纪录片《侏罗纪之谜》 第25期 重要的发现

He had found a single jawbone and it was from a mid-Jurassic mammal.

他找到了一块颚骨，它属于一种中侏罗世哺乳动物

It's just what you dream for. We were very happy in the field,

这是我梦想的时刻。在场的人都非常高兴

but of course once we got back to lab

我们后来把它带回到实验室

and we, after a month of very careful and painful preparation of the specimen²

经过整整一个月小心翼翼的标本准备工作

we realised how unique this was, that was something beyond our dreams. It was so good.

我们意识到它非常特别，有些东西出乎我们的预料。这实在太棒了

What he could do now was compare his mid-Jurassic mammal with ones from the Northern Hemisphere.

现在他要做的就是把这只中侏罗世哺乳动物和北半球的那些进行比较

If he could find any significant differences between the fossils, it could be a sign of vicariance.

如果他能找到这些化石间的重要区别，那么地理分隔就有了证据

When he compared them, it was clear that

他比较后发现，

the South American mammal was a very similar type of creature to those in the north,

南美洲的哺乳动物显然和北方的那些动物非常相似

but when Dr Rougier looked at the jawbones more closely, he spotted³ something.

可是当Rougier博士更仔细地研究颚骨时，他有了一些发现。

This is the southern jaw¹ and we can see that there is a groove⁴ right here on the back of the jaw.

这是南美洲的颚骨，我们可以看到在颚骨后面的这个部位有一个凹槽

The South American fossil had a tiny groove.

南美洲的化石有一个小凹槽

It wasn't much, but to Dr Rougier it was vital

它很不起眼，但是Rougier博士认为这就是关键，

because fossils from the Northern Hemisphere don't have that groove.

因为北半球的那些化石都没有这个凹槽

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 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。

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 groove   

n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯

参考例句：

• They're happy to stay in the same old groove.他们乐于墨守成规。
• The cupboard door slides open along the groove.食橱门沿槽移开。