侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第9期:玛君龙与鸟类的关系

 　　One maybe heavier than the other, for example, the other maybe more lightly built or gracile,比如说一种比另外一种重，而另一种体态更小或更纤细，or maybe that they have a difference in crest¹ on top of the head,或者可能在头上有不同的冠饰，

　　or the bump on the top of the head in the case of Majungasaurus.

　　或是像玛君龙那样头上有隆起。

　　Unfortunately, for Majungasaurus and most theropod dinosaurs², we don't have a lot of specimens³ to work with.

　　很遗憾的是对于玛君龙和多数兽脚类恐龙来说我们都没有很多标本。

　　But over the past two decades, numerous fossil discoveries, including feathered dinosaurs,但是过去20年来包括带羽毛的恐龙在内的众多恐龙化石的出土have proven a relationship between birds and predatory dinosaurs.

　　已经证明鸟类和掠食类恐龙之间的亲缘关系。

　　From this fossil evidence, paleontologists believe that, like the male birds,通过这些化石证据，古生物学家们相信雄性玛君龙会像雄鸟the male Majungasaurus would've been more brightly colored and adorned⁴ than the female.

　　一样比雌鸟颜色更加鲜艳，也有更多装饰。

　　In order to understand things like color and behavior of prehistoric⁵ life, we have to look to modern life to give us those clues.

　　为了能了解史前生命的颜色和行为，我们得在现代生物中寻找线索。

　　Well, Majungasaurus and birds are related.

　　玛君龙和鸟类有亲缘关系。

　　We know that, the evidence is very clear.

　　我们知道这一点，证据很清晰。

　　And birds, the males have a much brighter color pattern.

　　鸟类中的雄性颜色要鲜艳得多。

　　Male birds also have strange ornamentation on their skull⁶.

　　雄鸟头上也有奇异的装饰。

　　Look at a guinea fowl⁷ and look at a turkey, you'll find that the females' skulls⁸ are relatively⁹ plain看看珍珠鸡和火鸡，你会发现雌性的头上相对比较平淡，and the males' skulls are very bright and a lot of these flashy appendages¹⁰ that make them attractive.

　　雄性的头部就很鲜艳，还有很多华丽的附属物让它们更有吸引力。

　　One thing we can sort of suggest is that animals that clearly have visual display organs, thing on their body, is that they probably use them.

　　我们大概能够推断这种动物有明显的视觉展示器官，是它们身体的一部分，而且很可能会用到它们。

　　It's very reasonable to suggest that these different structures that we see on the skull of Majungasaurus我们可以合理地推断出我们在玛君龙甚至其它掠食性恐龙的头上or even other kinds of predatory dinosaurs are in fact the kinds of features that would be used in courtship displays among these different animals.

　　看到的这些不同的结构其实是这些不同动物在进行求偶展示时表现的特征。

　　Along with skin color, ornamentation of their skulls and their body sizes, there was another clear different between the sexes.

　　除了皮肤颜色头部装饰和体型大小之外，两性之间还有一个明显区别。

　　The female was much more aggressive when defending her young cub¹¹.

　　雌性在保护幼崽时攻击性要强得多。

　　It's a vital piece of information.

　　这是一条极为重要的信息。

 

1 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

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 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

5 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

6 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

7 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

8 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

9 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

10 appendages   

n.附属物( appendage的名词复数 )；依附的人；附属器官；附属肢体（如臂、腿、尾等）

参考例句：

• The 11th segment carries a pair of segmented appendages, the cerci. 第十一节有一对分节的附肢，即尾须。 来自辞典例句
• Paired appendages, with one on each side of the body, are common in many animals. 很多动物身上有成对的附肢，一侧一个，这是很普遍的现象。 来自辞典例句

11 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。