侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第36期:接二连三发现骸骨

 　　Then, Ostrum's crew made another discovery - lying next to the Raptor was a second skeleton.

　　紧接着，奥斯特伦姆的团队有了另一个发现，在迅猛龙旁边还有第二具骸骨。

　　Two Raptors, side by side.

　　两头迅猛龙紧挨着。

　　But the second Raptor's bones had been crushed, They continued to dig.

　　但第二头迅猛龙的骨头已经碎裂，他们继续挖掘。

　　Then, just a few feet away, a third carcass.

　　仅在几英尺远处发现了第三具骸骨。

　　This one too, had crushed bones.

　　而这一具的骨头也是碎裂的。

　　Paleontologists realized they were looking at a fight, one involving at least three Raptors.

　　古生物学家们意识到它们是在争斗，至少有三头迅猛龙参与了这场战斗。

　　Whenever you find a large number of the same species of dinosaurs¹ lying together, mixed up, it's a pretty good indication that they died at the same time.

　　当你发现了大量同种恐龙杂乱的叠在一起，这就说明是在同一时间死亡的。

　　This is common in plant eating dinosaurs, but very rarely do we find predators² this way.

　　这对植食恐龙来说很常见，但掠食者这样还是很少见的。

　　Finding a group of Deinonychus is a very good indication of pack hunting.

　　发现一群恐爪龙是它们群体狩猎的有力证据。

　　Buried only a few yards away, its skeleton sprawled³ in a death pose, a fourth Raptor.

　　接着，在几码远之外找到了一具趴着死掉的骸骨第四头迅猛龙。

　　This site was a prehistoric⁴ battlefield, with several Raptors involved.

　　这里曾是史前的战场，而且有多头迅猛龙参与。

　　Paleontologists had always wondered if Raptors hunted in packs.

　　古生物学家一直想知道迅猛龙是否是群体猎食的。

　　Well, Doctor Ostrum's discovery in Montana of these four Deinonychus answered that question.

　　奥斯特伦姆博士在蒙大拿州发现的四具恐爪龙骸骨解开了这一谜题。

　　These Raptors lived and died as a group.

　　因为这是一群同生共死的迅猛龙。

　　The Raptors were relatively⁵ small predatory dinosaurs, not much larger than a man.

　　迅猛龙是相对体型较小的掠食恐龙，比成年人大不了多少。

　　They were a couple of meters high, about three meters long, and weighed close to 150 pounds.

　　它们站立时高两米，大约三米长，体重约七十公斤。

　　But what they lacked in size, they more than made up for in agility⁶.

　　虽然体型有所不足，但它们靠敏捷可以完全弥补。

　　Dr. Ostrum was quick to identify three deadly attributes that were used in the battle.

　　奥斯特伦姆博士很快查出了它们在争斗中使用的三件致命武器。

　　The first were its teeth.

　　其一是它们的牙齿。

　　These teeth curve backwards⁷.

　　这些牙齿向后弯曲。

　　Teeth that curve backwards are designed to grab and hold on to something that is struggling to get away.

　　牙齿向后弯曲是为了咬住并紧抓不放，使猎物无法脱身。

　　Not only are their teeth curved backwards, they're serrated on both edges.

　　它们的牙齿不仅向后弯曲，而且两边的还呈锯齿状。

　　They've got a mouth full of steak knives.

　　它们满口都是牛排刀般的牙齿。

　　What it would do is it would get a hold of something, and then it would jerk its head backwards,它们用这一武器先抓牢猎物，然后把头猛然向后拉，and that's when the curvature of the teeth would cause all of these little teeth to act like serrated hooks,这时候这些弯曲的小牙齿起到的作用如同有锯齿的挂钩，and they would just tear out a big chunk⁸ of meat.

　　它们就能扯下大块的肉。

 

1 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》

2 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》

3 sprawled   

v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawled full-length across the bed. 他手脚摊开横躺在床上。
• He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. 他四肢伸开正懒散地靠在扶手椅上看电视。

4 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。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。