侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第3期:玛君龙

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　　这个发现给了古生物学家们仔细观察这种稀有恐龙颅内情况的机会。

　　Dr. Lawrence Witmer of Ohio University leads one of the most technologically³ advanced dinosaur research labs in the world.

　　俄亥俄大学的劳伦斯·维特莫博士领导着世界上技术最先进的恐龙研究实验室。

　　He's able to dig deeper into the stories of bones and brain cavity than ever before.

　　对这些骨头和颅腔的故事他能挖掘得比从前都要深入。

　　CT scanning has opened a new door into dinosaur behavior.

　　CT扫描打开了一扇了解恐龙行为的大门。

　　CT scanning is a medical technology that allows us to look inside an object.

　　CT扫描是一项医学技术用于观察物体的内部。

　　But we can use that same technology on dinosaurs⁴ to look inside their skulls⁵, to see through the rock to see how these animals are built.

　　不过我们也能用这项新技术来观察恐龙头颅的内部，并且透过石头来看到这些动物的构造。

　　We can look at the bony brain cavity in CT scan, and from that, extract what the form the brain was like, as well as all of the tissues that're surrounding that.

　　我们可以用CT扫描看到化石颅腔，这样就能够知道它的大脑是怎样的还有所有其周围组织的构造。

　　CT scanning of the skull of Majungasaurus gave clues into every aspect of this predator⁶, its senses of vision, hearing, balance and agility⁷.

　　对玛君龙颅骨的CT扫描给出了这种掠食者各个方面的线索，包括视觉、听觉、平衡感和灵活性。

　　By comparing the size and shape of the brain and inner ear canals to those of modern birds and reptiles,通过把它大脑的大小形状和内耳道与现代的鸟类和爬行类的进行比较，scientists have developed a rare insight into the behavior of Majungasaurus, how it lived and how it could have fought.

　　科学家们对玛君龙的行为获得了少有的深入了解，知道了它如何生活和战斗的。

　　At first glance, the skull reveals obvious detail.

　　只要一眼就能够看到这颅骨上的明显细节。

　　The exterior⁸ was covered in a thick, rough texture⁹, ending in a three-inch horn. that jutted¹⁰ from the top of the skull.

　　其外层较厚、质地粗糙形成一个不到十厘米的角。从颅骨的顶部支出。

　　What makes this Majungasaurus look so odd are the bumps and strange horns and spikes¹¹ that stuck out all over its skull.

　　这头玛君龙看起来奇怪的地方在于其颅骨上的隆起、奇怪的角和随处可见凸起。

　　These are actually designed to show rival that this male is a mature adult.

　　这些实际上是成熟雄性向竞争者展示的设计。

　　They are also designed to attract a mate.

　　它们也是用来吸引配偶的。

　　These odd horns and spikes were probably brightly colored.

　　这些怪角和凸起很可能颜色鲜艳。

　　These are make-ups. It's a signal that screams to the ladies: "Check me out!"它们是装扮物。是对女士表示的强烈信号：“看看我吧！”

　　One of the interesting things about the horn of Majungasaurus is that it is very rough and the bone is very sort of cauliflower like and bumpy¹².

　　玛君龙角有趣的地方之一就是它，很结实，骨头是像菜花似的坑坑包包。

　　And, in fact, that bumpiness¹³ actually pertains¹⁴ to most of the skull.

　　而实际上这种不平整在整个头颅上都有。

　　The texture was another clue.

　　其质地是另一条线索。

　　The male's head was not merely an ornament¹⁵.

　　这个雄性的头颅不只是个装饰品。

　　It was a weapon that could be wielded¹⁶ against both rival and prey¹⁷.

　　它是个武器，可以被挥向竞争对手和猎物。

　　One of the things we think is going on with the bumpy skin of Majungasaurus is that it relates to combat.

　　我们觉得玛君龙不平的皮肤是跟搏斗有关的。

　　They are potentially, actually interacting in a very direct physical way, head-to-head or head-to-flank kind of combat.

　　它们可能有非常直接的身体接触头撞头或是头撞体侧那种搏斗。

　　It's a very unusual kind of thing, the kind of structures we don't really see in animals,这种结构很不寻常我们在别的动物身上都看不到，like Ceratosaurus where the horns we see are almost delicate kind of structure.

　　比如说角鼻龙，我们看到的角是比较纤弱的。

　　So what we see with Majungasaurus is a kind of structure that was built for combat.

　　我们看到的玛君龙有着为搏斗设计的结构。

　　When you look at the design of a skull of a Majungasaurus, you can compare that to modern day big-horn sheep.

　　当观察玛君龙颅骨设计时可以与现代的大角盘羊进行比较。

　　It's very heavily built and perfectly¹⁸ designed to take a heavy beating.

　　它的体格壮硕身体很适合沉重的撞击。

 

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