【英语时差8,16】侏罗记爬虫类动物如何起飞？

The Jurassic version of jumbo jets－huge flying creatures weighing hundreds of pounds－is a mystery of dinosaur-era flight: How did something so big get off the ground?

What people think of as "flying dinosaurs¹" didn't launch into the air like birds. They leapt into the air off all four legs, said Mike Habib, of the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Functional² Anatomy³ and Evolution.

The flying creatures are called pterosaurs. They were a group of flying reptiles⁴ that could weigh more than 500 pounds (225 kilograms) and have bus-sized wingspans. Last year, researchers tried to figure out how they got off the ground by looking at the largest bird now flying, the albatross.

But Habib said pterosaurs shouldn't be compared to birds because their body structures are completely different.

In birds, the hind⁵ legs were stronger than the front and in some pterosaurs the front legs were several times stronger than the hind ones.

"It's a lot like a leapfrog," Habib said. "[The pterosaurs] kind of pitch forward at first, the legs kick off first, then the arms take off."

That allowed some of the ancient giants to get into the air in less than a second.

The ancient flier "accelerates more like a Porsche and less like a Volkswagen," Habib said. "That's really handy if you live in a world filled with tyrannosaurs, which it did."

1 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》

2 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

3 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

4 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。