纪录片《恐龙的战争》 完美捕食（16）

The mighty¹ carnivores ruled a dangerous world of Cretaceous Period.

强大的食肉动物统治着白垩纪的凶险世界。

But being a super predator² like Tyrannosaurus Rex is not easy.

即使作为顶级捕食者的雷克斯霸王龙也不轻松。

Just surviving to adulthood³ is a major feat⁴,

能活到成年就是个巨大胜利，

one that takes a decade or more of killing⁵ and eating some of the meanest creatures that walk the earth.

这要几十年不断捕食地球上其它弱小的动物。

The hardest role in the ecosystem⁶ is top predator. Most of the time, you are almost starving.

食物链中最难的角色就是顶端的捕食者。很多时候它们都面临饥饿。

A carnivore knows that no prey⁷ animal gives up easily.

食肉动物都知道猎物不会轻易投降。

Herbivores fight fearlessly because their lives depend on it... These animals have to defense⁸ it.

食草动物会奋力反抗，因为它们的性命悬此一线...它们必须反抗。

Ankylosaurus is a slow lumbering⁹ plant eater.

甲龙是种行动迟缓的食草动物。

It's long slow body is covered in bony plates, and its tail packs a punch.

它又矮又长的身体布满骨片，尾巴上长了个锤子。

Ankylosaurus itself has a huge mass of bone at the end of its tail

甲龙本身在尾部的末端有一团骨头，

and there is no leg bone of Tyrannosaurus would stand it.

这可是任何霸王龙的腿骨都承受不了的。

Predators¹⁰ of Cretaceous are gigantic by our standard.

在我们看来白垩纪的食肉动物都是巨大的。

Yet its stature¹¹ that clearly outclassed by plant eaters.

而身材更庞大的是食草动物。

Carnivores though have one significant advantage. They got brains.

食肉动物有一个突出的优点。大脑发达。

The armered dinosaurs¹² are general, and Ankylosauruses, no exception here, were not bread dinosaurs.

有甲壳的恐龙很常见，甲龙也不例外，不会坐以待毙。

They're probably the dumbest dinosaurs.

它们估计是最愚蠢的恐龙了。

Their brains are really small for the size of their heads and their bodies.

跟身体和头部的大小比起来，它们的大脑实在太小了。

With preys¹³ so stupid, preditors don't need to be geniuses.

猎物如此低能，猎手也无需太过聪明。

Ultimately you really only need to be as smart or smarter than the animals that you are around.

说到底，你只需跟周围的动物 一样聪明，或者更聪明一点儿。

7 tons of Tyrannosaurus Rex can do a lot of damage,

7吨重的雷克斯霸王龙破坏力极强，

but a little lecture of brain would make a lot of differences.

了解其大脑构造就感觉不一样了。

A T. Rex's brain is actually a bit larger than a banana.

雷克斯霸王龙的大脑其实只比香蕉大一点。

A T. Rex's brain is just a thousandth of its body size.

雷克斯霸王龙的大脑只占其身体的千分之一。

Twenty times less brain power than human's.

智力水平比人类低二十倍。

Yet it's significantly larger than that of its plant-eat prey.

但这比它的那些食草猎物的大脑大多了。

What we see in T. Rex is the advance of carniore capabilities¹⁴ were greater,

我们在霸王龙身上看到了食肉动物的能力更强，

its ability to probably solve problems and deal with wrinkle and its evironment.

看到了它们这种解决问题和应对新情况和环境的能力。

Other carnivores are even more dependent on coordinative¹⁵ thought.

其它肉食动物则更依赖于协调能力。

1 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

2 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

3 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

4 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

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 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 lumbering   

n.采伐林木

参考例句：

• Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
• Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家，伐木业十分重要。

10 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》

11 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

12 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》

13 preys   

v.掠食( prey的第三人称单数 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• His misfortune preys upon his mind. 他的不幸使她心中苦恼。 来自辞典例句
• The owl preys on mice. 猫头鹰捕食老鼠。 来自辞典例句

14 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

15 coordinative   

adj.同等的，同位的

参考例句：

• Ecological city is one with coordinative development of society, economy and eco-environment. 生态城市是社会、经济、生态环境协调发展的城市。 来自互联网
• An environment-economy coordinative development of regional environment-economy problem is studied quantitatively. 建立了环境经济协调发展判据，对区域环境经济协调发展问题进行了定量研究。 来自互联网