侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第87期:是牙印还是爪子印?

 Everything that happens to an animal after it dies destroys information and that's the reason why in the end so little is left.

动物死后发生的每件事都会销毁信息，这就是最后剩不下什么的原因。

But think of the luck that we have to have simply to find it.

其实我们能找到就算够幸运的了。

They began to study the evidence to try and understand what had caused the gash¹ and puncture² wounds in the bones.

他们开始研究证据，试图了解这些骨头上的沟痕和穿孔是如何形成的。

What does the scratches on the leg bone of a dinosaur³ mean?Are they tooth marks, are they claw marks?

这些恐龙腿骨上的划痕意味着什么呢？是牙印还是爪子印？

That is the first question.

这是第一个问题。

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But once we look closer we start to understand really what a tooth mark looks like, there's a certain characteristic to it.

但一旦我们更进一步地观察，我们会开始懂得牙印看起来像什么，有一定的特征。

Then the question becomes: "How can we figure out who made that tooth mark?"

接下来的问题就是：“我们怎么知道到底是谁留下牙印的呢？”

Obviously, we need to know who're the potential perpetrator, who else was living in the environment, who was potentially available to, if you will, commit this crime.

显然，我们得先确定谁是潜在的行凶者，还有谁在这种环境里生活，谁有可能犯下这样的“罪行”。

Then, a clue.

有一条线索。

Mixed in among the various herbivore bones was a nearly complete skeleton of a monstrous⁴ looking predator⁵ - Ceratosaurus.

在各类植食性恐龙骨头之中有一付几乎是完整的骨架，看上去怪物般肉食性动物：角鼻龙。

He stood about 4 meters tall and 7 meters long.

它大概有4米高，7米长。

Compared to later dinosaurs⁶ like Tyrannosaurus-Rex, he was smaller.

跟晚些时候的恐龙比如霸王龙相比，它要小一些。

One feature easily distinguishes this meat eater from others - a nose horn.

一个特征轻易地将这个食肉者与其它的区分开来：鼻部的角。

The name Ceratosaurus means horned lizard⁷.

角鼻龙原意就是长角的蜥蜴。

It was the first dinosaur found that had a horn on its nose.

它是人们发现的第一个鼻部长角的恐龙。

It wasn't a cone-shaped horn.It was actually a sort of flat blade shape.

它的角不是锥形,实际上是扁平的刃状角。

They're not for a combat at all.

这种角完全不是用来战斗的。

And if we were looking into modern world for an equivalent, we might look at something like the crest⁸ on the top of the head of a rooster.

要是在现代世界给这种角找个对应物的话估计会更像公鸡头上的鸡冠子。

Along with its unique skull⁹ design, Ceratosaurus has another feature that distinguishes it from other predators¹⁰: four fingers on each hand.

在头骨的独特设计之外角鼻龙还有一个和其它掠食者不同特点：它的前肢各有四只手指。

One thing that's unusual when we look at Ceratosaurus is that it's got seemingly extra fingers compared to other of these predatory dinosaurs which usually have basically three fingers on each hand.

我们能在角鼻龙身上注意到一个不寻常的特征与其它的掠食性恐龙相比它要多出一个手指而一般的掠食恐龙只有三只手指。

Ceratosaurus has a forth¹¹.

角鼻龙有第四只手指。

1 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。

2 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

3 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。

4 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

5 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。

6 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》

7 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。

8 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

9 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。

10 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》

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。