侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第71期:恐龙巨大的咬合力

 　　As investigators¹ studied the large serrated teeth of the giant shark, they discovered the massive power of its bite - a force of 20 tons.

　　在调查者研究这些巨鲨的大型锯齿状牙齿时，他们发现了它巨大的咬合力可达二十吨。

　　That's enough to slice through flesh, and 15-million-year-old evidence proves that they could bite through the bone of a giant whale rather easily.

　　那足以切开肉体，而且那些一千五百万年前的证据证明它们能够相当轻松地咬穿巨鲸的骨头。

　　So we go out and look at whale fossils.

　　我们前去观察鲸的化石。

　　What we find is they frequently have bite marks on them.

　　我们发现的是上面经常有咬痕。

　　If we look at this side almost look like someone has attacked this bone with an axe², there are very deep incisions³.

　　要是我们看这面，看上去就像有谁用斧子砍过这块骨头似的，上面有非常深的切口。

　　There's no other animal around that time took big bite marks like that.

　　在那一时期附近没有别的动物能够留下那样大的咬痕。

　　This Megalodon attacked with such ferocity, not only did it break through flesh, its teeth left gashes⁴ embedded⁵ in bone, bones deep inside the whale, not close to its skin.

　　这条巨齿鲨攻击得如此凶残，不仅咬穿了鲸肉而且在骨头上留下了沟痕，还不是靠近皮肤的骨头，而是鲸体内深处的骨头。

　　But sharks don't have bones, so estimating Megalodon's size and shape is done another way.

　　然而鲨鱼没有骨头，所以要估算巨齿鲨的体型大小和形状就得另觅他法。

　　Many of the sharks, do get bony cartilage vertebrae which do in fact fossilize which is contrary to common belief.

　　很多鲨鱼的确会有能够形成化石的骨化的硬质脊椎，这跟一般人所认为的相反。

　　And we can actually measure the length of the animals.

　　而且我们真的能够测量这种动物的长度。

　　We can see where their tail was and, we know, how big they were.

　　我们能看到它们的尾部在哪里，而且我们也能知道它们有多大。

　　Prehistoric⁶ shark vertebrae are rare.

　　史前鲨鱼脊椎骨很稀少。

　　But the teeth of Megalodon speak volumes.

　　不过巨齿鲨的牙齿意义重大。

　　The teeth tell us a lot.

　　这些牙齿能透露很多东西。

　　They compare to what a great white's teeth look like shaped the same way.

　　它们和大白鲨牙齿看起来相仿，形状一样。

　　And basically what we calculate is about 10 feet of Megalodon for every inch of tooth,基本上我们的计算是每1英寸的牙齿对应10英尺的巨齿鲨，so if you're looking at a 6 to 7 inch tooth you're looking at a 60 to 70 foot Megalodon.

　　所以要是你在看一颗6-7英寸的牙齿则你看着的就是60-70英尺的巨齿鲨。

　　Megalodon was so massive, it could eat a T-Rex and was more than capable of taking on any prey⁷ in the sea.

　　巨齿鲨体型硕大，能够吃下霸王龙，对付海里的任何猎物都不在话下。

　　Whales, seals, even members of its own family.

　　鲸、海豹甚至是它自己的家族成员。

　　Fossil evidence would prove that these sharks roamed every ocean on earth.

　　化石证据证明这些巨鲨在地球的每个大洋里游弋。

　　Whale bones with bite marks in them are worldwide in distribution.

　　带着咬痕的鲸骨分布于世界各地。

　　Almost anywhere you find a collection of whale bones you're going to find Megalodon bite marks if you're in the sediments⁸ of the correct age.

　　几乎在任何你找到大量鲸骨的地方，你都能发现巨齿鲨的咬痕，只要你在对的年代的沉积层。

　　And suggests that Megalodon really was a major predator⁹ of whales worldwide during this time.

　　这表明巨齿鲨的确是这个时期地球上鲸的主要掠食者。

　　The specific location of the Meg's remains¹⁰ tells us something else.

　　巨齿鲨化石的具体地点还能说明一些别的。

　　That they stayed close to their victims.

　　那就是它们离它们的受害者很近。

 

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

3 incisions   

n.切开，切口( incision的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cruciate incisions heal poorly and are not required. 不需要愈合差的十字形切口。 来自辞典例句
• After two days red incisions appear on their bodies. 一两天内身体会出现粉红色的损伤。 来自电影对白

4 gashes   

n.深长的切口（或伤口）( gash的名词复数 )v.划伤，割破( gash的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The classmates' hearts ached for him and they begged him to wear gloves to prevent any more gashes. 同学们都心疼他，劝他干活时戴上手套，免得再弄破手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He stripped himself, and I counted twenty-seven separate scars and gashes. 他脱去衣服，我在他身上数出了二十七处瘢痕和深深的伤口。 来自辞典例句

5 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

6 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。

7 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。

8 sediments   

沉淀物( sediment的名词复数 )； 沉积物

参考例句：

• When deposited, 70-80% of the volume of muddy sediments may be water. 泥质沉积物沉积后，体积的70-80％是水。
• Oligocene erosion had truncated the sediments draped over the dome. 覆盖于穹丘上的沉积岩为渐新世侵蚀所截削。

9 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。

10 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。