地球再变暖或使蜥蜴进化成恐龙（在线收听） |
Global warming 300 million years ago triggered the evolutionary burst which caused lizards to evolve into dinosaurs, scientists revealed today. The new research is focused on the Carboniferous Period, when the supercontinent of Pangea was covered in tropical rainforests ruled by reptiles. Scientists now believe that the Earth became significantly hotter during this age - turning rainforests into 'islands' surrounded by arid deserts. This climatic change caused lizards to adapt to live in drier conditions and led to the evolution of different varieties of dinosaurs。 这是一个信息大爆炸的时代，也是一个生活大爆炸的时代，但谁也没想过，早已远去的时代未来会在亿万年后又重新回归。 伦敦大学的科学家通过研究发现，30亿年前的一波全球变暖让当时的蜥蜴进化成了恐龙，这一推断让人不禁想到30亿年后的今天，全球气候变暖重演，蜥蜴是否会再次进化成恐龙。 在30亿年前的石炭纪时代，大陆被热带雨林覆盖，并由爬行动物所统治。科学家分析，若变暖趋势加剧，蜥蜴会调整自身以适应干燥气候，再次进化成不同种类的恐龙。
Dr Howard Falcon-Lang of Royal Holloway, University of London, who carried out the research, revealed this global warming indirectly caused the evolution of mammals. He said: 'We now know that this climate change caused the rainforests to fragment into small 'islands' of forest. 'This change isolated populations of reptiles and caused each community to evolve in a different direction leading to an increase in diversity。
伦敦大学皇家霍洛威学院的科学家指出，全球变暖将首先作用于哺乳类动物，推进它们的进化。博士Dr Howard Falcon-Lang说：“我们了解到气候变暖加剧后，会使得大片的热带雨林分裂，而群居的蜥蜴一旦被强行分开就会成为一个个小群体，随之，每个群体之间开始向不同方向进化，最终差异促进进化成功。而蜥蜴进化的最终结果有可能成为恐龙。”
'We have discovered for the first time how this evolution occurred after analysing hundreds of fossils from around the globe. 'This initial burst of global warming significantly affected the evolution of the world and led reptiles to evolve into dinosaurs, birds and mammals.'
据悉，科学家大胆推断出这一结论是通过搜集病研究全球各地的化石而得到的，他们认定，第一波的全球变暖的确影响了生物的进化过程。
Vocabulary：
Pangea n. 盘古大陆；泛大陆；联合古陆
mammal n. 哺乳动物 |
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