纪录片《恐龙的战争》 顽强防御（17）

Under the cover of darkness, a Tyrannosaurus Rex is on the hunt.

在夜幕的掩护下，一只雷克斯霸王龙正在猎食。

Its quarry¹ is a Triceratops, six tons of muscle loaded with deadly defensive² weapons

它的猎物是一只三角龙，六吨重的肌肉，全副武装着防御武器，

all mounted on an armored skull³ that can turn instantly.

尤其是头部能够自由转动的部分。

But Triceratops has one major disadvantage.

但三角龙有个致命的弱点。

Its night vision is no match for a tyrannosaur.

它的夜视能力无法与霸王龙相提并论。

T.Rex goes for the kill.

雷克斯霸王龙发起了攻击。

Even so, taking on a healthy adult Triceratops is a huge risk.

即便如此，制服一只健壮的成年三角龙也并非易事。

That is, if a T. Rex is acting⁴ alone.

这是霸王龙独自行动的情况。

Probably the only way a T. Rex could successfully and safely bring down Triceratops

或许霸王龙若想轻而易举地撂倒三角龙，

is by having at least one other individual Tyrannosaur

只有依靠另外一只霸王龙的帮助，

that would ambush⁵ it from the back while the one in front is keeping the attention of the Triceratops.

它们一只在后面伏击，而另一只在前面吸引三角龙的注意。

Working as a team, the ultimate carnivore delivers a killing⁶ blow.

团队合作使肉食动物最终获胜。

For the T. Rex, it's a veritable feast.

对雷克斯霸王龙来说，这是一场真正的盛宴。

This battle plays out over and over again,

这样的战斗一次次重演，

sparking evolutionary⁷ changes in carnivores which in turn, chanllenges plant eaters.

极大推动了食肉动物的进化。同时也对食草动物提出更大挑战。

You can look at it as sort of almost an arms race between the herbivores and the carnivores,

你可以将其看作是食草动物和食肉动物之间的军备竞赛，

and the herbivores protect themselves.

食草动物试图保护自己。

The carnivores changed in order to attack and be able to have enough power to kill the herbivores.

而食肉动物则想方设法获得将猎物置于死地的能力。

The arms race between predator⁸ and prey⁹ continues for millions of years.

这场在猎食者和猎物之间的竞赛持续了几百万年。

Carnivores develop some of the most effective killing tools seen in Earth's history.

食肉动物进化出史上最具攻击性的武器。

Prehistoric¹⁰ plant eaters evolved defenses simply unmatched today.

而史前食草动物的防御能力也是今天的动物无法匹敌的。

Parasaurolophus, with a call so powerful it's a dangerous weapon.

副栉龙能发出极具破坏力的声音。

Sauroposeidon, bigger than any land creature we'll ever see.

波塞东龙比我们见到的任何陆地生物都要庞大。

Ankylosaurus, with a club for a tail and armor built like a bulletproof vest.

甲龙拥有强有力的尾锤和防弹背心一般的甲壳。

And Triceratops, the big bruiser with a skull strong enough to stop the jaws¹¹ of a T. Rex.

三角龙，长着能抗衡霸王龙的坚固头骨。

All these Cretaceous plant eaters, with their complicated apparatus¹², they're all much more sophisticated.

所有这些白垩纪的食草动物都有其复杂的防御器官，它们都是很高级的生物。

So we're beginning to understand that we woefully underestimated the inner and outer life of the veggiesaur.

我们开始认识到，我们严重低估了这些食草恐龙的自身结构和外部环境。

Plant-eating dinosaurs¹³ became incredibly tough-to survive from the Jurassic Period to the Cretaceous- more than 165 million years.

食草恐龙在进化过程中变得越来越强悍，从侏罗纪活到了到白垩纪，长达一亿六千五百万余年。

Even today, the battle between herbivores and carnivores rages on.

直至今日，食草动物和食肉动物的战争依然延续。

But it's this brutal¹⁴ war for survival, this constant adaptation,

而正是这样残酷的生死之战，

that has created the incredible natural world that we live in today.

这种适者生存的较量才造就了我们今天神奇的自然世界。

1 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

2 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

6 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。

7 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

8 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。

9 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。

10 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

11 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

12 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

13 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》

14 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。