纪录片《恐龙的战争》 完美捕食（14）

Keeping this predator¹ airborne at altitudes as high as 10,000 feet

将庞大的身躯保持在一万英尺的高空

requires a 12-meter wingspan, an accurate guidance system, and near-perfect eyesight.

需要12米的翼展精确的导航系统和超常的视力。

What we see is an enlarged eyeball, an enlarged eye socket², and the processing centers of the brain,

我们看到的是巨大的眼球和眼窝大脑的运算中心，

the optic lobes³, were also very much expanded.

视叶也都是非常庞大的。

Its four-inch retina is packed with over a billion light receptors and registers

四英寸大的视网膜布满过十亿个光束接收器和记录器，

as much as four times the detail of the human eye.

是人眼精细程度的四倍。

A Quetzalcoatlus can also see a spectrum⁴ of light invisible to humans...ultraviolet.

风神翼龙也能看到人类看不到的光紫外线。

The urine of their prey⁵ absorbs U.V. rays and then reflects them back.

猎物的尿液会吸收并反射紫外线。

This creates a lighted trail leading straight to their quarry⁶.

风神翼龙依靠这些光线直接追踪到猎物。

These animals had very highly developed gaze stabilization⁷ mechanisms⁸,

它们拥有高度发达的凝视稳定机制，

allowing to keep their target fixed⁹ and in focus, within the cross hairs, if you will, as they were moving through space.

使它们在飞行过程中能精准地将目标锁定在它们的十字准线之内。

The secret to gaze stabilization is hidden in the inner ear.

如此稳定的凝视能力，其奥秘在于它的内耳。

Three interconnected tubes form what are called semicircular canals.

三个互相连通的软管构成内耳半规管。

Fluid fills each canal, and small hairs detect the tiniest movement.

每个半规管中都充满液体细小的绒毛，可感应到极微弱的变动。

As a Quetzalcoatlus' head moves during flight, signals are sent directly to the eye muscles.

风神翼龙在飞行中转动头部时眼部肌肉直接接收信号。

The eyeballs adjust, keeping an image fixed and perfectly¹⁰ in focus.

眼球迅速调整继续精准地盯住猎物。

From 300 meters in the air, a Quetzalcoatlus can pick out a T. Rex nest and even count the number of chicks.

在300米的高空中风神翼龙就能找出雷克斯霸王龙的巢穴甚至数清有几只幼龙。

I think that a big pterosaur on the ground would've been spooky because they would be moving around on all fours.

翼龙在地面上看起来一定很吓人。因为它们用四肢行走。

They'd probably have those sort of quick, precise movements like birds, but they'd be huge.

它们像鸟类一般行动迅速而灵敏，但体型却比鸟类庞大。

1 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。

2 socket   

n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口

参考例句：

• He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
• The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

3 lobes   

n.耳垂( lobe的名词复数 )；（器官的）叶；肺叶；脑叶

参考例句：

• The rotor has recesses in its three faces between the lobes. 转子在其凸角之间的三个面上有凹槽。 来自辞典例句
• The chalazal parts of the endosperm containing free nuclei forms several lobes. 包含游离核的合点端胚乳部分形成几个裂片。 来自辞典例句

4 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

5 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。

6 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

7 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

8 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。