侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第77期:动物直觉世代不会改变

 　　The Brygmophyseter was not without a weakness.

　　四贺鲸不是没有缺点。

　　Unlike Megalodon, it was unable to re-grow lost teeth.

　　它不像巨齿鲨，它无法长出掉落了的牙齿。

　　It did, however, have another weapon at its disposal.

　　但是，它还有另外一种武器任其支配。

　　It could use its head as a powerful battering¹ ram².

　　它能把头部当成有力的攻城锤。

　　Ramming³ would be useful.

　　撞击会很有用。

　　It really wouldn't damage the shark much unless you were to ram the gills or the eyes or something like that.

　　这不会对鲨鱼造成太大损伤除非撞到其腮部或是眼睛之类的地方。

　　But more importantly, it would be a distraction⁴.

　　不过更重要的是这会是种干扰。

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　　Because an attacking predator⁵ has to focus on its prey⁶ and can't really be distracted.

　　因为攻击中的掠食者必须对猎物全神贯注不能有所分心。

　　Anything that would start distracting it from its task at hand of attacking this one individual or consuming this one individual would tend to divert it from being successful.

　　任何会使它从手边的攻击或者吃这个个体的任务中分心的事，都可能会让它功亏一篑。

　　Led by a dominant⁷ bull, the Brygmophyseters would travel in pods of 6 or 7 to aid in mutual⁸ defense⁹.

　　四贺鲸由一头成年雄性带领，以六到七头为一群进行旅行这样有利于多方防御。

　　I think this is definitely something we should expect happened, is that whales would defend their family members against,我认为这绝对是我们会期待发生的事情，鲸会保护其家庭成员，not only sharks, but other kinds of large marine¹⁰ vertebrates, other kinds of whales.

　　不仅对抗鲨鱼，也包括其它大型海洋脊椎动物其它类型的鲸。

　　I'm sure they were predatory killer¹¹ whale like things around as well.

　　我确定它们也是掠食者和周围虎鲸似的东西一样。

　　To better understand the behavior of the Meg and the biting sperm¹² whale, creatures that lived 15 million years ago, scientists looked to their modern relatives for clues.

　　为了更好地理解这些在一千五百万年前生活的生物，明白巨齿鲨和噬抹香鲸的行为，科学家们通过观察它们现代亲戚来寻找线索。

　　Animal instinct does not change through generations.

　　动物直觉世世代代都不会改变。

　　One of the basic precepts¹³ of paleontology is the present is the key to the past.

　　古生物学的一个基本方面就是现在是了解过去的关键。

　　We must use the modern animals' anatomy¹⁴, coloring, behavior and all that to interpret the fossils.

　　我们必须要用现代动物的解剖、色彩、行为这些信息来诠释化石。

　　If we don't, we have no basis to go on.

　　如果不这么做，就没有任何前提。

　　And so I think this is why we're seeing some very nice reconstruction¹⁵ of extinct animals these days.

　　我觉得这也是为什么我们现在看见了一些非常完美的已灭绝动物的重建。

　　But always looking at something today which is either related to or analogous¹⁶ to the animal we're looking at in the fossil record.

　　但总是要观察与我们所研究的化石记录相关或相近的现代动物。

　　The biting sperm whale traveled the prehistoric¹⁷ seas in family packs.

　　噬抹香鲸家族成群游弋在史前的海洋。

　　Few creatures were large enough to take on these killing¹⁸ whales.

　　没有多少生物大到能攻击这些鲸中杀手。

　　But thousands of bitten whale bones found throughout the world proved that one fish saw them as a food source, Megalodon.

　　不过在全世界范围内发现的被咬过的鲸骨，证明有一种鱼类以之为食，巨齿鲨。

 

1 battering   

n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The film took a battering from critics in the US. 该影片在美国遭遇到批评家的猛烈抨击。
• He kept battering away at the door. 他接连不断地砸门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

3 ramming   

n.打结炉底v.夯实（土等）( ram的现在分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• They are ramming earth down. 他们在夯实泥土。 来自辞典例句
• Father keeps ramming it down my throat that I should become a doctor. 父亲一直逼我当医生。 来自辞典例句

4 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

5 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。

6 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。

7 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

8 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

12 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

13 precepts   

n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They accept the Prophet's precepts but reject some of his strictures. 他们接受先知的教训，但拒绝他的种种约束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The legal philosopher's concern is to ascertain the true nature of all the precepts and norms. 法哲学家的兴趣在于探寻所有规范和准则的性质。 来自辞典例句

14 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

15 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

16 analogous   

adj.相似的；类似的

参考例句：

• The two situations are roughly analogous.两种情況大致相似。
• The company is in a position closely analogous to that of its main rival.该公司与主要竞争对手的处境极为相似。

17 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。

18 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。