 |
News of the discovery was published Friday in the journal Science after fossilized remains of the prehistoric beast were found in a lake bed in northeastern China. |
| |
這種史前猛獸的化石遺骸發現於中國東北部的一座湖泊底部之後，消息緊接著在週五發表於《科學》期刊。 |
| |
"The most interesting and important thing about this new fossil is that it is completely unexpected," said Stephen Brusatte, one of the article's authors, in a conference call with members of the press. |
| |
"It's becoming harder and harder to find fossils like this that totally throw us for a curve." |
| |
「這具新發現的化石最有趣也最重要的一點，就是完全出人意料之外，」文章撰寫人之一的史蒂芬•布魯薩特在與媒體人員的電話會議上表示：「現在已經愈來愈難發現這種完全出人意料的化石了。」 |
|
Paleontologists who have examined the fossil believe it was five to six years old when it died and that it was a direct ancestor of the better known T. Rex. |
| |
檢視過這具化石的古生物學家，認為這頭動物死於五到六歲之間，而且是較為人所知的暴龍的直系祖先。 |
|
"Raptorex really is a pivotal moment in the history of the group where most of the biologically meaningful features about Tyrannosaurus came into being," said Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago and the article's lead author. |
| |
「暴蜥伏龍在暴龍家族發展史上的確是重要的一環，當時暴龍各種重要的生物特徵都已出現，」保羅•塞里諾表示。他是芝加哥大學的古生物學家，也是這篇文章的主筆人。 |
|
Sereno and his colleagues estimate that Raptorex was about nine feet tall and weighed in at 143 pounds. |
| |
In comparison, Tyrannosaurus rex, which topped the prehistoric food chain up until about 65 million years ago, weighed in at around five tons. |
| |
塞里諾和他的同僚估計暴蜥伏龍高約九英尺，重約一百四十三磅。相較之下，在六千五百萬年前位居史前時代食物鏈頂端的暴龍，體重則在五噸左右。 |
|
Unlike T. rex, which is believed to have ambushed or scavenged its food, the more nimble Raptorex most likely ran down its prey, dispatching it with sharp teeth and powerful jaws. |
| |
不像一般人認為暴龍會伏擊獵物或尋覓腐肉為食，動作較靈敏的暴蜥伏龍較有可能追捕獵物，再利用尖銳的牙齒和有力的顎部咬死對方。 |
| |
"We can say that these features did not evolve as a consequence of large body size, but rather evolved as an efficient set of predatory weapons in an animal that was 1/100th the size of Tyrannosaurus rex and that lived 60 million years before Tyrannosaurus rex," Brusatte said. |
| |
布魯薩特表示：「我們可以說，這些特徵不是因為體型碩大而演化出來的結果。對於這種體型只有暴龍百分之一、生存年代也早了六千萬年的動物來說，這毋寧是一套有效的掠食武器。」 |
中
