Archaeopteryx

 

始祖鸟

Scientists have determined that Archaeopteryx,the earliest known bird,was definitely birdbrained,meaning no disrespect.

科学家已经确定，已知最古老的鸟类始祖鸟的确是鸟的脑子，这么说并不是对它不敬。

Indeed, they consider the fossil's brain size decisive evidence that Archaeopteryx had what it took to fly.

确实，他们把这种化石的脑部尺寸作为有力的证据来说明始祖鸟拥有使其飞翔的东西。

The new research suggests, moreover,that birds probably started flying millions of years earlier than scientists previously thought.

而且，新的研究揭示鸟类可能比科学家先前认为的时间早几百万年就开始飞翔。

It is just that fossils of those first flying birds—predecessors of Archaeopteryx-have never been found.

只是那些最早的能飞行的鸟—始祖鸟的祖先—的化石尚未被发现。

The researchers, at the Natural History Museum in London,based their findings on the first X-ray examination and reconstruction of the braincase and inner ear of a 147-million-year-old Archaeopteryx specimen.

伦敦自然历史博物馆研究人员的发现是基于1.47亿岁的始祖鸟标本的脑壳和内耳的首次X光检查和重建之上的。

They found that in size, shape and volume,its brain was similar to that of the modern eagle or sparrow.

他们发现在大小，形状和容量方面，它的脑与现代的鹰或麻雀相似。

Measurements of the semicircular canals,the mechanism for balance inside the ear,showed that Archaeopteryx had the "neurological and structural adaptations necessary for flight,"the scientists concluded.

科学家总结道，对这种鸟的耳内控制平衡的机制半规管的测量显示，始祖鸟拥有了“为了飞翔所必需的神经的和结构的相应改造”。

Their research,involving an X-ray computed tomography scan, or C.T.,of the fossil's braincase and inner ear,is described today in the journal Nature.

他们所做的关于华硕颅骨和内耳的X光电脑断层扫描或者叫做CT扫描的研究登在《自然》杂志上。

Previous studies of the feathered wing and tail of Archaeopteryx and its birdlike anatomy,including a pronounced wishbone,supported the prevailing view of experts that it was capable of some degree of powered flight.

之前关于始祖鸟带羽毛的翅膀，尾巴以及它类似鸟类骨骼的研究，支持专家们公认的观点，即它能做某种程度的动力飞行。

Archaeopteryx is considered a prime transitional species in the evolution of some reptiles,probably dinosaurs, into today's birds.

始祖鸟被认为是从某些爬行动物，也许是恐龙，到今天鸟类的演变中重要的过渡物种。

But the research team, led by Dr. Angela Milner,a paleontologist at the British museum,wrote that until their investigation of Archaeopteryx,"little was understood about the extent to which its brain and special senses were adapted for flight."

但是由大英博物馆古生物学家杰拉米尔纳博士领导的研究团队写道:直到他们研究始祖鸟，对于始祖鸟的脑和特殊感觉因应飞行而发生了何种程度的改变的认识尚知之甚少。

Dr. Milner said the new study not only established that Archaeopteryx was capable of "controlling the complex business of flying,"but also showed "how much there is still to discover about when and how bird flight began."

米尔纳博士讲到，新的研究不仅显示始祖鸟能够控制飞行这样一种复杂的事，而且显示出海洋多少官员鸟类何时和怎样开始飞行的事情尚未发现。

In a statement issued by the museum,Dr. Milner said,"If flight was this advanced by the time Archaeopteryx was around,then were birds actually flying millions of years earlier than we'd previously thought?"

在博物馆编写的综述中，米尔纳博士写到，如果出现始祖鸟的时候飞行就已经到了如此高级的阶段，那么鸟类是否实际上比我们先前考虑的时间还要早数百万年就飞行了呢？