神马文学网Dieting dinosaur
来源：百度文库 编辑：神马文学网 时间：2024/04/24 22:55:52
最新发现：凶残的食肉恐龙竟然进化出吃素的子孙。
原文
译文
BIG meat-eating dinosaurs might have changed their menus and become vegetarians, a study of a fossil found in Utah, in the US has shown.
科学家们研究美国犹他州的化石发现，有些大型的食肉恐龙可能更换了“食谱”，变成了素食动物。
The 130-million-year-old fossil might reveal a previously unknown vegetarian dinosaur. According to a report in the magazine Nature the species developed from a species of meat-eaters.
这个有1亿3千万年历史的化石让人们发现了一种未知的素食恐龙。据《自然》杂志上的一篇报道说，这种恐龙的的祖先是食肉动物。
Although the long-tailed dinosaur ate plants, it still had the powerful body and the four-inch claws of its meat-eating ancestor.
尽管这种长尾恐龙以植物为食，它仍然拥有其肉食祖先的强壮身体和4英寸长的爪子。
"They probably used the claws for self-defence," said Utah state scientist James Kirkland. "Or maybe they were herd animals who just hung out together and hoped predators would eat someone else."
犹他州的科学家詹姆斯·科克兰说：“它们也许用爪子来自卫，也可能它们是群居动物，共同活动，使那些肉食动物没有可乘之机。”
The dinosaur is a milestone in the history of evolution, because of its change in diet. They may have depended on flowering plants, which first appeared on Earth more than 140 million years ago. Researchers have no direct evidence of what was on the dinosaur's menu. But they believe that its unique teeth are an important clue to its eating habits.
恐龙饮食习惯的改变在进化史上具有里程碑意义。1亿4千万年前出现了开花的植物，或许这就是它们赖以为生的食物。这些恐龙们吃什么，研究者们没有直接的证据来确定。但是他们认为，它那独特的牙齿是其饮食习惯的重要线索。
The mouths of meat-eaters were lined with knife-like sharp teeth, suited to slashing flesh. Like other herbivores, however, this dinosaur's teeth were shaped more like spoons, better suited for chewing plants. It still might have been able to swallow the odd lizard as a meaty appetizer, but its main course, no doubt, was a salad, the researchers reported.
肉食动物满嘴都是如刀刃般锋利的牙齿，以便于撕咬肉食。然而如同其他食草动物一样，这种恐龙的牙齿比较像调羹，较为适合咀嚼植物。研究者称，也许它偶尔会吃蜥蜴作为“肉食开胃菜”，但是它的主食毫无疑问的还是植物。
The fossil was found at a newly discovered dinosaur graveyard. It is about 140 miles (224 kilometres) southeast of Salt Lake City. Scientists found "hundreds, perhaps thousands'' of dinosaur fossils in a two-acre wide place. They are in the middle of a 120-million year old piece of stone.
这个化石发掘于新近发现的恐龙“墓地”。它位于盐湖城东南部140英里（224公里）的地方。在一个两英亩大的地方，科学家们发现了“成百上千”个恐龙化石。它们全都位于一块有1亿2千万历史的古老岩石之中。
"Ninety-nine per cent of the bones were from the same species," Kirkland said. But the site offered few clues about why so many dinosaurs died suddenly in the same place.
科克兰说：“99％的残骸属于同一种恐龙。”但是为什么这么多恐龙会突然死在同一个地方？在这处遗迹里找不出任何答案。
Kirkland first saw some of the fossils in 1999, when colleagues showed him a box of bones they had bought at a fossil show. But because they were illegally dug up, the seller refused to say where the fossils were from. Kirkland said he spent several years trying to find the site.
1999年，科克兰的同事们把在一次化石展上买到的一箱恐龙骨头化石拿给他看。那是他首次目睹那些化石的“芳容”。但因为它们属于非法挖掘，化石商拒绝透露其产地。科克兰说，他只好穷数年之力来寻找这个地方。
(from page 6, 21st Century Teens Senior Edition Issue No. 176)
原文
译文
BIG meat-eating dinosaurs might have changed their menus and become vegetarians, a study of a fossil found in Utah, in the US has shown.
