古代海洋怪物的遗体重现阿根廷

Ancient Sea Monster Remains¹ Found in Argentina

古代海洋怪物的遗体重现阿根廷

 

Argentine scientists have discovered the remains of a fierce sea monster that terrorized Pacific waters in the age of the dinosaurs³. The researchers are calling it Godzilla after the legendary⁴ movie monster, but it really was an ancestor of modern crocodiles.

 

What has a head like a meat eating dinosaur² and a tail like a fish? An ancient sea reptile⁵ called a dakosaur.

 

Millions of years ago when dinosaurs ruled the land, these early crocodiles dominated the oceans, but they never seem to have caught the public's imagination as dinosaurs have.

 

Perhaps this will change with the discovery of a 135 million year old dakosaur skull⁶ and two lower jaws⁷ in the Patagonia desert of southern Argentina. The researchers who describe it in the journal Science call it Dakosaurus andiniensis, the Andean Dakosaur, to contrast it to those that swam in other parts of the world at the time. What a contrast it is.

 

Diego Pol: At first glance, it was evident that Dakosaurus andiniensis was truly unique among marine⁸ crocodiles.

 

This is Diego Pol, an expert on ancient animals at the Ohio State University who took part in the research. He says the creature was distinct from its crocodile cousins of the Jurassic era because it had a tall, short head shaped like a bullet and large, powerful, serrated teeth that seem to belong in a dinosaur's mouth.

 

These features indicate that it was a predator⁹ capable of gobbling reptiles¹⁰ and other large sea life, filling a niche¹¹ eventually taken over by large sharks. In contrast, other dakosaurs and their modern crocodile descendants have long, thin snouts and many thin teeth suitable for feeding on smaller, more agile¹² prey¹³ such as fish.

 

Diego Pol: We find these results extremely interesting because they indicate that the diversity of crocodiles back in the Jurassic was much greater than expected.

 

Based on the size of the skull, Mr. Pol and his colleagues from the National University of La Plata, Argentina estimate that the creature was four meters long. They infer its body shape based on a computer program that analyzed¹⁴ the fossils and found that they most resemble the early crocodile branch that had flippers and a fish-like tail instead of four feet and a tail like modern crocodiles.

 

Diego Pol: This analysis revealed that the anatomical changes along the evolution of the Dakosaurus lineage were clearly the most drastic evolutionary¹⁵ change in the history of marine crocodiles. This places the 135-million-year-old Dakosaurus andiniensis not only as one of the most recent members of this family, but also as the most bizarre marine crocodile known today.

 

The National Geographic¹⁶ Society in Washington, which sponsored the research, says dakosaurs were only one of the monsters that cavorted¹⁸ in the world's oceans between 250 million and 65 million years ago. Back then shallow seas and a lack of significant marine predators¹⁹ created new opportunities for many reptiles that had first developed on land. They included such beasts as giant ichthyosaurs that might have reached 25 meters in length and plesiosaurs with seven-meter-long necks reminiscent of the fabled²⁰ Loch Ness monster in Scotland.

 

Diego Pol says that all dakosaurs became extinct by the end of the Cretaceous era 65 million years ago, leaving us with only a fraction of the crocodile diversity of that long ago time.

 

Diego Pol: This pattern of extinctions is what we see in the fossil record of all species. It is fairly common to see that a species or family has its own moment where it diversifies²¹ and later they go extinct. The most famous cases of this are, you know, the large dinosaurs that disappeared by the end of the Cretaceous.

 

You might call these ferocious²² meat-eating dakosaurs, the dinosaurs of the sea, animals that shared the world at the same time.

 

Although they are no longer around, their smaller crocodile descendants, which split their time between land and water, are no friendlier and might just as well be avoided.

 

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I’m David McAlary, VOA news, Washington.

 

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注释：

reptile [5reptail] n. 爬行动物

dakosaur n. 达科龙

crocodile [5krCkEdail] n. 鳄鱼

Patagonia [9pAtE5^EuniE] n. 巴塔哥尼亚（南美一地区）

Jurassic [dVuE5rAsik] n. 侏罗纪

serrated [se5reitid] adj. 锯齿状的

gobble [5^Cbl] vt. 狼吞虎咽

agile [5AdVail] adj. 敏捷的，灵活的

infer [in5fE:] v. 推断

anatomical [7AnE5tCmikEl] adj. 解剖的，解剖学的

lineage [5liniidV] n. 血统，世系

bizarre [bi5zB:] adj. 奇异的（指态度，容貌，款式等）

cavort¹⁷ [kE5vC:t] vi. 腾跃

ichthyosaur [5ikWiEsC:] n. 鱼龙

plesiosaur [5pli:siE7sC:] n. [古生]蛇颈龙

Cretaceous adj. 〈地〉白垩纪的

ferocious [fE5rEuFEs] adj. 凶恶的，凶猛的

1 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。

2 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。

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 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

5 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。

6 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

7 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。

8 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

10 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》

11 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

12 agile   

adj.敏捷的，灵活的

参考例句：

• She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧！
• An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。

13 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。

14 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

16 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

17 cavort   

v.腾跃

参考例句：

• You can enjoy a quick snack while your children cavort in the sand.趁孩子们在沙滩上嬉戏，你可以吃点小吃。
• Stop cavorting around and sit still,just for five minutes!别欢蹦乱跳的，坐好了，就五分钟！

18 cavorted   

v.跳跃( cavort的过去式 )

参考例句：

• URGELLING, India-He drank wine, cavorted with women and wrote poetry that spoke of life's earthly pleasures. 他喝着酒，和女人跳着舞，写着述说生命最纯美的诗。 来自互联网
• St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage. 圣保罗欢闹了基督教。他传讲了圣恶毒，就是婚姻的另一个名字。 来自互联网

19 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》

20 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

21 diversifies   

v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的第三人称单数 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• As the population diversifies the number of consumers with specialized needs grows. 由于人口多样化，需要特定商品的消费者也愈来愈多了。 来自互联网
• The maturity-oriented strategy used by adolescences of different sex diversifies significantly. 不同性别的青少年情绪调节的策略（成熟型）存在显著差异。 来自互联网

22 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。