纪录片《恐龙的战争》 繁衍生息（13）

For most females of the Cretaceous, finding a mate who's stronger, more cleverer,

对于白垩纪的大多雌性来说，寻找一个更健壮，更聪明

and had more advanced killing¹ tools than the next male is crucial. But that's not all.

比别的雄性拥有更加先进杀人武器的配偶至关重要。但还不仅如此。

For a T. Rex male, surviving to adulthood² means he's probably had some good parenting himself.

对于雄性霸王龙来说，活到成年意味着他受到了父母精心的哺育。

And it's likely he's also developed some strong hunting skills...

而且很有可能具备强大的捕食技巧，

and probably even learned to duck when Quetzalcoatlus swooped³ down and tried to steal him as a chick.

甚至在披羽蛇翼龙俯冲直下偷幼崽的时候他还学会了躲避。

In other words, you don't make it this far without some good genes⁴ to pass down.

换句话说，如果没有优秀的基因的传承是不可能活这么长时间的。

But evolution isn't just about mating.

但是进化并不只有交配。

It's also about ensuring those valuable eggs actually hatch and grow up.

还要保证这些宝贵的卵能够孵化并长大。

The prehistoric⁵ world of the Cretaceous Period.

这里是白垩纪时期的史前世界。

Here roam creatures from the outrageously⁶ large...to the incredibly terrifying...and the truly bizarre.

这里栖息的生物大到顶天立地，恐怖到令人难以置信，再到稀奇古怪。

But every dinosaur⁷, no matter how radical⁸, is hatched from an egg.

但所有恐龙，无论多么激进，都是蛋孵化来的。

And like the well-engineered bodies they will eventually grow into,

如同它们将要长成的精密设计的身躯一样，

evolution has created some of the most advanced eggs history has ever seen.

进化也创造出了史上最高级的卵。

An egg is like a space capsule.

卵就像一间太空舱。

Everything that the embryo⁹ is gonna need is pretty much in there.

胚胎发育所需的一切差不多都在其中。

And evolution developed something else.

进化还创造了新的东西。

The shell of a dinosaur egg is built like a motorcycle helmet, able to withstand a severe shock.

恐龙蛋的蛋壳就像一个摩托车头盔，可以承受强烈的冲击。

And then, for even more protection, there's the albumen, or egg white.

要说什么保护作用更大那就是胚乳，也就是蛋白。

The egg white is a kind of a gel and has multiple functions.

蛋白是一种胶体，有多重功能。

One is to keep the embryo that's developing moist, but it also acts as a shock absorber.

一是保持胚胎发育的湿润环境，但它同样扮演了减震器的功能。

Because if the egg gets jarred, you don't want to kill the embryo that's developing by a sudden shock.

因为如果蛋受到冲击，你肯定不想因为瞬间的冲击扼杀正在发育的胚胎。

A well-constructed egg makes it that much more likely that a hatchling will survive.

一颗结构合理的恐龙蛋会使幼崽的成活率大大增加。

And when that youngster grows up,

当幼崽长大之后，

it will pass on those very same genetic¹⁰ traits that saved it in the first weeks of life.

它会把在生命初期拯救了它的遗传性状流传给后代。

Inside this tiny home, a single fertilized¹¹ cell divides rapidly.

在这个微小的家中受精卵迅速发育。

These cells become a myriad¹² of tissue types that will make up bones, skin, nerves, and organs.

这些细胞分裂成无数的组织型将来成为成骨头，皮肤，神经和器官。

1 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。

2 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。

3 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

4 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

5 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。

6 outrageously   

凶残地； 肆无忌惮地； 令人不能容忍地； 不寻常地

参考例句：

• Leila kept smiling her outrageously cute smile. 莱拉脸上始终挂着非常可爱的笑容。
• He flirts outrageously. 他肆无忌惮地调情。

7 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。

8 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

9 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

10 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

11 Fertilized   

v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
• Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。

12 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。