侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第108期:鸟类有非常特化的肺

 　　Utahraptor stood 3 meters tall and weighed over half a ton, which made it a top predator¹ of the middle Cretaceous period.

　　犹他盗龙站立时高三米，体重达半吨，这使其成为白垩纪中期的一个顶级掠食者。

　　The Raptor family is made up of a lot of different individual dinosaurs².

　　迅猛龙家族由很多种不同的恐龙构成。

　　Deinonychus and Dromaeosaurus are examples of Raptors.

　　恐爪龙和驰龙都属于迅猛龙。

　　These animals are built a lot like birds.

　　这些动物构造很像鸟类。

　　Well, when we look at the skeletal design of a Raptor, what we see is very similar to that of a modern turkey or a road runner.

　　当我们观察迅猛龙的骨骼构造时，我们看到的东西非常类似于现代火鸡或槲鹳。

　　So like modern birds, their bones are hollow.

　　所以和现代鸟类一样，它们的骨头是中空的。

　　This means they are very lightly built, but they are still very strong.

　　这意味着它们的重量非常轻，但是它们仍然非常结实。

　　It allows them to run at high rate of speed, but still engage in full-on fights.

　　这使得迅猛龙能以较高速度奔跑，但还能进行全力战斗。

　　But a recent discovery proves that Raptors were even more closely related to birds than once suspected.

　　一个最近的发现证明迅猛龙与鸟类的亲缘关系比之前想象得更近。

　　Birds have really specialized³ lungs.

　　鸟类有非常特化的肺。

　　What they do is, they have a series of air sacks throughout the body, some of them even enter their vertebrae, that fill up with air and push air out, and fill up with air and push air out, like a series of bellows⁴.

　　它们全身有一系列的气囊，有一些甚至进入到它们的脊椎里，气囊充气然后排气，然后再充气排气，就像一系列风箱。

　　But for the Raptors, the air goes into their lungs, but then it's just distributed into vertebra and bones throughout the entire body.

　　但迅猛龙，空气进入到它们的肺，然后直接分散进入脊椎和全身各处的骨头。

　　This is why they are so fast and deadly as hunters.

　　这就是为什么它们成了又快又狠的猎手。

　　Fresh air only travels one way into his body and fueled them with plenty of oxygen.

　　新鲜空气在它们身体内是单向运动为它们带来了大量氧气。

　　Like all members of this family, Utahraptor had massive claws on its hands and feet and used them to slice and dice⁵ its meal.

　　跟这个家族的所以成员一样，犹他盗龙四肢都有巨大的爪子并用它们来切割它的美食。

　　The killing⁶ claw on the foot of Utahraptor like on Dromaeosaurus is definitely his primary weapon.

　　犹他盗龙脚上的猎杀爪和驰龙的类似肯定是它的首要武器。

　　It had stout⁷ powerful legs and the claw tended to be... that the bone core of the claw is aound 8 inches, so with the keratin sheath, that could have been up to 12 inches or longer.

　　它的腿粗壮有力其爪子往往…爪子里的骨质部分长约8英寸，所以加上外面的角质鞘，其长度可达12英寸或更长。

　　So that's Utahraptor's primary weapon.

　　所以那是犹他盗龙的首要武器。

　　But like all meat eaters, it also had a battery of formidable teeth and then huge menace, huge hand claws that could have also inflicted⁸ damage.

　　不过跟所有肉食者一样，它还有满口可怕的利齿和巨大的威胁，前肢巨大的爪子也能够造成伤害。

　　The Raptors were amazingly dexterous⁹ using both feet and hand claws.

　　迅猛龙在使用四肢的爪子是异常地敏捷。

　　Well, picture this animal that would weigh close to 1,000 pounds, was able to kick this thing with slash¹⁰ and strokes, three and four, five-foot long strokes, plunge¹¹ it in through skin a inch thick, slash down, ten inches deep, and cut three feet long.

　　可以想象这个重约五百公斤的动物，能够踢腿并划切这个动物，3到5英尺的一划，陷进一寸厚的皮肤，下切十英寸，切了3英尺长。

　　And do that every couple of seconds.

　　每隔几秒就来一次。

1 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。

2 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》

3 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

4 bellows   

n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
• You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想，你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句

5 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。

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 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

8 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

9 dexterous   

adj.灵敏的；灵巧的

参考例句：

• As people grow older they generally become less dexterous.随着年龄的增长，人通常会变得不再那么手巧。
• The manager was dexterous in handling his staff.那位经理善于运用他属下的职员。

10 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。

11 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。