科学美国人60秒 SSS 有些恐龙可能曾在北极黄巢

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Emily Schwing.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是埃米莉·施温。

"Those vicious, predatory dinosaurs² that tended to be fairly small—six- to nine-, 10-feet-long, snout to tail—

“那些凶残的食肉恐龙往往体型相对较小，从鼻子到尾巴大概6到9或10英尺长，

they're certainly in the Jurassic Park movies, the things that terrorize people."

它们肯定是《侏罗纪公园》系列电影中那些让人恐惧的东西。”

Anthony Fiorillo, a paleontologist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Tex.

得州达拉斯南卫理公会大学的古生物学家安东尼·菲奥里洛说到。

For more than two decades now, Fiorillo has been digging up dinosaur¹ fossils hundreds of miles north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska.

20多年来，菲奥里洛一直在阿拉斯加北极圈以北数百英里处挖掘恐龙化石。

"So one of the fundamental questions about dinosaurs in Alaska, in the ancient Arctic,

“关于远古北极阿拉斯加恐龙的一个基本问题是：

is: Did they live there all year round? Did they migrate? How did they get there?"

它们全年都生活在那里吗？它们是否迁移？它们是如何到达那里的？”

A recent discovery sheds light on those questions.

最近的一项发现揭示了这些问题。

"This fossil that's the subject of this study is a baby dinosaur.

“这项研究的主题是一只恐龙宝宝的化石。

It's a baby predatory dinosaur, and it is a baby; it's not just a juvenile³.

这是一只食肉小恐龙，它是婴儿恐龙；不是幼年恐龙。

And given the size estimate of this thing, this probably was not far from where the nesting ground was,

考虑到这颗化石的大小，它可能离筑巢地不远，

so this is the first physical proof that at least some dinosaurs nested in the anciet Arctic."

因此这是首个实体证据，证明至少有一些恐龙在远古北极筑巢。”

Some of the first Arctic dinosaur remains⁴ ever found were discovered back in the 1960s in Svalbard, an archipelago north of mainland Norway.

早在上世纪60年代，挪威大陆北部的斯瓦尔巴特群岛就发现了首批北极恐龙遗骸。

Since then researchers have theorized that dinosaurs must have migrated to avoid deeply cold winters.

从那时起，研究人员就推测恐龙一定是为了躲避严寒的冬季而迁徙的。

But Fiorillo says this new discovery disproves that idea.

但菲奥里洛表示，这项新发现推翻了这个观点。

"Well, you know, the classic stereotype⁵ for dinosaurs is that—had been that—they were living in tropical and subtropical environments, sometimes somewhat swampy⁶.

“之前人们对恐龙的经典刻板印象是，它们生活在热带和亚热带环境中，有时环境中会有沼泽。

If you look at the various artworks over generations, that was quite often how these dinosaurs were reconstructed."

如果你观察历代各种艺术品，你会发现这些恐龙往往就是这样被重建的。”

In reality, the climate north of Alaska's Brooks⁷ Range 70 million years ago was similar to what we might see today in Portland, Ore., or Calgary, Alberta.

事实上，7000万年前阿拉斯加布鲁克斯山脉以北的气候，与我们今天在俄勒冈州波特兰或阿尔伯塔省卡尔加里看到的气候相似。

"Certainly a place where things were cooler or capable of being cool at times but certainly warmer than the Arctic today."

“当然，在那个地方，物体有时能保持凉爽或更冷，但肯定比今天的北极更温暖。”

The fossil find is a piece of jawbone, with a tooth, from a dromaeosaur.

这次发现的化石是带有一颗牙齿的奔龙颌骨。

Fiorillo and colleagues unearthed⁸ it along the banks of the Colville River, not too far from the Arctic Ocean.

菲奥里洛和同事在离北冰洋不太远的科尔维尔河岸挖出了这块化石。

The bone is the first nondental evidence of that species in the far north.

这块骨头是该物种在遥远北极的首个非牙齿证据。

The researchers report their discovery in the journal PLOS ONE.

研究人员在《公共科学图书馆·综合》期刊上报告了他们的发现。

Of course, questions remain:

当然，问题仍然存在：

"How did they do what they did?

“它们是如何做到的？

Because even with the warmer temperatures, at the latitude⁹ that these dinosaurs were living, which is at least 70 degrees north, if not even farther north,

因为即使在温度更高的情况下，在这些恐龙当时生活的纬度即至少北纬70度，如果不是更北的话，

how did they endure long periods of light and dark?"

它们是如何忍受长时间的光照和黑暗的？”

And that's where the research will go next.

这就是下一步研究的方向。

For now, Fiorillo says the new discovery proves that these giant reptiles¹⁰ were well adapted to the highly seasonal¹¹ environments of the Late Cretaceous

菲奥里洛表示，目前新发现证明这些巨型爬行动物很好地适应了白垩纪晚期的季节性环境，

that we still experience today in the Arctic.

而如今北极仍在经历这种环境。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Emily Schwing.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是埃米莉·施温。

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 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》

3 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

6 swampy   

adj.沼泽的，湿地的

参考例句：

• Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
• An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。

7 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

9 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

10 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》

11 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。