洞穴頂部的腳印顯示恐龍“蹲伏行走”穿過一個泥濘的湖泊

洞穴頂部的腳印顯示恐龍“蹲伏行走”穿過一個泥濘的湖泊

Footprints embedded in the roof of the Mount Morgan caves in Queensland reveal the dinosaur that made them was crouching as it walked. Rather than stalking prey, it seems the ancient beast was just trying to stay upright in tricky conditions.

昆士蘭摩根山洞穴的屋頂上嵌有腳印，這表明恐龍在走路的時候是蹲著的。這頭遠古的猛獸并不是在跟蹤獵物，而是試圖在復雜的環(huán)境中保持直立。

The roofs of at least nine caves around Mount Morgan have preserved dinosaur footprints made in what was once a muddy lake, including the most diverse set of tracks in eastern Australia. To palaeontologists' frustration, the caves have been shut for a decade, not only to the public but to researchers as well.

摩根山周圍至少有9個洞穴的屋頂上保存著曾經(jīng)是一個泥濘湖的恐龍腳印，包括澳大利亞東部最多樣化的腳印。令古生物學家沮喪的是，這些洞穴已經(jīng)關閉了10年，不僅是對公眾，對研究人員也是如此。

Stephen Luntz

Dr Anthony Romilio of the University of Queensland made a breakthrough in understanding these tracks through a chance meeting with the daughter of Ross Staines, who documented them before the closure. Using detailed records that had sat for decades in a family cupboard Romilio recently resolved a long-standing mystery about one set of prints. Publicity about that announcement yielded a second discovery when the Mount Morgan Historical Museum informed Romilio they had photographs taken in a different part of the cave system before it was shut.

昆士蘭大學的Anthony Romilio博士通過與Ross Staines的女兒的一次偶然會面，在了解這些足跡方面取得了突破。羅米里奧使用了家族櫥柜中保存了幾十年的詳細記錄，最近解決了一組指紋的長期謎團。當摩根山歷史博物館通知羅密里奧，在關閉之前，他們已經(jīng)在洞穴系統(tǒng)的另一個部分拍了照片，關于這個公告的宣傳產(chǎn)生了第二個發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Now, Romilio has analyzed the tracks in these photographs, publishing his findings in Historical Biology.

現(xiàn)在，Romilio分析了這些照片中的軌跡，并將他的發(fā)現(xiàn)發(fā)表在《歷史生物學》雜志上。

These footprints show the dinosaur that made them was putting its weight on its whole feet, not just its toes, indicating it was crouching. Mount Morgan Historical Museum

Dinosaurs like the ones that made these prints usually walked on their toes, Romilio told IFLScience, but the prints maker's whole feet were in contact with the ground. By watching surviving dinosaurs such as emus and storks, as well as evidence from footprints elsewhere, scientists have concluded a flat-footed stance equates to holding a crouching position.

Romilio告訴IFLScience，制造這些腳印的恐龍通常是用腳趾走路的，但腳印制造者的整只腳都是與地面接觸的。通過觀察現(xiàn)存的恐龍，如鴯鹋和鸛，以及其他地方的腳印，科學家們得出結(jié)論，扁平足的姿勢等同于蹲著。

When this has been seen elsewhere it was usually from apparently stationary animals, possibly guarding their eggs. Some dinosaurs may have crouched like tigers to pounce on prey, but Romilio said in a statement, “You can rule out predatory stalking behavior, as this set of tracks was made by a two-legged plant eater called an ornithopod.”

當這種情況在其他地方出現(xiàn)時，它通常來自于明顯靜止不動的動物，可能是為了保護它們的蛋。有些恐龍可能會像老虎一樣蹲著撲向獵物，但羅米里奧在一份聲明中說，“你可以排除食肉性跟蹤行為，因為這一系列的足跡是由一種叫做鳥腳亞目食肉恐龍的兩腿食草動物留下的。”

Nor was the maker ducking beneath trees. Instead, Romilio thinks the most likely explanation is the ornithopod was keeping its center of mass low for maximum stability on a slippery mud plain. “Interestingly, this crouching dinosaur was taking bigger steps than other ‘normal’ walking dinosaurs,” he added.

造物主也沒有躲到樹下。相反，羅米里奧認為最可能的解釋是，為了在濕滑的泥地平原上獲得最大的穩(wěn)定性，鳥腳亞目恐龍一直保持著較低的重心。“有趣的是，這種蹲伏的恐龍比其他‘正常’行走的恐龍邁出了更大的一步，”他補充道。

The track-maker was probably the same species, and perhaps even the same individual, as the one responsible for the larger tracks from Romilio's previous discovery. Romilio told IFLScience the maker of the prints has been given the name Anomoepus, but has not been matched to a specific species known from bones or teeth. Similar, if usually slightly smaller, prints are widespread across Queensland and beyond, indicating Anomoepus was once reasonably common and survived much of the Jurassic.

這個軌跡制造者很可能是同一物種，甚至可能是同一個體，與之前羅米尼奧發(fā)現(xiàn)的更大軌跡的制造者是同一物種，甚至可能是同一個體。羅密里奧告訴《科學》雜志，這些腳印的制造者被命名為“反常獸”，但還沒有與骨骼或牙齒上已知的特定物種相匹配。類似的，盡管通常稍小一些，但在昆士蘭州及其它地區(qū)分布廣泛，這表明異常動物曾經(jīng)相當普遍，并在侏羅紀時期存活了下來。

Romilio hopes to one day study the caves directly, or at least send in a drone. As long as they remain closed, however, he'd love to hear from anyone with further mislaid records.

羅米里奧希望有一天能直接研究這些洞穴，或者至少送一架無人機過去。不過，只要他們不對外開放，他很樂意聽到任何有更多遺失記錄的人的消息。