VOA科学技术2024--Science Celebrating 200 Years of Dinosaur Research

Science Celebrating 200 Years of Dinosaur¹ Research

　　On February 20, 1824, British scientist and Christian² clergyman William Buckland spoke³ before the Geological Society of London. He described the find of a huge jaw⁴ and other bones at a rock mine in the village of Stonesfield near Oxford⁵, England.

　　Buckland recognized that these fossils belonged to a huge reptile⁶ of the long past. He gave it the scientific name Megalosaurus, meaning "great lizard⁷."

　　With that, the first dinosaur was officially recognized, although the word dinosaur did not come for several more years.

　　Buckland's talk "was the beginning of our fascination⁸ with dinosaurs⁹," says University of Edinburgh paleontologist Steve Brusatte.

　　"His announcement opened the flood gates," he said, and many people launched their own fossil hunts.

　　"People went out looking for other giant bones in England and beyond," Brusatte said.

　　In the almost 200 years since, dinosaur science has ballooned. Researchers have learned much about how these creatures looked, lived and developed, or evolved. Scientists also learned what caused the disappearance¹⁰ of the ancient animals.

　　Dinosaurs lived from about 231 million years ago to 66 million years ago during the Mesozoic Era. They are ancestors to birds of today. Science has identified over 2,000 species of dinosaur.

　　"Our understanding of dinosaurs has changed significantly since the 19th century," said paleontologist Emma Nicholls of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It is home to the Megalosaurus fossils that Buckland studied.

　　By the 1840s, other dinosaur researchers were learning that some dinosaurs walked on four legs and others walked on two legs. The Megalosaurus belongs to a group known as theropods. The group also includes meat-eaters Tyranosaurus and Spinosaurus, animals which "scampered¹²" on their legs. Both species grew to about 9 meters tall and used their sharp claws and strong, toothy jaws¹³ to overpower prey¹⁴, Brusatte said.

　　Evidence of dinosaurs has been found all around the world. The first complete dinosaur skeletons were set up in the 1870s.

　　In the 1960s, the discovery of a small dinosaur changed popular thinking about the animal group. Deinonychus was a fast-moving meat-eater. Some smaller dinosaurs, like Archaeopteryx, were found to be very much like early birds in body structure. The new research confirmed how birds evolved from small, feathered dinosaurs.

　　In the years that followed, scientists used new imaging tools to learn more about how dinosaurs grew and moved. Other tools permitted them to make good guesses about their colors, because some dinosaur remains¹⁵ had small pieces of skin or feathers that contained pigment¹⁶, or color.

　　Thomas Holtz is a paleontologist at the University of Maryland. He said all of the research created "a more dynamic and biological view of dinosaurs as living things."

　　In recent years, fossils have been found in China, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Mongolia.

　　Hans-Dieter Sues is a paleontologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He said the most important recent discovery is that the theropods were covered with feathers although they could not fly. He said the feathers kept the dinosaurs warm and were used for show.

　　One question that concerned scientists from the beginning was why the dinosaurs died. They came up with many theories. One scientist even said small mammals might have eaten all the dinosaur eggs.

　　Scientists have since settled on an answer. They believe an asteroid¹⁷ that hit the Earth in what is now southern Mexico was to blame for the disappearance of dinosaurs. Experts believe the event destroyed about 75 percent of life on Earth, including all its dinosaurs.

　　But what if there had been no asteroid? Would dinosaurs still rule the world today?

　　Holtz of the University of Maryland says "almost certainly, yes." He notes that some mammals existed at the time of dinosaurs but they were all small. He said dinosaurs would have needed to evolve as the Earth cooled and some forests dried out.

　　In the last 200 years, scientists also have a better idea of the largest and smallest dinosaurs. One 2023 study said the largest dinosaur was Argentinosaurus, which measured about 35 meters long and weighed 76 tonnes.

　　But Holtz said there is still more research to be done.

　　He said many areas of the world have not been explored by paleontologists. That offers hope of more dino finds.

　　"There are almost assuredly entire groups of dinosaurs which we currently know nothing about waiting to be discovered," Holtz said.

　　Words in This Story

　　fossil –n. something (such as a leaf, skeleton, or footprint) that is from a plant or animal which lived in ancient times and that you can see in some rocks

　　fascination –n. a great interest in something

　　giant –adj. extremely large

　　significantly –adj. to a large and notable degree

　　scamper¹¹ –v. to run very fast, but usually related to a small creature

　　claw –n. a sharp nail attached to a hand or finger of an animal

　　prey –n. an animal that is the food of another animal

　　skeleton –n. the connected bones of an animal without skin

　　dynamic –adj. something that has a lot of energy and interest

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 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

5 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

6 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

7 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。

8 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

9 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》

10 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

11 scamper   

v.奔跑，快跑

参考例句：

• She loves to scamper through the woods of the forest.她喜欢在森林里的树林中穿梭嬉戏。
• The flash sent the foxes scampering away.闪光惊得狐狸四处逃窜。

12 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

14 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

15 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。

16 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

17 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。