纪录片《地球劫难日》 第32期 我们的祖先

Almost all life in every shape and form across the surface of the globe would have died.

地球上各种各样的生物几乎全都遇难。

Here at long last was an explanation that tied up all the loose ends and accounted for all the evidence.

终于有了一种解释能拼凑起所有这些零碎资料，并说明所有的证据。

The cause of the Permian mass extinction¹ may finally have been found.

科学家们或许真的找到了二叠纪生物大灭绝的原因。

It would take nearly 100,000 years for life on earth to begin to recover.

直到10万年以后地球才开始恢复生机。

When it did, a new family of creatures ruled the world.

那时一类新的物种统治了世界。

This was the birth of the age of the dinosaurs²,

恐龙时代由此开启，

but geologists³ have found that one of the strange, half mammal/half reptiles⁴ of the Permian world did survive.

但是地质学家们发现二叠纪的一种奇特的半哺乳类半爬行类动物也活了下来。

It was a cow-sized plant eater called lystrosaurus.

它是一种和牛一样大的植食动物，叫做水龙兽。

This strange looking creature is one of the most important animals that ever walked the earth,

这种模样奇怪的动物是地球史上最重要的陆地动物之一，

because lystrosauras was the ancestor of all mammals and so, ultimately, of us.

因为这些水龙兽正是所有哺乳动物的祖先，当然也是我们的祖先。

We're only here today because this odd looking creature somehow clung to life during the mother of all distinctions.

我们今天之所以在世上，就是因为这些长相古怪的家伙顽强地挺过了地球上最惨烈的一场生物大灭绝。

1 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

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 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

4 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》