侏羅紀(jì)搏擊俱樂(lè)部 第122期:發(fā)現(xiàn)潛在的掠食者

You really want to detect a predator before it gets close enough for you to be able to see it and so they potentially used other senses like the sense of smell.

它們確實(shí)會(huì)想在掠食者靠近得能夠看見(jiàn)之前就探測(cè)到它，所以它們潛在地使用其它感覺(jué)比如說(shuō)嗅覺(jué)。

With its limited visual capability, Gastonia had to rely on a keen sense of smell and hearing to keep it alert of potential predators.

加斯頓龍因?yàn)橐曈X(jué)能力有限，必須要依賴敏銳的嗅覺(jué)和聽覺(jué)才能發(fā)現(xiàn)潛在的掠食者。

Based on modern animal behavior, scientists also consider an intriguing possibility of another early warning system.

根據(jù)現(xiàn)代動(dòng)物行為，科學(xué)家也在考慮另一種早期預(yù)警系統(tǒng)有趣的可能性。

There are a lot of symbiotic relationships between animals today, and I have no doubt whatsoever that they existed in the past.

如今動(dòng)物間有很多共生關(guān)系，我敢肯定過(guò)去也有這種現(xiàn)象。

Look at modern rhinos.

比如現(xiàn)代犀牛。

They have a poor sense of vision, so they rely on birds to alert them to approaching danger.

它們的視力很差，所以它們依靠鳥類來(lái)警告它們有危險(xiǎn)靠近。

These birds in turn are protected from their own predators by the rhino.

這些鳥類反過(guò)來(lái)也被犀牛保護(hù)于它們自己的掠食者。

I think that small pterosaurs would have had the same symbiosis with Gastonia.

我認(rèn)為小型翼龍可能會(huì)跟加斯頓龍形成同樣的共生關(guān)系。

They would have been protected by the Gastonia, and in return, they would have warned it of potential danger.

它們可能被加斯頓龍保護(hù)，反過(guò)來(lái)它們警告加斯頓龍潛在的危險(xiǎn)。

But with its incredible array of defensive armor, why would Gastonia even need an early warning system?

不過(guò)有了這么出色的全副護(hù)甲，為何加斯頓龍還需要預(yù)警系統(tǒng)呢?

Its only vulnerability was its underbelly which was not armored, no creature could possibly have been strong enough or clever enough to prey on it.

它唯一的薄弱環(huán)節(jié)就是其沒(méi)有護(hù)甲的腹部，沒(méi)有哪種生物有那么壯或聰明能夠捕食加斯頓龍。

But 50 meters away, paleontologists found fossil evidence of exactly why Gastonia would have needed an early warning system.

不過(guò)50米開外，古生物學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)的化石證據(jù)說(shuō)明了，加斯頓龍究竟為什么需要預(yù)警系統(tǒng)。

In 1989, near the town of Moab in Utah, dinosaur hunter Robert Gaston discovered the remains of Gastonia, an armored dinosaur from the early Cretaceous.

1989年，在猶他州摩押鎮(zhèn)附近，恐龍獵人羅伯特·加斯頓發(fā)現(xiàn)一頭加斯頓龍的殘骸，這是白堊紀(jì)早期的一種有甲恐龍。

He had no idea that lying nearby was a second species, unknown to modern science.

他根本不知道另一個(gè)不為現(xiàn)代科學(xué)所知的物種就在不遠(yuǎn)處。

Only this one was a predator.

只不過(guò)這是一個(gè)掠食者。

And scientists would soon discover this was no ordinary killer.

科學(xué)家們很快就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這不是普通殺手。