侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第166期:两颗巨大的小行星相撞

 　　Giant long-necked Sauropods were able to browse¹ at treetop levels, while other plant eating dinosaurs³ were perfectly⁴ adapted to take advantage of the low-growing vegetation.

　　巨大的长颈蜥脚类恐龙能够吃树顶上的嫩枝，而其它的植食恐龙完美地适应了利用较低处生长的植物。

　　When you look at Stegosaurus and Camarasaurus, you'd be hard pressed to find two dinosaurs with such different feeding habits.

　　在观察剑龙和圆顶龙时，你会惊讶地发现这两种恐龙的进食习性迥异。

　　Camarasaurus feeds high in the trees, where as Stegosaurus was a low browser⁵.

　　圆顶龙在树的高处进食，而剑龙则在一个低处进食者。

　　Since both of these dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the Jurassic, then it's safe to suggest that all plants, from the tallest trees to the lowest shrubs⁶,

　　因为这两种恐龙都在侏罗纪末期走向灭绝，这就很容易推测所有植物，从最高的树木到最低的灌丛，

　　were affected⁷ by some sort of environmental change and if the plants were changing, this would have a huge impact on the plant eaters who relied on them for life.

　　都受到某种环境变化的影响，而且如果植物在变化，就会对以它们为食的植食者造成巨大影响。

　　The late Jurassic period also saw predators⁹ develop all around the globe, Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus were the deadliest.

　　晚侏罗纪时期也见证了掠食者在全球的发展，异特龙和角鼻龙是最致命的。

　　Ceratosaurus was more of a niche¹⁰ predator⁸.

　　角鼻龙更是一种小生境的掠食者。

　　It certainly would have had to been specialized¹¹ on a certain type of behavior with feeding.

　　它当然必须要有某种专门的进食行为。

　　It may have fed solely¹² on Sauropods, it may have fished, it may have gone after smaller prey¹³.

　　它可能只以蜥脚类恐龙为食，它也许以鱼类为食，它可能攻击更小的猎物。

　　Big animals like Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus are the first to suffer during a dramatic climate change.

　　像异特龙和角鼻龙这样的大动物在剧烈的气候变化中最先受难。

　　Because of their sheer size, they require a certain amount of food and a certain amount of water.

　　因为它们的巨大体型，它们需要一定量的食物和一定量的水。

　　But just as dinosaurs were beginning their ascent¹⁴, a massive explosion in deep space would start a countdown to their demise¹⁵.

　　不过在恐龙开始渐渐繁盛之时，深远的太空中一次巨大的爆炸开始了它们灭绝的倒计时。

　　Two giant asteroids¹⁷ collided.

　　两颗巨大的小行星相撞了。

　　The larger of the two was called Baptistina.

　　两颗中较大的那颗被称作巴蒂斯缇娜。

　　We think it was probably on the order of about a 170 kilometers across.

　　我们认为它的直径大概有170千米。

　　And then, something very large slammed into it, we think about 170 million years ago.

　　后来有个很大的东西撞上了它，我们认为是在一亿七千万年前。

　　The size of the impactor isn't quite known, but we think it might be on the order of about 60 kilometers or so.

　　撞击物的大小并不确定，但我们认为大概是60千米（的直径）。

　　And that completely pulverized¹⁸ we call the Baptistina parent body.

　　那完全粉碎了巴蒂斯缇娜母体。

　　The impact between these two celestial¹⁹ missiles caused Baptistina to break up, shooting fragments out of orbit and into the solar system.

　　这两枚天体导弹的碰撞导致了巴蒂斯缇娜的解体，碎片从其轨道上射出进入了太阳系。

　　Most of these fragments ended up floating harmlessly in space, but a few headed toward a collision with earth.

　　这些碎片中的多数在太空中无害地漂浮着，不过有一些却向着地球迎头撞来。

　　This massive asteroid¹⁶ strike would ultimately wipe out the dinosaurs for good.

　　这次巨大的小行星撞击最终会让恐龙永远消失。

　　But strangely, this cataclysm²⁰ from space was not the first massive disaster that the dinosaurs faced.

