侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第89期:史前怪物曾统治过地球

 Ceratosaurus, although a pretty nasty predator¹, was not really suited for taking on adult size Stegosaurus or those long-necked sauropods found at the site.

角鼻龙，虽然是很凶残的掠食者，但肯定不适合攻击在石场发现的成年剑龙或是那种长颈的蜥脚类恐龙。

Certainly it could scavenge off the bodies if they were really dead.

当然它们死后角鼻龙也许会吃掉尸体。

But most of the teeth marks in the bone are much wider than the teeth of a Ceratosaurus and they went much deeper into the bones than I think a Ceratosaurus could've bitten.

但是骨头上的多数牙印要比角鼻龙的宽很多，而且骨头上的痕迹也比我认为角鼻龙能咬得要深得多。

So there is no way Ceratosaurus was the predator that left the majority of these teeth marks.

所以角鼻龙绝不是那个留下大部分牙印的掠食者。

Ceratosaurus may not have been capable of biting through bone, but there's no doubt that it was a successful predator that killed at will.

角鼻龙可能没法咬穿骨头，但是它毫无疑问是成功的掠食者。

Its remains² have been found around the world which is unusual.

它的遗骸在全世界都被找到这一点很不寻常。

This prehistoric³ monster literally⁴ dominated the earth.

这种史前怪物的的确确统治过地球。

We know it lived in western North America, but recent discoveries have shown it also lived in Europe, in Portugal and Spain.

我们知道它生活在北美西部，但最近的发现表明它也生活在欧洲、葡萄牙和西班牙。

Post relatives of it lived in South America and there's even trace that it might've even lived in Africa.

它后来的亲戚还在南美生活过还有痕迹表明它可能在非洲生活过。

So, sort of wide ranging dinosaur⁵.

真是分布广泛的恐龙。

Ceratosaurus's maybe found all around the world, but it's still a very rare dinosaur to come across.

角鼻龙可能在全世界都有分布，但是也还是一种很少能碰到的恐龙。

Trying to decipher what had happened here, paleontologists have to consider the question:

要想破译这里发生过什么，古生物学家们就得考虑下面这一问题：

"Did these dinosaurs⁶ hunt in packs?"

“这些恐龙是否成群猎食？”

There's no real evidence yet that it lived together in groups.

现在没有实物的证据表明它们成群生活在一起。

But these horns tell us something. These horns, they are not for attack.

但是这些角能说明一些问题。这些角，它们不是用来攻击的。

They are for display.

它们是用来展示的。

And if you've got a display structure, that means, at least on occasion, you get together and you show off to each other.

要是你身体某部分是用来展示的，那意味着，起码偶尔，你们会聚在一起对彼此炫耀。

"See, look at me. I've got the biggest horn."

“看呐，看我，我的角最大”

So at least some of the time, these guys got together in groups.

所以这些家伙起码会偶尔聚在一起。

When you look at the moderate size of a Ceratosaurus and then you compare that to the enormous sizes of the herbivores that lived with it, I can only draw one conclusion and that is these predators⁷ needed to hunt cooperatively in groups.

看到角鼻龙中等大小的体型再跟同样在那里生活的庞大食草恐龙相比，我只能得出的一个结论就是这些掠食者需要成群合作狩猎。

There's just no way they could take down large herbivores by themselves.

它们自己肯定没法干掉那么大的食草恐龙。

The fact that so few had been found makes it hard to say with certainty that they hunt in groups, but I have no problem believing that they did simply from a survival state of point.

找到的东西很少的这个事实让人无法肯定地说他们成群狩猎，不过从生存的角度看我觉得这样非常可信。

To further understand, CAT scans were conducted on the skull⁸ of Ceratosaurus.

为了进一步了解，对角鼻龙的头骨进行了CAT扫描。

The results were intriguing⁹.

结果很有趣。

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 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。

6 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》

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》