侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第37期:终极武器:猎杀爪

 　　Although its teeth were formidable, the claws on their hands were just as important in a fight.

　　虽然它的牙齿是很强的武器，但它们的爪子在争斗中也极为重要。

　　They really look a lot like cat talons¹.

　　它们看上去极像猫的爪子。

　　They're pretty incredible and I suspect they were used in much the same way.

　　它们很不可思议，我猜它们的作用也差不多。

　　These were very, very sharp instruments of great pain.

　　这些非常锐利的武器能带来剧烈的疼痛。

　　But one thing set this dinosaur² apart from all other meat eaters - the killing³ claw.

　　但恐龙的这种武器使之在所有的肉食恐龙中鹤立鸡群——它的猎杀爪。

　　With this claw on the foot, this was clearly a killing claw, but what was it doing? Going after the ankles of other dinosaurs⁴?

　　脚上的这根爪子很明显是致命的利爪，但具体功能是什么呢？攻击其它恐龙的脚踝吗？

　　No. In order for it to have been useful, it had to be leaping around to slash⁵ and tear at its victims.

　　不是，要想能够发挥其能力，迅猛龙要跳到半空去撕扯猎物。

　　Well, the thing that really typifies Dromaeosaurs in general, the group to which Deinonychus belongs, is that they have this large raptorial claw on their foot.

　　恐爪龙属于驰龙类恐龙，它们最明显的共同特征就是它们脚上猛禽般的大型利爪。

　　And even the claw today, the bony part of the claw, is about four inches long or so.

　　即便到了现在，爪子的骨质部分长度也有十多厘米。

　　But in life it would have been covered with a sheaf like a fingernail that would of made the claw twice as large.

　　它活着时，这上面会有一层像指甲的鞘，使得爪子变成两倍大。

　　So it would have been a pretty spectacular weapon.

　　所以它是一种极为惊人的武器。

　　CAT scan research of their brain cavities conducted by Dr. Larry Witmer of Ohio University, concluded that members of the Raptor family had excellent vision.

　　俄亥俄大学拉瑞·维特莫博士对其颅腔进行CT扫描，得出的结论是迅猛龙一类，具有非常敏锐的视力。

　　What I was able to do was get my hands on a variety of fossil skull⁶ bones of Deinonychus and CAT scanned a variety of them to get a glimpse inside the head of Deinonychus.

　　我做的就是找到各种恐爪龙的头骨化石，并对它们进行CT扫描，以便能对其颅内有所了解。

　　When we look inside the brain cavity of Deinonychus what we see is an expansion of the visual centers.

　　当我们观察恐爪龙的颅腔内部时，我们看到了视觉中枢的膨大。

　　Centers that in more primitive⁷ dinosaurs, we didn't really see enlarged.

　　在更原始的恐龙颅腔里，我们看不到它的伸展。

　　That suggests to us that vision was a very important sensory⁸ modality in Deinonychus and Utah Raptor and these other Raptors.

　　这表明视觉能力对于恐爪龙、犹他伶盗龙和各种迅猛龙都是至关重要的。

　　It was clearly a major part of their hunting strategy.

　　这显然是它们猎杀策略的重要组成部分。

　　In fact, their vision was so good, experts had to consider if they had night vision.

　　事实上，它们的视力很敏锐，专家需要考虑它们有夜视能力。

　　They had a very large optic lobe⁹ of the brain, so there's no reason to think that they could not have hunted at night.

　　它们的脑里有一个很大的视叶，所以我们没有理由认为它们不能在夜间捕猎。

　　But it doesn't mean that they were restricted to that.

　　但也并不意味着它们仅限于此。

　　Having that incredible eyesight would not just be helpful at night, it would be an awesome¹⁰ asset anytime there is limited light.

　　其非凡的视力不仅有助于夜间活动，光线不足时也对它们非常有利。

　　During volcanic¹¹ activity or storms, they would still have the ability to see when other creatures wouldn't have.

　　在火山爆发或风暴来临时，它们仍能看到其它动物看不见的东西。

　　Like a modern cat, Raptors relied on their large eyes to hunt in the dark.

　　像现今的猫科动物一样，迅猛龙靠大眼睛在夜间狩猎。

　　They were perfectly¹² suited for night kills.

　　它们非常适合夜间猎杀。

 

1 talons   

n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部

参考例句：

• The fingers were curved like talons, but they closed on empty air. 他的指头弯得像鹰爪一样，可是抓了个空。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命
• The tiger has a pair of talons. 老虎有一对利爪。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 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。

4 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》

5 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

6 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。

7 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。

8 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

9 lobe   

n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶

参考例句：

• Tiny electrical sensors are placed on your scalp and on each ear lobe.小电器传感器放置在您的头皮和对每个耳垂。
• The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for controlling movement.大脑前叶的功能是控制行动。

10 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

11 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

12 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。