侏羅紀搏擊俱樂部 第2期:東方霸王龍

In 1996, 25 miles from the city of Mahajanga innorthwest Madagascar, paleontologist were workingon a routine excavation.

1996年，在離馬達加斯加西北的馬哈姜嘎市不到四十公里處古生物學家們在做例行挖掘。

But as they continued to dig, it became clear thatthere were something strange about this particularfind.

隨著挖掘的進行，這里的奇特發(fā)現(xiàn)越來越清楚。

As scientists unearthed more remains, forensic andanatomical clues began to paint a picture of theunidentified dinosaur.

科學家們挖出了更多的遺骸，現(xiàn)場和解剖學線索描繪出了一種未知恐龍的圖畫。

And these bones did not belong to a plant eater. They belonged to a predator.

這些骨頭不是植食性恐龍的。它們屬于一種掠食者。

We can very often tell whether bones belong to carnivores or herbivores just by looking at them.

我們經(jīng)常只要看上一眼就知道它們是食肉還是食草恐龍。

In the big carnivorous dinosaurs, you have hollow bones.

大型的食肉恐龍的骨頭是中空的。

And hollow bones, of course, can support the animals as long as the bone around the outsideis dense enough to support the weight of the animal.

當然對于中空的骨頭來說只要外部夠結實就能夠撐起動物的重量。

In the lab, paleontologists observed something peculiar, marks and deep gashes in the bone.

古生物學家們在實驗室里有了特殊的發(fā)現(xiàn)，就是骨頭上深深的溝痕。

The gashes were spaced 10 to 17 millimeters apart. These were probably bite marks.

這些溝痕的間距是10到17毫米。很可能是咬痕。

The scientists were eager to unravel the cause of death.

科學家們很想揭開它的死因。

At first the paleontologists had no idea who or what had made these markings on the bone.

一開始，古生物學家們不知道有什么能在骨頭上留下這樣的痕跡。

But using some of the same techniques that modern forensic scientists do today,

不過通過使用現(xiàn)代犯罪現(xiàn)場科學家所使用的科技，

they were able to solve the mystery of who it was that made these injuries over 70 millionyears ago.

他們解開了這一謎團，知道了七千萬年前這些傷痕的元兇。

First, they needed to identify the dinosaur. They turned to the local fossil evidence.

首先，他們要鑒別恐龍。他們轉向了當?shù)氐幕C據(jù)。

Found nearby was a remarkably well-preserved skull of a large predatory dinosaur, a meat-eating dinosaur called Majungasaurus.

在附近就發(fā)現(xiàn)過一個保存得很好的大型掠食恐龍頭骨，這種食肉恐龍叫做瑪君龍。

It was the T-Rex of the east.

它是東方的霸王龍。