纪录片《侏罗纪之谜》 第23期 大西洋的形成

And scientists realised there was a barrier that was beginning to form at exactly the right time,

科学家们意识到那道屏障正好也在当时开始形成

something else that was created as the super-continent split apart: the Atlantic Ocean.

超大陆的分裂还创造了别的东西：大西洋

In the mid-Jurassic the new ocean flooded in,

中侏罗世诞生了一片新的大洋

cutting present day North America off from South America.

隔开了今天的北美洲和南美洲

Because of the oceans, animals would have been isolated¹ on the newly formed continents

因为有了海洋，动物被隔离在新生大陆上

allowing them to evolve separately and creating many new types of dinosaur².

使得它们独自进化成许多种新的恐龙

It's a process scientists call vicariance, but vicariance is very difficult to prove.

科学家们称这一过程为地理分隔，但是地理分隔很难得到证明

Up until now it's been very difficult to demonstrate the connection between vicariance and dinosaur diversity in the middle Jurassic.

直到现在我们都很难证明地理分隔和中侏罗世恐龙多样性之间的联系

We have lacked any site that has sufficient high resolution to show us any connection between these processes.

我们还没能找到一个地方能充分说明这些过程之间的关系

But that was before Argentina.

但这只是在阿根廷这次发现之前

The first clues about vicariance came from something surprising,

第一条地理分隔的线索来自一个令人吃惊的发现

a discovery that seemed to have nothing to do with dinosaurs³.

这一发现似乎与恐龙没有任何关系。

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

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》