VOA慢速英语2021--发现奇怪海洋生物化石

Fossil of Strange Sea Creature Discovered

About 506 million years ago, a strange sea creature swam in warm waters on the ocean floor off the coast of present-day Canada. At that point in time, it was one of Earth's largest hunters.

Titanokorys gainesi – or Titanokorys, for short – is an arthropod from the Cambrian geological period. Titanokorys lived during a time when much of present-day North America was below warm seas.

On September 8, scientists announced the discovery of its fossils in the Canadian Rockies. The area where it was found is known to be rich in Cambrian fossils.

The name Titanokorys means "titanic² helmet" -- and for good reason. Titanic means very large. Helmet is a hard hat you wear on your head. And this creature's "helmet" or head shell made up about two-thirds of its 50-centimeter-long body.

While that may not sound very big, during the Cambrian Period it was huge.

"Most other life forms were smaller than a human thumbnail at that time. By comparison, Titanokorys was longer than an adult human forearm," said Jean-Bernard Caron. He is a paleontologist of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. He is also the lead writer of the study that appeared in the publication Royal Society Open Science. He and his team spoke³ with Reuters news agency about their discovery.

Caron said in its day, Titanokorys was a "giant." It was also a very strange looking animal. He added, "it could be compared to a giant swimming head since the body was so short ..."

The creature was also flat, so it could live on the sea floor.

The eyes of the Titanokorys had many different moving parts. Its circular mouth was lined with triangular⁴ tooth-like structures. It had two claws to capture prey⁵. It had gills and a series of flaps on the sides of its body for swimming.

Scientists think the Titanokorys fed on buried prey like worms. It used its claws to dig in the mud to find food. However, its claws did not pick up the prey; instead, they pulled the prey into the mouth.

Joe Moysiuk is a paleontologist at the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum. He is also co-writer of the study. He told Reuters that when the fossils "were first discovered, they were so unusual looking" that the scientists were not sure what kind of animal they belonged to.

He added that because of their strange shape, scientists in the field call them "the mothership." They use this description because the creature looks something like an unusual spaceship.

The recent fossil discovery is not the first. Scientists discovered parts of fossils of many Titanokorys individuals in Canada's British Columbia between 2014 and 2018.

The Cambrian period

The Cambrian Period was from about 542 million to 488 million years ago. It was an important time in the history of life on Earth.

During the Cambrian Period, many major animal groups first appeared on Earth. Because such a great amount of life appeared in such a short amount of time, scientists call this time period "Cambrian Explosion."

Words in This Story

arthropod – n. any of a large group of animals (as crabs⁶, insects, and spiders) with jointed⁷ limbs and a body made up of segments

geological – adj. of or relating to the science that deals with the history of the earth and its life especially as recorded in rocks

fossil – n. something (such as a leaf, skeleton, or footprint) that is from a plant or animal which lived in ancient times and that you can see in some rocks

paleontologist – n. a science dealing⁸ with the life of past geologic¹ periods as known from fossil remains⁹

giant – adj. having extremely large size, proportion, or power

claw – n. a body part of an animal (such as a lobster¹⁰ or crab) that is used for gripping and holding things

prey – n. an animal that is hunted or killed by another animal for food

gill – n. an organ (as of a fish) for taking oxygen from water

flap – n. something broad and flat or flexible that hangs loose

1 geologic   

adj.地质的

参考例句：

• The Red Sea is a geologic continuation of the valley.红海就是一个峡谷在地质上的继续发展。
• Delineation of channels is the first step of geologic evaluation.勾划河道的轮廓是地质解译的第一步。

2 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。

5 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。

6 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 jointed   

有接缝的

参考例句：

• To embrace her was like embracing a jointed wooden image. 若是拥抱她，那感觉活像拥抱一块木疙瘩。 来自英汉文学
• It is possible to devise corresponding systematic procedures for rigid jointed frames. 推导出适合于钢架的类似步骤也是可能的。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。