英语听力：2013-06-30 《恐龙的战争》3 顽强防御—7

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Digesting plant fiber² is the hardest job. In the eco-system an Ankylosaurus tackle that job, which is why it needed that enormous bulk, gigantic stomach and some divided intestines³. And that means you are slow, you are very slow. And you have to feed 12, 15, 18 hours a day. And you’re vulnerable for most of the day and therefore you have to have static armor. 

 

Small and low-slung, this vegetarian⁴ can not only survive a T-Rex attack, but sometimes it can even defeat one. Its first line of defense⁵ is a tank-like body. 

 

Its primary form of defending itself might be hunkering down onto the ground, letting its armored body protect from the teeth and the claws of the Tyrannosaurus.

 

Ankylosaurus’ specialized⁶ armor is designed to be strong and lightweight. Skeletal plates embedded⁷ in the skin are aligned⁸ in even rows down the neck, back and hips⁹. Spaces between the plates allow this balky creature to move freely. While similar to scales found on today’s crocodiles or alligators¹⁰, the way these plates are constructed makes them much tougher. 

 

Ankylosaurus has not one, not two, but three layers of armor. And the head is so protected by thick bone that not even an adult female T-Rex could inflict¹¹ a killing¹² bite.

 

The plates are totally unlike the bones of mammals. They are made of crisscrossing layers of minerals and collagen—fibers made of protein that strengthen bone the way steel rods reinforce concrete. It’s a design used today in bulletproof jackets.

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