【雙語(yǔ)閱讀】恐龍吃什么.

　　恐龍吃什么?當(dāng)然，這個(gè)問(wèn)題與“什么吃恐龍?”一樣有趣，一樣具有啟發(fā)性。 但就“小盜龍吃什么”這一問(wèn)題(見(jiàn)文章)，北京中國(guó)科學(xué)院古脊椎動(dòng)物和古人類研究所的Jingmai O&aposConnor在古脊椎動(dòng)物學(xué)會(huì)年會(huì)上發(fā)表了演說(shuō)。

　　Science and Technolgy

　　What dinosaurs ate

　　The belly of the beast

　　A chance discovery from China suggests some dinosaurs lived in trees

　　WHAT dinosaurs ate is, of course, a question as interesting and illuminating as what ate dinosaurs (see article). In the case of one particular dinosaur,Microraptor, the matter was addressed in a presentation to the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology by Jingmai O&aposConnor of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, in Beijing.

　　Microraptor (see photograph) is one of many small, feathered dinosaurs found in what is now China that were alive during the Cretaceous period more than 66m years ago. Being feathered, it and its kind were cousins to birds. The actual split between the two groups, though, had happened much earlier, during the Jurassic period (the first known bird is Archaeopteryx, from 150m years ago), and by the late Cretaceous there were many species of bird around. What Dr O&aposConnor and her colleagues have found is the remains of one of those birds, of an as-yet-unidentified species, in the stomach of a specimen of Microraptor.

　　That is interesting, discovering direct evidence of what a fossil animal ate, rather than having to infer it from details such as the shape of its teeth, is always valuable. But the find&aposs true significance is a small detail of the prey&aposs anatomy: the third toe of its foot.

　　The size of the prey&aposs third toe is important because, among birds, long third toes are helpful for grasping branches and perching in trees. Indeed, the trait is so usul for arboreal life that it is used by many avian palaeontologists to decide whether newly excavated species of fossil birds lived in trees or on the ground. And the last meal of this particular specimen of Microraptor did, indeed, have a long third toe.

　　That elongated toe suggests to Dr O&aposConnor that Microraptor, too, was arboreal, and hints that its feathers may have helped it to move through an environment where hops, jumps and flaps between branches were a regular part of its daily activity. Whether the first birds evolved from arboreal or terrestrial ancestors is a matter of lively debate among palaeontologists. A fossil formed so long after birds emerged does not, in truth, shed much light on that debate. But it does suggest feathers may have helped promote life in the trees, even for creatures that could not actually fly.

　　【中文對(duì)照翻譯】

　　科技

　　恐龍吃什么

　　腹中發(fā)現(xiàn)

　　在中國(guó)的一次偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)暗示著有些恐龍?jiān)跇?shù)上生活

　　恐龍吃什么?當(dāng)然，這個(gè)問(wèn)題與“什么吃恐龍?”一樣有趣，一樣具有啟發(fā)性。 但就“小盜龍吃什么”這一問(wèn)題(見(jiàn)文章)，北京中國(guó)科學(xué)院古脊椎動(dòng)物和古人類研究所的Jingmai O&aposConnor在古脊椎動(dòng)物學(xué)會(huì)年會(huì)上發(fā)表了演說(shuō)。

　　小盜龍(見(jiàn)圖)，生活在距今六千六百多萬(wàn)年前的白堊紀(jì)，是現(xiàn)今中國(guó)境內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)的眾多體型嬌小、長(zhǎng)有羽毛的恐龍之一。 這一種恐龍身著羽毛，是鳥(niǎo)類的近親。 盡管，這兩種物種早在侏羅紀(jì)時(shí)期(已知的最早鳥(niǎo)類是始祖鳥(niǎo)，生活在一億五千萬(wàn)年前)就已分道揚(yáng)鑣， 而且，到了白堊紀(jì)后期，已出現(xiàn)了許多種的鳥(niǎo)類。 O&aposConnor博士和她同事在小盜龍樣本的胃中發(fā)現(xiàn)了那時(shí)期鳥(niǎo)類的殘骸，但其種類還未得到鑒別。

