VOA常速英语2019--阿根廷科学家发现新型恐龙（在线收听）

There are spines, and then there’s the Bajadasaurus pronuspinax. During the Cretaceous period, 140 million years ago, this dinosaur spotted a neck of dangerous-looking spines. Argentinian archaeologist Pablo Gallina discovered the unique specimen digging in the South American region of Patagonia.

从有脊椎可以推断出这是巴雅达龙。在白垩纪时期，也就是1.4亿年前，这类恐龙的脊椎看起来十分危险。阿根廷考古学家巴勃罗·加里纳发现这类独特的物种是在南美洲巴塔哥尼亚地区挖掘时的收获。

It’s a new dinosaur we found in 2013, and finally today, the scientific investigation is published, and this shows a new dinosaur with unique characteristics in which we found on the large part of the skull of this dinosaur and some neck fur debris that shows very long spikes that point forward which gives it a very interesting appearance. Today, Patagonia is an arid plateau, but a hundred and forty million years ago, it was wet and humid, the perfect environment for dinosaurs. All kinds of ancient giants have been found in this region.

这类恐龙是2013年的新发现。该科学研究成果终于在今天发表了。从发现成果中，我们了解到，这是一种新型恐龙，有独特的特征——这种恐龙头骨的很大一部分以及一些颈部皮毛碎片显示出有长刺的迹象。这些长刺向前突起，这种特征使它的外观变得很有趣。如今，巴塔哥尼亚是一片贫瘠的高原，但在1.4亿年前，这里气候潮湿，有着恐龙生存的绝佳环境。在该地区，我们发现了各种古代巨龙的痕迹。

But Bajadasaurus spine’s made of the same keratin material as our horned animals of today, our evidence of just how varied life was during the age of the dinosaurs. It’s very interesting because it shows us part of the evolution of the history of dinosaurs that it is little known. The strata of this age, the sediments of a hundred and forty million years ago, are rare across the world, and this then is a window that shows us a little more of the found of the dinosaurs in this case, from new coin, but which contribute to the global understanding of dinosaurs. Despite its fierce appearance, Gallina says the Bajadasaurus was likely a vegetarian, and those spikes were just for self-defense.

不过，巴雅达龙的脊椎是由角蛋白材料组成的，这一点跟我们今天的角化动物相同。这一点可以证明：恐龙时代的生命是具有多样性的。这一点很有意思，是因为它让我们知道，恐龙进化历史中鲜为人知的部分。这个时期的地层，也就是1.4亿年前的沉积物，在全球范围内都是十分罕见的。这也是一个窗口，让我们对恐龙有更多的了解，新的角度的了解，有助于全世界更加了解恐龙：加里纳表示，虽然恐龙外表凶猛，但巴雅达龙很有可能是素食动物，而它的脊椎可能是用来自我防御的。