纪录片《恐龙的战争》 顽强防御（15）

The reasons why animals like Sauroposeidon have an enlargement in their hip¹

像波塞东龙这种动物之所以臀部有一部分扩张，

is because there's actually a lot going on back there.

是因为尾部的活动很多。

There are lots of muscles that are in the legs, and also muscles that are going through the tail.

腿部有很多肌肉，尾巴上也有很多肌肉。

The primitive² brain in the spinal³ keeps Sauroposeidon's legs and tail in sync with his body.

原始脑脊髓可以协调波塞东龙腿部和尾部的活动

Without it, they couldn't never have fed over such large territories, or possibly, they wouldn't even been able to walk at all.

没有第二个大脑，它们恐怕难以填饱肚子，甚至可能走路都成问题。

This tiny bundle of nerves weighing just few grams,

这样小小的神经组尽管只有几克重，

allows herds⁴ of Sauroposeidon to rule the great plains of southern Midwest of America for almost 50 million years.

却让波塞东龙种群在中西部南方的土地上统治了近五千万年。

Another plant eater couldn't appear more different. It's small, weak, and highly intelligent.

另一种食草动物却截然不同。它们身体弱小但非常聪明。

But like Sauroposeidon, Parasaurolophus live in herds.

但同波塞东龙一样，副栉龙也是群居动物。

They stick together and are constantly on the lookout⁵ for threats.

它们聚集在一起所以能够时刻保持警惕。

But for Parasaurolophus, there's a problem.

但对副栉龙来说有一个问题。

Their eyes are on the side of their head, so fields of view don't overlap⁶.

它们眼睛长在头的两侧两眼，视觉范围不能重叠。

This leaves a blind spot dead ahead-a possible opening for an attacker.

这就造成了一个盲区——一个捕食者的可乘之机。

They couldn't see directly behind themselves, and they actually would have problems seeing directly in front of themselves.

它们看不到正后方，并且直视正前方也有些困难。

It's almost a different visual world than one that we can imagine.

这是我们很难想象的一种独特视角。

The Parasaurolophus have a solution to this problem.

对于这个问题，副栉龙自有解决办法。

When you've got multiple Parasaurolophus living together, that means multiple eyes to scan the horizon.

当有许多副栉龙群居在一起时，意味着许多双眼睛扫视周围。

And if one of you is feeding, munching⁷ on the plants on the ground,

当其中一个在吃草，俯在地面上大块朵颐时，

the other can keep its eyes out, looking around, keeping an eye out for Tyrannosaur.

其它的会保持警惕，四处张望提防霸王龙来袭。

1 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

2 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

3 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

4 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。

5 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

6 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

7 munching   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was munching an apple. 他在津津有味地嚼着苹果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Munching the apple as he was, he had an eye for all her movements. 他虽然啃着苹果，但却很留神地监视着她的每一个动作。 来自辞典例句