侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第94期:最孤独的掠食者

 　　In 2007, paleontologists of Manchester University made a breakthrough discovery.

　　在2007年，曼彻斯特大学的古生物学家们取得了一项突破性的发现。

　　By studying the leg bones, musculature and mechanics behind them, they were able to put Allosaurus's top speed at 21 mile per hour, fast for a large predator¹.

　　通过研究异特龙的腿骨，及其后的肌肉系统和机械原理，它们能使异特龙的最快时速达到21英里每小时，对于大型掠食者来说很快了。

　　Allosaurus's build for high speed locomotion².

　　异特龙身体构造适合高速移动。

　　The animal could propel himself along fairly efficiently³, very good lever system for moving himself, powerful leg muscles pulling back to power him along.

　　这个动物能用相当有效地，非常好的杠杆系统驱动自己来使自己移动，强劲的腿部肌肉收缩来使他快速前进。

　　Fast, powerful with deadly adaptations.

　　快速、有力还有致命的适应性的改变。

　　Allosaurus became the ultimate predator of the Jurassic period.

　　异特龙成为了侏罗纪时期的终极掠食者。

　　So was this the dinosaur⁴ responsible for the gash⁵ marks on the bones found at the Colorado site?

　　那么在科罗拉多石场找到的骨头上的沟痕元凶是不是就是这种恐龙呢？

　　When you look at a lot of bones and Jurassic quarries⁶ of this age, you really see some amazing gouge⁷ and bite marks, and some of these gouge marks on the bones get, you know, close to an inch wide and almost as deep.

　　当你观察大量的骨头和这一时期的侏罗纪采石场时你会发现一些奇特的凿痕和咬痕，而且这些骨头上的一些凿痕，可达一英寸宽而且差不多同样深。

　　And these were all caused by Allosaurus who were no doubt eating these carcasses.

　　这些都是异特龙的杰作，毫无疑问，它在吃这些尸体。

　　Just really amazing to kind of imagine the power and the size of the animal that could leave these gouges⁸ on these large bones.

　　光想象这动物得有多大的力气和个头才能在这么大的骨头上留下这些痕迹就很神奇。

　　The bite marks on the bones found at the Colorado quarry⁹ were the same size and shape as teeth of Allosaurus.

　　在科罗拉多石场发现的骨头上的咬痕大小和形状跟异特龙的相符。

　　And the deep gashes¹⁰ in them were similar to the shape of claws of this dinosaur as well.

　　它们里面那些深深的沟痕也跟这种恐龙的爪子形状相似。

　　And since the skeleton of an Allosaurus was found in the quarry, there was little doubt that this dinosaur was responsible for those bone injuries.

　　既然石场里也发现了一具异特龙骨架，这个恐龙引起了那些骨伤已经没什么好怀疑的了。

　　It was a vital piece of the puzzle.

　　它是拼图的极其重要一块。

　　This was an Allosaurus killing¹¹ ground.

　　这里曾是异特龙的杀戮场。

　　But if so, why had at least one Ceratosaurus encroached in its territory.

　　但是要是如此，为什么起码有一只角鼻龙侵犯了它的领地呢？

　　The experts came up with a high hypothetical scenario¹² to explain what could have happened here.

　　专家们为了解释这里发生了什么构建了一个高度假想的场景。

　　We have a number of fossil sites that prove that Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus share the same environment.

　　我们有很多化石场能证明异特龙和角鼻龙在同一环境下生活。

　　The most famous is the Cleveland Quarry in Utah where the skeleton of a Ceratosaurus was found mixed among those of Allosaurus.

　　最有名的是犹他州克利夫兰石场，在那些异特龙的骨架里找到了一具角鼻龙的骨架。

　　So I have no doubt that these two predators¹³ came in contact with each other and competed for the same resources.

　　所以我确信这两种掠食者相互接触且为了同样的资源而竞争。

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 locomotion   

n.运动，移动

参考例句：

• By land,air or sea,birds are masters of locomotion.无论是通过陆地，飞越空中还是穿过海洋，鸟应算是运动能手了。
• Food sources also elicit oriented locomotion and recognition behavior patterns in most insects.食物源也引诱大多数昆虫定向迁移和识别行为。

3 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

4 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。

5 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。

6 quarries   

n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石

参考例句：

• This window was filled with old painted glass in quarries. 这窗户是由旧日的彩色菱形玻璃装配的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They hewed out the stones for the building from nearby quarries. 他们从邻近的采石场开凿出石头供建造那栋房子用。 来自辞典例句

7 gouge   

v.凿；挖出；n.半圆凿；凿孔；欺诈

参考例句：

• To make a Halloween lantern,you first have to gouge out the inside of the pumpkin.要做一个万圣节灯笼，你先得挖空这个南瓜。
• In the Middle Ages,a favourite punishment was to gouge out a prisoner's eyes.在中世纪，惩罚犯人最常用的办法是剜眼睛。

8 gouges   

n.凿( gouge的名词复数 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…v.凿( gouge的第三人称单数 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• Clegg and Rollins indicate that nonwrinkleresistant cotton fibers often exhibIt'surface gouges and fibrillation. 克莱格和罗林斯指出，未经防皱处理的棉纤维表面，通常有凿槽和微纤化现象发生。 来自辞典例句
• She didn't mind that we banged into the walls and put gouges in the door jambs. 她一点也不介意我们撞坏墙或是把门框碰出小坑来。 来自互联网

9 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

10 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

11 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。

12 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

13 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》