国家地理 终极者—鲨鱼

What exactly is the power that drives nature's most famous jaws²? In New Zealand, this great white shark drowned in a fisherman's net.

到底是什么力量驱使着自然中最著名的大白鲨？在新西兰，这只大白鲨在渔民的网中溺亡。

And scientists Kara Yopak and Clinton Duffy are preparing an ultra-rare great white shark dissection³.

科学家卡拉·约帕克和克林顿·达菲准备对一种非常稀有的大白鲨进行解剖。

"Ah, I've never dissected⁴ one that is the size before."

“之前我从没有解剖过这种大白鲨。”

It's a unique opportunity to study a great white's near-perfect design, including its fearsome jaws.

这是一次研究大白鲨近乎完美设计的机会，包括它可怕的颚片。

"The jaws of great white are really, really valuable. So most of the time, if we do get a specimen⁵ to measure, it looks a little bit more like this.

“大白鲨的颚片非常非常宝贵。所以多数时候，如果我们有测量的样本，和这个差别很大。

Not nearly as pretty. That fishermen know pretty much. We're catching⁶ animal of, yes, for, um, a fishing competition or even just in its net.

并非像真品一样完美。渔民知道的很多。我们在钓鱼比赛中或者甚至是在渔民的网中捕获动物。

Um, we'll remove the jaws and quite often its fins⁸ as well. The jaws are amazingly valuable.

我们移除了颚片以及鳍片。颚片价值极高。

Uh, they can go anywhere, from ten to twenty thousand dollars. Um, you can see them, I mean, being sold on eBay.

它们可流通到任何地方，价格在一到两万美元之间，你可以在易趣上售卖。

It's kind of such a status symbol. Everybody knows the great white shark. When you have an idea of shark in your head, it's gonna be this one."

这像是一种社会地位象征。每个人都知道大白鲨。当你有想过大白鲨的样子，就是这样了。”

The jaws of a great white are evolutionary⁹ marvel¹⁰.

大白鲨的颚片是进化的奇迹。

They actually burst forward, allowing for a bite that shears¹¹ up to 30 pounds of flesh in a single mouthful.

它们突然前进，一口可以要掉30磅的肉。

About 50 teeth lie in the front of a great white's jaws. The lower teeth act like daggers¹², stabbing and holding prey¹³ in place.

大白鲨颚片前端有约50颗牙齿。下颌牙充当匕首，刺穿并咬住猎物。

The larger upper teeth are like steak knives, slicing off giant mouthfuls of a victim.

上颌牙较大，像是牛扒刀一样，切割猎物。

And behind this front row of teeth are literally¹⁴ hundreds of others, ready to be pressed into service.

在牙齿前排后是百颗其他牙齿，随时准备紧急服务。

But to truly understand this extreme design, you have to go beneath the skin.

但是要真正理解这种极端的设计，需要深入皮肤下方。

Unlike human beings, the great white's jaws aren't fused to the skull¹⁵.

和人类不同，大白鲨的颚片并没有和脑壳相连。

They hang loosely underneath¹⁶ the braincase, ready to execute their signature bite.

它们悬挂在脑壳下方，随时准备执行标志性的一击。

First, the snout rises and opens the mouth. At the same time, the lower jaw¹ pushes down, widening the gape¹⁷.

首先，鼻子抬起，张开嘴。同时，下颚向下推，扩大张开。

Next, special muscles in grooves¹⁸ in the skull push the upper jaw forward, exposing gums and teeth.

接下来，脑壳中凹槽的特殊肌肉推动上颌前进，暴露出牙龈和牙齿。

The lower jaw rises, latching¹⁹ onto the prey, and the snout slams down, hammering the upper jaw with almost 700 pounds of force.

下颌抬起，紧抓住猎物，鼻子猛地落下，用700磅的力量敲打上颌。

These extraordinary teeth are clearly designed to kill, but they may also serve another purpose: delivering a message to other great whites.

这些非凡的牙齿设计就是为了杀戮，但是或许也有其他用途：向其他大白鲨传递信息。

"She actually has some scarring out here. You can see where this scar's coming down, turn around underneath the eye.

“她这里真的很有多疤痕。你可以看到这条疤痕从这里下来，划到眼睛下方。

The ones on the side of a pectoral fin⁷, they appear to be shark bites. This one is likely to be a tooth mark, possibly another shark.

这些在胸鳍的一侧，这些是鲨鱼的咬痕。这一个像是牙痕，很可能是另一条鲨鱼的牙痕。

These guys are not necessarily one big happy family when they get together."

这些家伙在一起时，并不是一个快乐的家庭。”

Great whites can be covered in battle scars. It's believed they bite one another to assert dominance, compete for a meal and even to mate.

大白鲨的身上会有战殇。人们认为它们会为了领地、食物和交配权而相互撕咬。

"How these guys get together, of course, and don't kill each other is an, it's a really interesting question."

“当然，这些家伙如何在相处时不咬死对方，这是个有趣的问题。”

1 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

2 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

3 dissection   

n.分析；解剖

参考例句：

• A dissection of your argument shows several inconsistencies.对你论点作仔细分析后发现一些前后矛盾之处。
• Researchers need a growing supply of corpses for dissection.研究人员需要更多的供解剖用的尸体。

4 dissected   

adj.切开的，分割的，（叶子）多裂的v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的过去式和过去分词 )；仔细分析或研究

参考例句：

• Her latest novel was dissected by the critics. 评论家对她最近出版的一部小说作了详细剖析。
• He dissected the plan afterward to learn why it had failed. 他事后仔细剖析那项计划以便搞清它失败的原因。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

6 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

7 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

8 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

9 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

10 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

11 shears   

n.大剪刀

参考例句：

• These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。

12 daggers   

匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I will speak daggers to her, but use none. 我要用利剑一样的话刺痛她的心，但绝不是真用利剑。
• The world lives at daggers drawn in a cold war. 世界在冷战中剑拨弩张。

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 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

15 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

16 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

17 gape   

v.张口，打呵欠，目瞪口呆地凝视

参考例句：

• His secretary stopped taking notes to gape at me.他的秘书停止了记录，目瞪口呆地望着我。
• He was not the type to wander round gaping at everything like a tourist.他不是那种像个游客似的四处闲逛、对什么都好奇张望的人。

18 grooves   

n.沟( groove的名词复数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏

参考例句：

• Wheels leave grooves in a dirt road. 车轮在泥路上留下了凹痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sliding doors move in grooves. 滑动门在槽沟中移动。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 latching   

n.闭塞；闭锁；关闭；闭塞装置v.理解( latch的现在分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• They have a reputation for latching onto all the latest crazes. 大家都知道他们对所有的最新时尚都有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sometimes we should tolerate people's mistakes instead of latching on to them. 有的时候我们要能够容错，不要揪着对方的失误不放。 来自互联网