fact pack animals.

大型食肉恐龙群居生活显然也就不是什么奇怪的事了

We'd already had good indications that the plant-eaters were herding⁶ animals.

我们都公认植食动物是群居动物

And it only made sense that if the carnivores wanted to break the defenses of a plant-eater's herd⁵,

并且也很清楚食肉动物要想打破植食动物的集体防御

the only way they could do that is by having strength of numbers.

唯一的方法就是集合群体的力量

And one of the responses that happens in a wide range of animals is that the meat-eaters become pack hunters.

很多动物都反映了这一现象，即食肉动物是群体狩猎者

1 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

2 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

3 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》

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 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。

6 herding   

中畜群

参考例句：

• The little boy is herding the cattle. 这个小男孩在放牛。
• They have been herding cattle on the tableland for generations. 他们世世代代在这高原上放牧。