VOA慢速英语2021--恐龙也爱夜生活

Small dinosaurs² once lived in the desert in today's Mongolia and northern China. Their great night vision and strong hearing made them deadly predators⁴ during the nighttime.

Scientists said Thursday they have found a circle of bones around the eye of a dinosaur¹ called Shuvuuia Deserti. The bones were inside the skull⁵, which holds the hearing organ. Scientists say the dinosaur had hearing and sight abilities much like an owl⁶, meaning it could hunt in the dark.

Their study was published in the journal, Science. The research showed that most predatory dinosaurs had good hearing, but their sight worked best during the daytime. The Shuvuuia, however, loved nightlife.

The two-legged dinosaur was the size of a large bird and weighed about as much as a house cat. It had many small teeth, like pieces of rice. It was lightweight and lived during the Cretaceous Period, about 75 million to 81 million years ago.

Roger Benson is a paleontologist from the University of Oxford⁷ who helped write the study. "It's such a strange animal that paleontologists have long wondered what it was actually doing," he said.

Its mid-length neck, small head, and very long legs, made it look like an unusual chicken. But unlike birds, it had short, strong arms with a large claw on the end, which was useful for digging.

Jonah Choiniere is a paleontologist at Wits University in South Africa and the study's lead author.

"Shuvuuia might have run across the desert floor under cover of night, using its incredible hearing and night vision to track small prey⁸ such as nocturnal mammals, lizards⁹ and insects," he said.

The researchers also looked at a structure called the lagena. The lagena is a curved sack that sits in an area of bones around the brain. It is connected to the part of the ear that lets reptiles¹⁰ and birds keep balance and move their heads while walking. The longer the lagena, the better hearing an animal has.

The barn owl can hunt even in total darkness and has the longest lagena of any living bird, relative to its size. Shuvuuia also has a very long lagena, almost the same in relative size to a barn owl's.

The researchers also found that Shuvuuia had a very wide scleral ring -- tiny bones that circle the eyeball. The ring's large size means that it was able to see in darkness.

Choiniere said that he previously¹¹ thought that during the age of dinosaurs, the night was used by mammals to come out of hiding and still avoid predators.

"The importance of these findings is that it forces us to imagine dinosaurs like Shuvuuia evolving to take advantage of these nocturnal communities," he said.

Words in This Story

predator³ – n. an animal that lives by killing¹² and eating other animals, an animal that preys¹³ on other animals

paleontologist – n. the science that deals with the fossils of animals and plants that lived very long ago especially in the time of dinosaurs

claw – n. a sharp curved part on the toe of an animal

incredible – adj. extremely good, great, or large

vision – n. sight, the ability to see

prey – n. an animal that is hunted and killed by another animal for food

evolve – v. to change or develop slowly often into a better, more complex, or more advanced state : to develop by a process of evolution

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 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》

3 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。

4 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》

5 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。

6 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

7 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。

8 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。

9 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

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 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 preys   

v.掠食( prey的第三人称单数 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• His misfortune preys upon his mind. 他的不幸使她心中苦恼。 来自辞典例句
• The owl preys on mice. 猫头鹰捕食老鼠。 来自辞典例句