VOA科学技术2023 科学家在巴塔哥尼亚发现恐龙化石

Scientists Find Dinosaur¹ Fossils in Patagonia

科学家在巴塔哥尼亚发现恐龙化石

Scientists in Chile's Patagonia area have found the southernmost dinosaur fossils recorded outside Antarctica. The fossils include remains² of megaraptors that would have controlled the area's food chain before their mass extinction³.

智利巴塔哥尼亚地区的科学家发现了南极洲以外最南端的恐龙化石。这些化石包括巨型猛禽的遗骸，它们在大规模灭绝之前就已经控制了该地区的食物链。

Megaraptors were carnivorous, or meat-eating, dinosaurs⁴ that lived in parts of South America during the Cretaceous period some 70 million years ago. The fossils were found in sizes up to 10 meters long, said the Journal of South American Earth Sciences.

巨盗龙是食肉恐龙，或食肉恐龙，生存于约7000万年前白垩纪的南美洲部分地区。据《南美地球科学杂志》报道，这些化石被发现的大小可达10米长。

Marcelo Leppe is director of the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH). "We were missing a piece," he told Reuters. "We knew where there were large mammals, there would also be large carnivores, but we hadn't found them yet."

马塞洛·勒佩是智利南极研究所（INACH）所长。“我们少了一块，”他告诉路透社。“我们知道哪里有大型哺乳动物，哪里也会有大型食肉动物，但我们还没有发现它们。”

The remains were found in Chile's far south Rio de las Chinas Valley in the Magallanes Basin between 2016 and 2020. The scientists also found some unusual remains of unenlagia, a velociraptor-like dinosaur which was likely covered in feathers.

这些遗骸于2016年至2020年期间在智利南部的马哲伦盆地的中国河谷发现。科学家们还发现了一些不寻常的Unelagia遗迹，这是一种类似于迅猛龙的恐龙，可能全身都是羽毛。

The fossils, said University of Chile researcher Jared Amudeo, had some qualities not present in similar remains found in Argentina or Brazil.

智利大学研究员贾里德·阿穆德奥表示，这些化石具有阿根廷或巴西发现的类似遗骸所没有的某些特征。

"It could be a new species, which is very likely, or belong to another family of dinosaurs that are closely related," he said. He added that more evidence is needed.

他说：“这很可能是一个新物种，或者属于另一个亲缘关系密切的恐龙家族。”。他补充说，还需要更多的证据。

The studies also provide more information on the conditions of the meteorite⁵ impact on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. That meteorite may have led to the dinosaurs' extinction some 65 million years ago.

这些研究还提供了更多关于陨石撞击墨西哥尤卡坦半岛的条件的信息。那颗陨石可能在6500万年前导致恐龙灭绝。

Leppe pointed⁶ to a large decrease in temperatures over present-day Patagonia and waves of severe cold lasting⁷ up to several thousands of years. The climate, however, was very warm for much of the Cretaceous period.

勒佩指出，现在巴塔哥尼亚的气温大幅下降，持续数千年的严寒浪潮也在持续。然而，在白垩纪的大部分时间里，气候非常温暖。

"This world was already in crisis before (the meteorite) and this is evidenced in the rocks of the Rio de las Chinas Valley," he said.

他说：“这个世界在（陨石）之前就已经陷入了危机，这在中国河谷的岩石中得到了证明。”。

Words in This Story

extinction — n. the state or situation that results when something has died out completely

灭绝--某物完全灭绝时的状态或情况

mammal — n. a type of animal that feeds milk to its young and that usually has hair or fur covering most of its skin

哺乳动物--一种给幼崽喂奶的动物，通常有毛发或皮毛覆盖其大部分皮肤

species — n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

种--一组相似的动物或植物，能产生幼兽或植物

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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》

5 meteorite   

n.陨石；流星

参考例句：

• The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
• The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。