【英语时差8,16】化石的发现，填补研究的空白

 Researchers say they have identified animal fossils from twenty-seven-million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. The remains¹ are from the middle of a time called the "missing years" or the "dark period." This is because scientists have so little information about the mammals that lived then. The period began thirty-two-million years ago, ended twenty-four-million years ago, after a land bridge formed with Eurasia. The remains include teeth, skull² pieces and other bones. The scientists found them in a farming area about two-thousand meters above sea level, in the highlands of Ethiopia. Satellite pictures helped the researchers decide where to dig. The fossils came from about seventy different digs. The magazine Nature published the findings. The scientists say the fossils come from before large numbers of animals began to arrive in Africa from Europe and Asia. The fossils also show that some animals existed millions of years before scientists had thought. Scientists say they expect more discoveries to come about the mammals that lived during the so-called missing years.

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 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。