侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第165期:灭绝是进化的正常结果

 　　It exploded with the force of a million nuclear bombs and unleashed¹ the power of the sun.

　　它爆炸的威力相当于一百万枚核弹，释放出太阳的能量。

　　It set alight the entire biomass of earth and cooked the atmosphere.

　　它点燃了地球上全部的生物量，烘烤着大气层。

　　What was once a vibrant² planet became a wasteland where billions of life forms were vaporized and turned into ash.

　　原本活力十足的星球变成了一片荒原，数十亿生命被蒸发变成了灰烬。

　　The final days, hours and minutes of the dinosaurs³.

　　这就是恐龙的最后时刻。

　　Our planet's first mass extinction⁴.

　　我们星球上的首次大灭绝。

　　They were the Earth's largest animals.

　　它们曾是地球上最大的动物。

　　New technology and forensic⁵ evidence helps paleontologists bring to life some of their final moments.

　　新的科技和现场证据如今帮助古生物学家们重现了它们生命中的最后时刻。

　　Four and a half billion years ago. The first life forms appeared.

　　四十五亿年前。最早的生命形式出现了。

　　They've engaged in a battle for survival ever since, combating new predators⁶, and environmental catastrophes⁷.

　　从那时开始，它们就为了生存不断地斗争着，对抗新的掠食者和环境性的灾难。

　　While many were able to adapt, most species failed and were lost from existence.

　　很多物种能够适应的同时，多数物种失败了最终在灭绝中湮没。

　　Planet earth has faced 5 such extinctions.

　　行星地球面临过五次这样的灭绝。

　　When we look at the history of life, we see that there are many, many extinction events throughout the last four and a half billion years, that is, throughout the history of the earth.

　　当我们在回顾生命的历史时，我们发现在过去的四十五亿年里，即在地球历史上，有过很多很多灭绝事件。

　　The one with the dinosaurs, 65 and a half million years ago was a big extinction, but that wasn't even the biggest.

　　在六千五百万年前恐龙的灭绝是一次大灭绝，不过它并非最大的一次。

　　There have been many that have been far worse.

　　有过多次比这严重得多的大灭绝。

　　Every once in a while, there's some really, really major events, what we call mass extinctions, where we lose lots of different species of many different ecological⁸ types.

　　每隔一段时间，就会有一些这样真正的大事件，我们称作大规模灭绝，地球失去过许多不同生态类型里的很多不同物种。

　　Plants, animals, predators, herbivores, sea animals, land animals.

　　植物、动物、掠食者、植食动物、海洋动物、陆生动物。

　　Extinction is the normal outcome of evolution.

　　灭绝是进化的正常结果。

　　The fact of the matter is over 99% of all the organisms that have ever lived are extinct.

　　实际上情况是所有曾经生活过的生物中，百分之九十九以上都已经灭绝。

　　So it isn't unusual to become extinct, it's actually normal.

　　所以走向灭绝没什么不寻常的，这是正常情况。

　　But there are certain periods in which there's more extinction than usual.

　　不过有些特定时期会有比比平常更多的灭绝现象。

　　We call these mass extinctions.

　　我们称之为大灭绝。

　　Mass extinctions is gonna cover over an extended period, or they can happen in the blink of an eye.

　　大灭绝可能会持续一段时间也可能在眨眼间发生。

　　These mass extinction events can be seen in the fossil record.

　　这些大灭绝事件能从化石记录中看出来。

　　You'll find the fossil remains⁹ of thousands of life forms in one layer of dirt, and then none of those same plants and animals in the layer directly above.

　　你可能会在一层泥土中发现数以千计生物化石遗骸，然后在上面的土层中却没有任何同样的植物和动物。

　　So what that tells us, is something caused a lot of things to die between this time and that.

　　所以这告诉我们的是，有事件导致很多生物在这一时期和那一时期之间死亡。

　　Sometimes the distance between those layers of rocks can represent millions of years, and other times they can be months, weeks or even days.

　　有些时候这些石头层之间的距离可能代表数百万年，有些时候可能只是几个月、几周甚至几天。

　　250 million years ago, one group of beasts would rise above all others and claim the world as their own.

　　两亿五千万年前，一类动物从各种动物中脱颖而出获得了在地球的统治地位。

　　It was the Mesozoic era, when dinosaurs reigned¹⁰ supreme¹¹.

　　那是在中生代时期，恐龙称霸。

　　Before they were ultimately wiped out, they would evolve to become the fastest, cleverest, most successful animals on earth.

　　在它们全部消亡之前，它们进化成地球上最快、最聪明、最成功的动物。

　　There are two reasons why dinosaurs took over the planet.

　　恐龙能够统治地球有两个原因。

　　The first was their larger than average brains.

　　第一个是它们比平均水平更大的大脑。

　　Now compared to you and I, they are not that smart, but in their time, they were the most intelligent creatures on earth.

　　现在与你我相比它们没那么聪明，不过在那一时期它们是地球上最聪明的动物。

　　But the main reason why they were so successful was because of the design of their hips¹² and legs.

　　不过它们能够如此成功的主要原因是它们髋部和腿部的构造。

　　The reptiles¹³ and mammals of their time had legs that stuck out to the side of their body.

　　那一时期的爬行动物和哺乳动物腿是从身体侧面伸出来的。

　　This meant that running was a bit more difficult because the entire body waddles¹⁴ from side to side.

　　这就意味着跑动会有些困难，因为整个身体都在左右摆动。

　　But the dinosaurs carried their legs directly beneath their body, like we do.

　　不过恐龙和我们一样腿部就在身体的正下方。

　　And this meant that they could run much faster and a lot more efficiently¹⁵ than anything else.

　　这说明它们能比其它任何动物都跑得更快也更高效。

　　So being faster and having the ability to run longer is what gave them a competitive edge that no other creatures could match.

　　能够跑得更快并且跑得更远，给了它们其它生物无可比拟的竞争优势。

1 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

3 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》

4 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

5 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

6 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》

7 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

8 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

9 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。

10 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 waddles   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A goose waddles aimlessly. 一只鹅在摇摇摇摆漫无目的地走着。 来自互联网

15 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。