維特莫研究其顱骨時,看到牙齒里有鋸齒狀的脊狀隆起。
The ridges are remarkably similar to those of anotheranimal with a deadly bite, a Komodo dragon.
這些隆起跟另一種撕咬致命的動物非常相似——科莫多龍。
Another interesting attribute about the teeth ofTyrannosaurus Rex, is that the serrations on theteeth,
霸王龍的牙齒另一個有趣的特點是,牙齒上的鋸齒狀凸起,
the fine little ridges, perhaps actually lodged littlebits of flesh from a previous meal and that rotting of that flesh would've produced a great dealof bacteria.
細小的隆起里面可能會留下上一頓美餐的肉屑,這些肉腐爛后會產生大量細菌。
What we're talking about here is really bad oral hygiene.
我們說的可真是很糟糕的口腔衛(wèi)生。
Now, in today we actually have animals, the Komodo dragon, this large gigantic lizard, thatactually has what we call a septic bite.
如今我們確實有這樣的動物,比如科莫多龍這樣的巨大蜥蜴,這種攻擊被我們稱為敗血一咬。
That, actually, when it bites an animal, it, in a sense, infects it with the bacteria in its mouth.
其實就是當它撕咬別的動物時把口腔里的細菌感染給該動物。
Equipped with these features it seems unlikely that any creature would attack a TyrannosaurusRex, even a juvenile.
有了這些特點的武裝,看來好像沒有什么動物會攻擊雷克斯暴龍,哪怕是尚未成年的。
So to determine who would attack this T-Rex, paleontologists had to get a complete picture ofhow T-Rex lived, and fought.
要確定這頭霸王龍遭到誰的攻擊,古生物學家必須要獲得霸王龍生活和戰(zhàn)斗的全景。
The first step was to study its environment.
第一步是研究其生活環(huán)境。
When we look at the Cretaceous environments of this part of the world, it's not all that differentthan environments that we still have today.
我們在了解白堊紀時期世界的這部分環(huán)境時,發(fā)現跟現在我們有的沒那么大區(qū)別。
When we look at the plants, when we look at the climate and so on,
我們研究了植物,也關注了氣候等,
we could assume that we were looking at something that looks very similar to what we see inthe Gulf States, climate wise and everything else-wise.
能夠推測我們要面對的環(huán)境跟現在墨西哥灣各州非常接近,無論是氣候還是其它方面。
Fossilized plants found near the skeleton revealed that the young T-Rex lived in an area nearconifer, pine and magnolia trees.
在骨骸附近發(fā)現的化石植物揭示,年幼的霸王龍生活的地區(qū)附近有針葉林松樹和木蘭樹。
They also discovered prehistoric ash, which suggests that volcanic activity occurred on aregular basis.
人們還發(fā)現了史前火山灰,表明那時的火山活動頻繁發(fā)生。
But in the investigation, scientists discovered something else.
不過在調查中,科學家們還發(fā)現了別的信息。
Bones of prehistoric crocodiles and fish were found nearby.
附近還有史前鱷魚和魚類的骨骸。
This suggests that the T-Rex's body had been washed into a river during flooding.
這說明霸王龍的尸體被洪水沖入了一條河流。
Evidence of a violent earth that could change without warning.
這是狂暴地球突發(fā)劇變的證據。
After studying its environment, the investigation looked to the behaviour of TyrannosaurusRex.
在研究了環(huán)境之后,調查還要關注雷克斯暴龍的行為。
Using evidence found in the bones and study from modern animal behaviour,
通過在骨骸上找到的證據和對現代動物行為的研究,
scientists piece together how these huge dinosaurs hunted, fought and raised their young.
科學家們推斷出了這種龐大恐龍是怎樣狩獵、戰(zhàn)斗和撫育后代的。
Tyrannosaurus Rex was the ultimate aggressor.
雷克斯暴龍是終極攻擊者。
There's nothing that Tyrannosaurus Rex was afraid of including its biggest prey item,Triceratops,
雷克斯暴龍無所畏懼,包括它們最大的獵物——三角龍,
which had these big formidable horns and frill to protect its neck.
三角龍有可怕的大角和保護頸部的褶皺。
But there were no other dinosaurs around that would even give Tyrannosaurus Rex a secondthought about its own safety.
不過周圍沒有別的恐龍會讓雷克斯暴龍對自身安全有所顧慮。