侏羅紀(jì)搏擊俱樂部 第18期:幼年霸王龍慘遭橫死

In the summer of 1998, a group of amateurpaleontologists were conducting a routine dig, whenthey made a stunning discovery

1998年的夏天，一組業(yè)余古生物愛好者在進(jìn)行一次例行挖掘時做出了一個驚人發(fā)現(xiàn)，

the fossilized remains of a Tyrannosaurus Rex andthe site of its death.

一具雷克斯暴龍的化石殘骸和它斃命的地點。

They were immediately able to determine that theremains belonged to a young T-Rex.

他們立刻就確定了這具殘骸屬于一頭幼年霸王龍。

But this was not just an ordinary skeleton.

不過這不是一具尋常的骨架。

Many of the bones had been broken and surrounding the skeleton were strange blade-liketeeth.

很多骨頭已經(jīng)碎裂，而且骨架的周遭是奇怪的刃狀牙齒。

But these teeth were not the teeth of the baby T-Rex. They were the teeth of another,unidentified predator.

不過這些并非幼年霸王龍的牙齒。它們屬于另一種尚待確認(rèn)的掠食者。

Science attempts to explain how this T-Rex died.

科學(xué)界試圖解釋這頭霸王龍的死因。

In 1998, near the town of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, they found what appeared to be theskeletal remains of a relatively small dinosaur.

1998年，在南達(dá)科塔的貝爾伏奇，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一具相對較小的恐龍留下的骨骼殘骸。

At first, they were not sure of what they had, but evidence started to emerge that told themthis was a young Tyrannosaurus Rex.

開始時，他們不知道這是什么，不過證據(jù)開始告訴他們這是一頭幼年霸王龍。

T-Rex is a pretty rare dinosaur, but juveniles are almost unheard of. So its discovery was prettysignificant.

霸王龍是一種較少見的恐龍，幼年的更是幾乎聞所未聞。所以這次發(fā)現(xiàn)很有意義。

As they continued to excavate the remains, they observed broken ribs, leg and arm bones, andvarious vertebras showed signs of injury.

隨著他們繼續(xù)挖掘化石骨骸，他們看到碎裂的肋骨腿骨和臂骨，而且有幾節(jié)脊椎骨有受傷的跡象。

The sheer number of broken bones was unusual. Something had happened here. Somethinghad killed this T-Rex.

碎裂骨頭的數(shù)量很不尋常。這里發(fā)生過什么事。有什么東西殺死了這頭霸王龍。

The bones indicated a brutal battle. paleontologists realized they were looking at the scene ofa violent death.

這些骨頭表明了一場殘酷的戰(zhàn)斗。古生物學(xué)家們意識到所見的是霸王龍慘遭橫死的現(xiàn)場。

Tyrannosaurus Rex was the apex predator of its time. Little, if anything, hunted it.

雷克斯暴龍是當(dāng)時的頂級掠食者。幾乎沒什么能夠獵殺它們。

In the late Cretaceous, T-Rex stood out among dinosaurs as one of the deadliest.

在白堊紀(jì)晚期，霸王龍在恐龍中鶴立雞群，是最為致命的一種。

They weighed up to 7 tons, stood 5 meters tall, and measured 14 meters in length.

它們重達(dá)七噸，立起來有五米高，長度達(dá)十四米。