美国国家公共电台 NPR--Dinosaur tracks in Alaska may help scientists grapple with climate change

Dinosaur¹ tracks in Alaska may help scientists grapple with climate change

Transcript²

Paleontologists are studying dinosaur tracks at the base of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Their findings may have implications for climate science today.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Science tells us that dinosaurs³ may not have done well with climate change, but they may have something to teach us. Scientists in Alaska are studying dinosaur tracks from millions of years ago, hoping to learn ways that humans might better handle climate change. Emily Schwing reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF WAVES LAPPING)

EMILY SCHWING, BYLINE⁴: Paleontologist Tony Fiorillo stands over a chunk⁵ of damp sandstone along the remote coast of Alaska's Aniakchak Bay. It's at the base of the Aleutians, a chain of islands that extends west toward Russia and Japan.

TONY FIORILLO: There is a decided⁶ shape here.

SCHWING: The wind whips in our faces. Waves splash at our feet. We're here because Aniakchak's coastline is special. There are dinosaur footprints everywhere.

FIORILLO: Those toes - I think it's a theropod.

SCHWING: Theropods make up a group of dinosaurs that include tyrannosaurs. Over the last 20 years, only one other track like this has been found here. More than a hundred others belong to duck-billed, plant-eating dinosaurs called hadrosaurs, likely this tyrannosaur's prey⁷. There are also footprints from an armored dinosaur and an ancient bird-like species.

FIORILLO: And so there's something really interesting going on here that we still don't understand. It's like, why are there so many tracks in a relatively⁸ short stretch?

SCHWING: Fiorillo is the executive director of Albuquerque's Natural History Museum. He first discovered a track here back in 2002. Since 2016, he's returned nearly every year, along with friend and colleague Paul McCarthy from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

PAUL MCCARTHY: There's a whole story here of sea level fall and rise, warm climate.

SCHWING: McCarthy specializes in the ancient mud and sediment⁹ these dinosaurs walked through.

MCCARTHY: And it gives us some sense of, you know, what a warmer Earth is like, and we certainly are headed there.

SCHWING: Seventy-five million years ago, it was warmer, with a climate, much like modern-day Portland or Seattle. It snowed very little and rained a lot. Even so, the environment was still colder than an ancient giant reptile¹⁰ might prefer. But they thrived anyway.

(SOUNDBITE OF CRANE CALLING)

SCHWING: As a group of sandhill cranes soars overhead, Fiorillo and fellow paleontologist Yoshitsugu Kobayashi turn their gaze toward a round, grayish rock. It's the cast of the very spot a hadrosaur once set foot.

FIORILLO: Stand there and look at that one, and tell me if you see anything.

YOSHITSUGU KOBAYASHI: You see only two toes or three?

FIORILLO: I only see two.

KOBAYASHI: Very good.

SCHWING: Kobayashi takes photos from various angles.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAMERA SHUTTER)

SCHWING: He's a paleontology professor at Japan's Hokkaido University Museum. He'll use the photos to create a 3D image of the track. He says the fate of the dinosaurs offers valuable lessons in the face of modern-day climate change.

KOBAYASHI: People say that the dinosaur went extinct because of a long winter after impact - asteroid¹¹ impact.

SCHWING: Even before that impact, Alaska's dinosaurs were living through a long, dark and cold winter months.

KOBAYASHI: So I guess the bottom line is that we just don't want to be dinosaurs. And we just want - have to find out how we can cope with keeping the environment as long as we can for next generations.

SCHWING: Somehow, dinosaurs were able to adapt as their climate changed. Kobayashi and his colleagues believe the footprints on this beach hold clues for how humans might do the same.

For NPR News, I'm Emily Schwing at Aniakchak Bay.

(SOUNDBITE OF NELS CLINE'S "THE BED WE MADE")

1 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。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 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。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

10 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

11 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。