侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第140期:争夺相同的食物资源

 　　The end of the Ice Age saw a world that was melting away.Plants and animals hopelessly struggling to survive.

　　在冰期末期整个世界冰消雪解。植物和动物绝望地挣扎求生。

　　The disruption¹ triggered² a massive³ food shortage⁴.

　　这一混乱引发了严重的食物匮乏。

　　There was more competition for the available resources.

　　对于可用资源的竞争更加激烈。

　　This would tend to bring together big carnivores, because if you are lacking a lot of resources, there's going to be more stealing of carcasses and more confrontational⁵ type things going on between the large lions and bears and carnivores that depend on these big herbivores for their daily food.

　　这往往将各种大型食肉动物聚集在一起，因为要是资源匮乏的话，在大型狮子、熊和其它以这些大型植食动物为生的食肉动物中会出现更多盗食尸体现象并会发生更多对抗性冲突。

　　In order to understand the range of the bear and lion, paleontologists actually gather evidence from a variety of different locations.

　　为了能够了解这些熊和狮子的活动范围，古生物学家收集来自各种不同地点的证据。

　　They look for fossils⁶ and they discover that both bear and lion bones are found together as far north as Alaska, as far east as Florida, and really as far south as South America.

　　他们寻找化石并且发现同时找到短面熊和拟狮的地方，最北到阿拉斯加，最东到佛罗里达，最南到达了南美洲。

　　So by comparing all these areas, they're able to figure out that these two predators⁷ were living together at the same time and therefore competing for the same food source.

　　通过对比这些地方，他们最终确认这两种掠食者生活在同一时期，因此争夺相同的食物资源。

　　The bear had a hunting range of up to 200 square miles.

　　短面熊的狩猎范围可达200平方英里。

　　Only a severe food shortage would have pushed him to invade another predator's territory.

　　只有严重的食物匮乏才会迫使它入侵另一掠食者的领地。

　　When two giant predators, like the mega-lion and short faced bear, inhabit⁸ the same territory, they would most certainly fight for dominance.

　　当两种巨大的掠食者，比如拟狮和短面熊，在同一领地生活，它们一定会为争夺控制权而争斗。

　　Each animal would try to kill the other to remove the competition.

　　每一个动物都想置对方于死地以消除竞争。

　　Carnivores will often protect their territory and their range just because they don't like each other, and not because they're hungry.

　　食肉动物经常只是因为它们不喜欢彼此就保卫它们的领地和势力范围，而不是因为饥饿。

　　It's just that: "You're in my territory. You're not welcome here. I'm going to kill you".

　　只是：“你进了我的地盘，这里不欢迎你，我要杀了你”。

　　However, when investigators⁹ studied the bones of the lion and bear, there were no bite marks.

　　但是，当调查者研究这些狮子和熊的骨头时，并没有发现咬痕。

　　But experts believe that actually supports the theory that they fought to eliminate competition.

　　然而专家们相信那确实支持了这一理论，说它们为了消灭竞争而战。

　　That's why we don't find bite marks on the bones of either of these animals.

　　这就是我们在这两种动物骨头上为什么找不到咬痕的原因。

　　When they fought, they fought to kill the other guy, not to eat him.

　　它们的打斗意在杀死对方而不是吃掉它。

　　Bite marks on bones usually happen after the meat has been removed and the bones are exposed.

　　骨头上的咬痕一般是在肉被吃掉后骨头露出来时留下的。

　　But if you're not eating the meat, then you're not exposing the bones and therefore you don't leave bite marks behind.

　　但要是不吃肉，就不会让骨头露出来，因此也就不会留下咬痕。

1 disruption   

n.分裂

参考例句：

• The state was in disruption. 国家处于分崩离析之中。
• Such storms cause considerable disruption in magnetic prospecting operation. 这种磁暴对磁法勘探产生严重的破坏。

2 triggered   

触发的

参考例句：

• An indiscreet remark triggered off a long and costly strike. 一次轻率的讲话导致长时间、代价高昂的罢工。
• The incident triggered an armed clash. 这起事件触发了一场武装冲突。

3 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

4 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

5 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

6 fossils   

n.化石( fossil的名词复数 )；老顽固；食古不化的人；老古董（老人）

参考例句：

• fossils over two million years old 两百多万年的化石
• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley. 在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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》

8 inhabit   

vt.居住于，（动物）栖居于

参考例句：

• Thoughts inhabit his mind.各种思想占据了他的心灵。
• Wild tribes still inhabit part of the Philippines.菲律宾部分地区仍然居住着一些原始部落。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》