　　但奇怪的是，这来自太空的大灾难并非恐龙们面对的第一次大灾难。

　　100 million years earlier, the dinosaurs suffered another less complete extinction²¹.

　　在此一亿年前，恐龙遭受过另一次没那么彻底的灭绝事件。

　　This first extinction came towards the end of the Jurassic period.

　　这一次灭绝事件在侏罗纪的末期到来。

　　It is estimated that 25% of all life forms were wiped out.

　　据估计所有物种的四分之一消失不见。

　　When the environment changed at the late Jurassic, it really caused problems for the bigger dinosaurs.

　　当环境在晚侏罗纪时期发生变化时，真的对较大的恐龙造成了麻烦。

　　Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus could simply be victims of their inability to adapt to this new environment.

　　异特龙和角鼻龙可能就因为无法适应新环境而成为牺牲品。

　　Today, it's still a mystery.

　　如今，这仍是个迷。

　　Some believe that they may have been the victims of their own success.

　　有些人相信它们可能是自己成功的牺牲品。

　　They seemed to have been driven to extinction by their own success.

　　它们好像是被自己的成功推向灭绝。

　　That sounds strange, but once you think about it, a successful dinosaur² is one that produces descendants, and in the next time period,

　　那听起来很奇怪，不过要是仔细想想，一种成功的恐龙就是能产生后代的恐龙，而在接下来的时期，

　　the early Cretaceous, there are new Allosaurs and new Ceratosaurs in different parts of the world.

　　在早白垩纪，在世界各地会有新的异特龙和新的角鼻龙。

　　More sophisticated descendants of each of these forms.

　　它们都是这些更为复杂的后代。

　　Things that were too sophisticated for the original Ceratosaurus and the original Allosaurus to compete against.

　　对原始的角鼻龙和原始的特异龙来说它们太复杂的东西，以至于无法跟它们抗衡。

　　So as old fashion Ceratosaurus and old fashion Allosaurus themselves, they both disappeared.

　　所以老式的角鼻龙和异特龙自己就都消失不见了。

　　But in every major extinction, no matter how catastrophic, there are always some survivors²².

　　不过每次大规模灭绝中，无论灾难性多大，总有一些幸存者。

　　And for those plants and animals that are able to adapt quickly enough, the world is theirs for the taking.

　　而对那些能够很快地适应的植物和动物来说，世界就是它们的了。

　　It's easy to think that all dinosaurs lived and died at the same time, but that's not the case.

　　人们很容易认为所有恐龙都在同一时期生活和消亡，但并非如此。

　　For instance, dinosaurs like Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, and Camarasaurus lived in the Jurassic Period and died out tens of millions of years before dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex showed up.

　　比如，生活在侏罗纪时期的恐龙，像剑龙、异特龙和圆顶龙，消失于像雷克斯暴龙这样的恐龙出现数千万年前之前。

　　In fact, the time that separates those dinosaurs from T-Rex is longer than the amount of time that separates T-Rex from us.

　　其实，那些恐龙和霸王龙间的时间间隔要比霸王龙和我们之间的间隔还要长。

1 browse   

vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草

参考例句：

• I had a browse through the books on her shelf.我浏览了一下她书架上的书。
• It is a good idea to browse through it first.最好先通篇浏览一遍。

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 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》

4 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。

5 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

6 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 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。

9 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》

10 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

11 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。

12 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

13 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

14 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

15 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

16 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

17 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

18 pulverized   

adj.[医]雾化的，粉末状的v.将…弄碎( pulverize的过去式和过去分词 )；将…弄成粉末或尘埃；摧毁；粉碎

参考例句：

• We pulverized the opposition. 我们彻底击败了对手。
• He pulverized the opposition with the force of his oratory. 他能言善辩把对方驳得体无完肤。 来自辞典例句

19 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

20 cataclysm   

n.洪水，剧变，大灾难

参考例句：

• The extinct volcano's eruption would mean a cataclysm for the city.死火山又重新喷发，对这座城市来说意味着大难临头。
• The cataclysm flooded the entire valley.洪水淹没了整个山谷。

21 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

22 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者