纪录片《巨龙的奥秘》 第21期 掠食动物陷阱

But Currie felt he had an answer to this. These tyrannosaurs were rare dinosaurs¹.

不过Currie觉得他能解释这个问题。这些暴龙是比较稀少的恐龙

They would have made up only five per cent of the animal life in this area.

它们只占到了这片地区动物数量的5％

The chances that 12 unrelated tyrannosaurs died separately and were washed together to this spot were minute.

12只暴龙分别死去，然后又被洪水冲到一起的几率微乎其微

To find 12 tyrannosaurs by chance, at this level, in this bone bed.

12只暴龙碰巧一起被埋在这个地层、这个化石场中

The chances of that happening are about one in 64 million.

这种事件的发生几率只有1/64000000

It really isn't very likely that it's going to happen by chance.

所以这种事几乎不可能碰巧发生

But there could be an even more dramatic reason why the bones of Currie's tyrannosaurs were all in one place.

不过还有一种更戏剧性的解释能说明Currie发现的暴龙骨骼为何会被埋在同一个地方

They could all have been caught in a predator² trap. This is a predator trap.

它们可能一起落入了掠食动物陷阱。这就是掠食动物陷阱

In this strange swamp-like place, molten tar³ has bubbled up from deep within the Earth for tens of thousands of years.

在这片沼泽般的诡异地带，熔化的焦油数万年来不断从地底深处喷涌而出

The sticky tar is lethal⁴ to any animal that wanders into it.

粘稠的焦油对于任何失足的动物来说都是致命的

Within seconds, the creature will become stuck, and then its fate is sealed.

几秒钟内，动物可能就被吞没，它的命运也随之封存

Predator traps have been found all around the world. This one is in downtown Los Angeles.

掠食动物陷阱遍布全世界各地。这个位于洛杉矶市区内

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 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

3 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

4 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。