　　比起根據(jù)其牙齒形狀等細(xì)節(jié)來(lái)推測(cè)出結(jié)果，找出古生物吃什么的直接證據(jù)是有價(jià)值的。 但是，這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)真正重要之處卻是其骨骼的一個(gè)細(xì)微之處：它腳掌的第三個(gè)腳趾。那是非常有趣的。

　　捕食者第三個(gè)腳趾的大小是很重要的，因?yàn)椋瑢?duì)于鳥(niǎo)來(lái)說(shuō)，長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的第三趾可以幫助其抓緊樹(shù)枝，在樹(shù)上棲息。 的確，對(duì)于樹(shù)棲生物這一特點(diǎn)是相當(dāng)有用的，而許多鳥(niǎo)類古生物學(xué)家也利用這一特點(diǎn)來(lái)確定新挖掘出的鳥(niǎo)類化石是棲息在樹(shù)上還是生活在地面 而小盜龍的最后一餐顯然長(zhǎng)有長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的第三個(gè)腳趾。

　　那細(xì)長(zhǎng)的腳趾暗示著O&aposConnor博士小盜龍也是樹(shù)棲的。在一個(gè)需在枝椏間跳躍、滑行的生活環(huán)境中，它的羽毛可能對(duì)它的日?；顒?dòng)有所幫助。 關(guān)于第一只鳥(niǎo)是從樹(shù)棲還是陸生的祖先進(jìn)化而來(lái)，一直是古生物學(xué)家激烈爭(zhēng)論的話題。 事實(shí)上，一個(gè)在鳥(niǎo)類出現(xiàn)很久之后形成的化石并沒(méi)有使得這一論戰(zhàn)明朗化。 但是，這的確說(shuō)明對(duì)于居于樹(shù)上、即使是那些根本不能飛的樹(shù)棲生物來(lái)說(shuō)，羽毛可能真的有助于它們的生活。

　　恐龍吃什么?當(dāng)然，這個(gè)問(wèn)題與“什么吃恐龍?”一樣有趣，一樣具有啟發(fā)性。 但就“小盜龍吃什么”這一問(wèn)題(見(jiàn)文章)，北京中國(guó)科學(xué)院古脊椎動(dòng)物和古人類研究所的Jingmai O&aposConnor在古脊椎動(dòng)物學(xué)會(huì)年會(huì)上發(fā)表了演說(shuō)。

　　Science and Technolgy

　　What dinosaurs ate

　　The belly of the beast

　　A chance discovery from China suggests some dinosaurs lived in trees

　　WHAT dinosaurs ate is, of course, a question as interesting and illuminating as what ate dinosaurs (see article). In the case of one particular dinosaur,Microraptor, the matter was addressed in a presentation to the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology by Jingmai O&aposConnor of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, in Beijing.

　　Microraptor (see photograph) is one of many small, feathered dinosaurs found in what is now China that were alive during the Cretaceous period more than 66m years ago. Being feathered, it and its kind were cousins to birds. The actual split between the two groups, though, had happened much earlier, during the Jurassic period (the first known bird is Archaeopteryx, from 150m years ago), and by the late Cretaceous there were many species of bird around. What Dr O&aposConnor and her colleagues have found is the remains of one of those birds, of an as-yet-unidentified species, in the stomach of a specimen of Microraptor.

　　That is interesting, discovering direct evidence of what a fossil animal ate, rather than having to infer it from details such as the shape of its teeth, is always valuable. But the find&aposs true significance is a small detail of the prey&aposs anatomy: the third toe of its foot.

　　The size of the prey&aposs third toe is important because, among birds, long third toes are helpful for grasping branches and perching in trees. Indeed, the trait is so usul for arboreal life that it is used by many avian palaeontologists to decide whether newly excavated species of fossil birds lived in trees or on the ground. And the last meal of this particular specimen of Microraptor did, indeed, have a long third toe.

　　That elongated toe suggests to Dr O&aposConnor that Microraptor, too, was arboreal, and hints that its feathers may have helped it to move through an environment where hops, jumps and flaps between branches were a regular part of its daily activity. Whether the first birds evolved from arboreal or terrestrial ancestors is a matter of lively debate among palaeontologists. A fossil formed so long after birds emerged does not, in truth, shed much light on that debate. But it does suggest feathers may have helped promote life in the trees, even for creatures that could not actually fly.

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