纪录片《恐龙的战争》 完美捕食（13）

For a giant like Quetzalcoatlus, flight control is everything.

对于体型庞大的披羽蛇翼龙而言，飞行控制至关重要。

This flying reptile¹ has one of the most advanced autopilot systems in natural history.

这种飞行爬行动物具有自然界历史上最先进的自动驾驶系统。

Imagine just for a moment that you're an animal with the wingspan of a small sailplane and you are turning yourself 90 degrees.

试想你自己是一只拥有小型滑翔机机翼那么大的翅膀的动物，你想转弯九十度。

That's not an easy maneuver² to pull.

这可不是一件容易的事。

Human pilots, for example, rely on instruments in their cockpit in order to do things like that.

举个例子，飞行员依靠驾驶室里的各种设备来完成类似的操作。

Quetzalcoatlus has to have those instruments built in.

风神翼龙则将这些设备都装进了身体里。

A Quetzalcoatlus wing is covered with millions of tiny hairlike sensors³.

它的翅膀上布满了上百万个细如发丝的感应器。

These microscopically⁴ small biomemory devices collect information, then send signals to the brain.

这些微小的生物存储装置收集信息并向大脑发出信号。

Their wing wasn't just an aerodynamic organ.

它们的翅膀不仅是飞行器官。

It was also a gigantic sensory⁵ organ capturing all kinds of aerodynamically relevant information about things

也是一个巨大的感觉器官，能捕捉各种空气动力学的相关信息，

like air speed, tension in particular parts of the wing.

例如气流，速度和翅膀某些部位的张力。

This data travels from the wing to the brain.

这些数据由翅膀传导到大脑。

Then in a split second, a Quetzalcoatlus makes minute adjustments to its wing shape and body position.

瞬间之后，风神翼龙便能对翅膀形状及身体姿势进行微调。

Proof of this advanced biotechnology is found in the flocculus, the area of the brain devoted⁶ to flight control.

这种复杂的生物反应的证据是在小脑绒球中发现的，这部分大脑负责控制飞行。

It's three times larger than in any bird today.

它比现代鸟类的同一部分大三倍。

There's a huge amount of math going on in the brain as it's making these subconscious⁷ calculations.

它在潜意识下的思维基于大脑中复杂的数学计算。

And what's key is that's happening all the time.

最关键的是，这种计算一直在进行。

It can never stop because these animals are in the air.

之所以不能停止是因为它们在天上飞。

And if there's any break in that process, the results are potentially catastrophic.

在飞行中受到任何干扰后果都可能相当惨重。

Nothing this large would achieve powered flight until the 20th century, 65 million years later.

直到六千五百万年后的二十世纪才出现了和它一样庞大的动力飞行物。

And Quetzalcoatlus still may hold the record for flight duration. Probably stay aloft for a week.

而风神翼龙仍是最长飞行时间的纪录保持者。也许能持续飞行一周。

Probably it could have gone for 25,000,26,000 miles in a single trip.

一次能持续飞行两万五到两万六千英里。

Quetzalcoatlus is one of the most unusual and terrifying carnivores to inhabit the earth.

风神翼龙是地球上最独特、最危险的食肉动物之一。

But unlike predators⁸ such as T. Rex and Deinonychus, this flying meat eater isn't searching for the big kill.

但与雷克斯霸王龙和恐爪龙这样的捕食者不同，这种飞行类食肉动物不喜欢大型猎物。

It scours⁹ the earth from above, tracking the small, the young, the defenseless...dinosaur¹⁰ hatchlings.

它居高临下，专门搜索幼小而毫无防备的刚出壳的小恐龙。

1 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。

2 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

3 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

4 microscopically   

显微镜下

参考例句：

• Microscopically the ores are medium grained to amorphous. 显微镜下，矿石为中粒至非晶质。 来自辞典例句
• He studied microscopically the statistics of trade. 他极仔细地研究了贸易统计数字。 来自辞典例句

5 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

6 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

7 subconscious   

n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的)

参考例句：

• Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
• My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。

8 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》

9 scours   

走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的第三人称单数 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮

参考例句：

• The roasting pan scours better than pot. 烤盘比锅容易擦干净。
• The best scours for UF membrane washing were 0.1%NaOH and 0.5%U10 solution consecutively washing. 0.1%NaOH 和0.5%U10溶液是理想的超滤膜清洗剂。

10 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。