侏羅紀(jì)搏擊俱樂(lè)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(ài)好者在進(jìn)行一次例行挖掘時(shí)做出了一個(gè)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(diǎn)。

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(guò)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(guò)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(duì)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(kāi)始時(shí)，他們不知道這是什么，不過(guò)證據(jù)開(kāi)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(jiàn)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(guò)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(chǎng)殘酷的戰(zhàn)斗。古生物學(xué)家們意識(shí)到所見(jiàn)的是霸王龍慘遭橫死的現(xiàn)場(chǎng)。

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

雷克斯暴龍是當(dāng)時(shí)的頂級(jí)掠食者。幾乎沒(méi)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?jiān)诳铸堉喧Q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(lái)有五米高，長(zhǎng)度達(dá)十四米。