科学家们研究美国犹他州的化石发现，有些大型的食肉恐龙可能更换了“食谱”，变成了素食动物。
The 130-million-year-old fossil might reveal a previously unknown vegetarian dinosaur. According to a report in the magazine Nature the species developed from a species of meat-eaters.
这个有1亿3千万年历史的化石让人们发现了一种未知的素食恐龙。据《自然》杂志上的一篇报道说，这种恐龙的的祖先是食肉动物。
Although the long-tailed dinosaur ate plants, it still had the powerful body and the four-inch claws of its meat-eating ancestor.
尽管这种长尾恐龙以植物为食，它仍然拥有其肉食祖先的强壮身体和4英寸长的爪子。
"They probably used the claws for self-defence," said Utah state scientist James Kirkland. "Or maybe they were herd animals who just hung out together and hoped predators would eat someone else."
犹他州的科学家詹姆斯·科克兰说：“它们也许用爪子来自卫，也可能它们是群居动物，共同活动，使那些肉食动物没有可乘之机。”
The dinosaur is a milestone in the history of evolution, because of its change in diet. They may have depended on flowering plants, which first appeared on Earth more than 140 million years ago. Researchers have no direct evidence of what was on the dinosaur's menu. But they believe that its unique teeth are an important clue to its eating habits.
恐龙饮食习惯的改变在进化史上具有里程碑意义。1亿4千万年前出现了开花的植物，或许这就是它们赖以为生的食物。这些恐龙们吃什么，研究者们没有直接的证据来确定。但是他们认为，它那独特的牙齿是其饮食习惯的重要线索。
The mouths of meat-eaters were lined with knife-like sharp teeth, suited to slashing flesh. Like other herbivores, however, this dinosaur's teeth were shaped more like spoons, better suited for chewing plants. It still might have been able to swallow the odd lizard as a meaty appetizer, but its main course, no doubt, was a salad, the researchers reported.
肉食动物满嘴都是如刀刃般锋利的牙齿，以便于撕咬肉食。然而如同其他食草动物一样，这种恐龙的牙齿比较像调羹，较为适合咀嚼植物。研究者称，也许它偶尔会吃蜥蜴作为“肉食开胃菜”，但是它的主食毫无疑问的还是植物。
The fossil was found at a newly discovered dinosaur graveyard. It is about 140 miles (224 kilometres) southeast of Salt Lake City. Scientists found "hundreds, perhaps thousands'' of dinosaur fossils in a two-acre wide place. They are in the middle of a 120-million year old piece of stone.
这个化石发掘于新近发现的恐龙“墓地”。它位于盐湖城东南部140英里（224公里）的地方。在一个两英亩大的地方，科学家们发现了“成百上千”个恐龙化石。它们全都位于一块有1亿2千万历史的古老岩石之中。
"Ninety-nine per cent of the bones were from the same species," Kirkland said. But the site offered few clues about why so many dinosaurs died suddenly in the same place.
科克兰说：“99％的残骸属于同一种恐龙。”但是为什么这么多恐龙会突然死在同一个地方？在这处遗迹里找不出任何答案。
Kirkland first saw some of the fossils in 1999, when colleagues showed him a box of bones they had bought at a fossil show. But because they were illegally dug up, the seller refused to say where the fossils were from. Kirkland said he spent several years trying to find the site.
1999年，科克兰的同事们把在一次化石展上买到的一箱恐龙骨头化石拿给他看。那是他首次目睹那些化石的“芳容”。但因为它们属于非法挖掘，化石商拒绝透露其产地。科克兰说，他只好穷数年之力来寻找这个地方。
(from page 6, 21st Century Teens Senior Edition Issue No. 176)