纪录片《恐龙的战争》 顽强防御（11）

When growing is your best defense¹, gaining weight is serious business.

当成长成为了最佳防守之道，增加体重就是重中之重。

So Sauroposeidon does away with time-consuming tasks like chewing.

所以波塞东龙略去了耗时的任务比如咀嚼。

If you could just swallow that stuff and let your giant stomach mash² it up for you,

如果能吞下食物让巨大的胃替你捣碎，

you could move in a lot more food per unit time and you could get a lot bigger.

那么单位时间的进食速率会更快，也可以长得更大。

Sauroposeidon's 52 chisel-like teeth are perfectly³ designed for the job.

波塞东龙的五十二颗凿状牙齿就是专门为此设计的。

They can rake leaves and twigs⁴ straight off a tree.

它们可以从树上直接折下枝叶。

They've got these big teeth that are just cropping devices.

它们巨大的牙齿就是枝叶修剪器。

They just bite down on a branch and either take the whole branch or strip the leaves and needles off and then swallow it down.

它们只是咬下一枝，要么吞掉整枝要么剥离树叶和针叶，然后吞下去。

To be able to digest this huge volume of food and grow big enough to avoid attack requires a stomach as large as a ton.

为了消化如此多的食物长成庞然大物、躲避攻击需要一个一吨重的胃。

That's as big as a swimming pool, and it's filled with acid so concentrated it can dissolve iron.

就像游泳池那么大，其中酸浓度非常大，即使铁也会被溶解。

It had to be able to hold maybe a ton or more of plant material at a time, and we're talking about something huge.

它能同时容纳一吨甚至更多食物，这一定非常巨大。

Surprislngly, it isn't something huge which allows these giant herbivores to grow big enough to be all but invincible⁵.

令人惊讶的是，并不是巨型的尾部使得这些庞大的食草动物长成无人能敌的巨兽。

In fact, it's something incredibly small. And something meat eaters lack.

事实上，它的胃非常小。但有一个肉食者没有的器官。

Below Sauroposeidon's stomach are two gigantic organs called ceca, simliar to our appendix.

在波塞东龙胃部下方有两个叫做盲肠的巨型器官，功能与人类的阑尾相似。

Humans stopped using an appendix millions of years ago when we started eating meat.

数百万年前，人类因为食肉开始停止使用阑尾。

A Sauroposeidon would die without one.

波塞东龙则离不开它。

The ceca are home to millions of microscopic⁶ organisms.

盲肠是数百万微生物的家园。

They break down the tough, fibrous walls of plant cells.

它们能分解植物细胞坚硬的，纤维状的细胞壁。

It has this whole little world inside of microbes that's helping⁷ it digest its food,

这个充满微生物的微小世界能帮助其消化食物，

that send in little tendrils that help break open those cell walls, helps liberate⁸ those nutrients⁹, and that's what helps the animal survive.

它伸出微小的卷须帮助分解细胞壁释放出营养物质，这样动物才能活下去。

And the result of this incredible feat¹⁰ of engineering is one final trick that keeps predators¹¹ at bay.

而这鬼斧神工的生物构造使得捕食者陷入困境。

Sauropods were probably burping and farting almost continuously, because that's what big plant eaters do.

波塞东龙无时无刻不在打嗝，放屁，因为巨型食草动物都会如此。

And they would have been noisy, smelly, unpleasant animals to be around.

声音巨大，臭气熏天，使动物不便接近。

Despite all these adaptations,

尽管有各种适应技能，

all of this specialized¹² biology that has allowed Sauroposeidon to grow to mammoth¹³ proportions,

这些专门的生物功能使得波塞东龙可以长成庞然大物，

there is one part of its body that simply hasn't kept up.

但它身体里有一部分并没有长大。

Its brain. Animals like Sauroposeidon are really the poster child for the dumb dinosaur¹⁴.

那就是大脑。波塞东龙是愚蠢恐龙的典型代表。

1 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。

2 mash   

n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情

参考例句：

• He beat the potato into a mash before eating it.他把马铃薯捣烂后再吃。
• Whiskey,originating in Scotland,is distilled from a mash of grains.威士忌源于苏格兰，是从一种大麦芽提纯出来的。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

5 invincible   

adj.不可征服的，难以制服的

参考例句：

• This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
• The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。

6 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

9 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 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》

12 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

13 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

14 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。