纪录片《侏罗纪之谜》 第29期 骨骼测量

And so Oliver went to work.

于是Oliver开始研究

He systematically¹ examined the fossil

他系统地检测了化石

looking for even the tiniest differences to dinosaurs³ in the north.

寻找与北方恐龙的任何一点微小差别

He made many measurements of the bones.

他进行了大量骨骼测量工作

Then he used a computer programme to compare them to other fossils from the Northern Hemisphere and at last he found something.

然后用计算机程序将它们与北半球化石进行比较，最后，他终于有了发现

It was to do with the upper leg bone, the femur.

它是在大腿骨上，也就是股骨 

Oliver saw the radioactive dinosaur² had a distinctive⁴ bulge⁵ near the top of the femur,

Oliver发现放射性的恐龙股骨顶部有一个特别的隆起

but when he examined femurs from the Northern Hemisphere, there was no bulge.

而当它分析北半球恐龙的股骨时，却没有这个隆起。

It was exactly the kind of tiny anatomical difference he'd been looking for.

这就是他一直苦苦寻找的微小的解剖学差异

So what the analysis of this animal tells us is that obviously the continental⁶ break up

这些动物的分析结果表明陆地分离显然

really had a profound impact on the diversification⁷ of the dinosaurs. It was a clear sign.

对恐龙的多样化有着深远的影响。这是一个明显的证据。

Dinosaurs in the south were beginning to evolve separately to those in the north.

南北方恐龙分别开始独自进化

It was vicariance in action.

这就是地理分隔的作用。

1 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

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 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

5 bulge   

n.突出，膨胀，激增；vt.突出，膨胀

参考例句：

• The apple made a bulge in his pocket.苹果把他口袋塞得鼓了起来。
• What's that awkward bulge in your pocket?你口袋里那块鼓鼓囊囊的东西是什么？

6 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

7 diversification   

n.变化，多样化；多种经营

参考例句：

• The seminar was to discuss diversification of agriculture. 该研讨会讨论的是农业多种经营。 来自辞典例句
• Firm diversification is increasingly achieved by the means of takeover and merger. 通过接管和兼并，厂商经营范围日益多样化。 来自辞典例句