侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第90期:巨型肉食者的身份

 We now believe that Ceratosaurus may have been an ambush¹ predator².

我们现在相信角鼻龙可能是一种伏击掠食者。

Hunting in pairs would allow this meat eater to take on bigger game or to set up an ambush to capture smaller fast moving prey³.

成对狩猎可能让这个食肉者能对付更大的猎物，或者通过伏击来捕捉移动迅速的小猎物。

When we look at the brain structure and recognize that the optics centers of the brain are relatively⁴ modest in Ceratosaurus, suggest that vision was probably fairly important for this animal, but was not the key part of its pray capture behavior.

观察角鼻龙的脑部结构后我们发现大脑的光感中心并不太大，这表明虽然视力对这种动物来说可能相当重要，但并不是它捕猎行为的关键部分。

What we can suggest then is that Ceratosaurus probably was an ambush predator.

我们能推测的是，角鼻龙很可能是伏击掠食者。

Ceratosaurus's not really a one-on-one confrontational⁵ dinosaur⁶.

角鼻龙不是那种一对一对抗性的恐龙。

It would rely on ambush.

它依靠伏击。

It would either lie and wait or if it was hunting with a mate the mate would drive the prey to the hidden dinosaur.

它要么躲起来等待，要么是跟一个同伴一起捕猎由同伴将猎物赶向躲藏着的恐龙。

The size of its brain cavity shows that this dinosaur was not the most intelligent in the prehistoric⁷ world.

角鼻龙的颅腔大小表明它在史前世界不是最聪明。

When you look at the size of the brain and the brain cavity of Ceratosaurus and compare to its body size, we see that the brain is really quite a modest organ in this animal.

看看角鼻龙的大脑和颅腔的大小，再跟它的体型比较一下，我们能看出来大脑是这种动物不太重要的器官。

This was not a particularly clever animal.

这不是特别聪明的动物。

This was an animal that was relatively simple by our standards.

用我们的标准来看这是比较简单的动物。

It was sort of an earlier model meat eater there, and didn't have the more sophisticated brain that we see in all these contemporaries.

就像是一种较早的肉食者典型，并没有同一时期其它恐龙那么复杂的大脑。

So although it was pretty strong, it didn't have the claws, it didn't have the brains, and it also didn't have the size of some of the other giant meat eaters of its environment.

虽然它很强壮，但是它爪子并不厉害，头脑也不灵活，也没有它的环境里其他一些巨大的肉食者的体型。

The identity of one of those giant meat eaters was about to be revealed.

那些巨型肉食者之一的身份就要被揭开了。

There, only 20 meters from the spot where they found the Ceratosaurus, scientists uncovered another skeleton.

在那个采石场离发现角鼻龙的位置仅20米处，科学家们又发现了另一具骨架。

But this one was one of the most terrifying predators⁸ of the Jurassic, one that only deepened the mystery and made Ceratosaurus look like a lightweight.

这家伙可是侏罗纪最恐怖的掠食者之一，它的出现让谜团更为神秘而且它让角鼻龙看起来就像一个轻量级选手。

At this prehistoric feeding ground, multiple plant eating species were found and next to them, not one, but two meat eaters.

在这片史前的进食场地，人们发现了多种植食性恐龙，在它们旁边的不是一个，而是两个掠食者。

One is Ceratosaurus, a medium size predator with an unusual skull⁹ design.

一个是角鼻龙，一种头骨设计独特的中型掠食者。

The other was more than twice its size.

另一种比它的体型大两倍多。

It was the terror of the Jurassic - Allosaurus.

是侏罗纪的恶煞：异特龙。

It was without a doubt one of the most terrifying dinosaurs¹⁰ of late Jurassic.

它毫无疑问是侏罗纪晚期最恐怖的恐龙之一。

1 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 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。

8 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》

9 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。

10 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》