Ancient animal behaviour

　　遠古動物行為

　　Jurassic lark

　　侏羅紀雨燕

　　How the pterosaur caught its supper

　　翼龍是如何逮到晚餐的

　　PALAEOETHOLOGY, working out how long-extinct animals behaved, is a subject whosepractitioners can never, definitively, be proved right.

　　古行為學，作為一門研究那些早已滅絕的動物的行為的學科，其研究者永遠不可能證明自己的理論是確鑿無誤的，

　　But that does not stop them trying.

　　但這一點從來沒有阻止過他們對真相的探索。

　　The latest effort, to be presented laterthis month to the International Symposium on Pterosaurs in Rio de Janeiro, is an attempt byMichael Habib of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, and Mark Witton at theUniversity of Portsmouth, in Britain, to work out how one of the most peculiar of the flyingreptiles of the Jurassic earned its living.

　　本月晚些時候，將于里約熱內盧舉行的國際翼龍目研討會將展示該領域最新一項研究成果，南加州大學的Michael Habib和普利茅斯大學的Mark Witton進行了該項研究，目的在于弄清楚侏羅紀最神奇的飛行類爬行動物之一是如何捕捉食物的。

　　Anurognathus and its relatives have been known for 90 years.

　　蛙嘴龍及其近親為人類了解已有90年。

　　They were the size of swifts and until now it had been thought that, like swifts, they chasedaround the sky after insectsa technique known as hawking.

　　它們體型如雨燕般大小，直到今天，人們一直認為它們像雨燕一樣在天空中到處疾飛追逐昆蟲即一種被稱為飛行捕食的攝食策略。

　　Dr Habib and Dr Witton believe this is wrong.

　　兩位博士Habib 和Witton認為這種理論是錯誤的，

　　They suspect instead that Anurognathus sat in wait for its prey, and then sallied forth tointercept it like a surface-to-air missile.

　　他們猜想蛙嘴龍反而是靜待獵物，然后像地空導彈一樣突然騰空截擊。

　　They came to this conclusion by comparing Anurognathus with 36 birds and 20 bats from theSmithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

　　在將蛙嘴龍與取自斯密森學會博物館的36種鳥和20種蝙蝠進行對比后，Habib和Witton做出這一推論。

　　Using a mix of computerised tomography and mundane measurements with callipers, theyassessed the lengths, widths, thicknesses, densities and bending potential of the bones ofthe modern animals and compared them with those gleaned from Anurognathus fossils.

　　他們綜合了計算機斷層攝影術和使用卡鉗的普通測量方法，分析評估了現代動物骨骼的長度，寬度，厚度，密度及彎曲度可能性，并將它們和從蛙嘴龍化石中搜集到的數據進行對比。

　　Anurognathus s mouth, they found, was similar to the mouths of nightjars, which also sallyafter prey.

　　他們發現，蛙嘴龍的嘴與夜鷹相似，后者也是突襲獵物的。

　　Moreover, the pterosaurs legs and wings were stronger than those of any comparable birdor bat, reinforcing the idea that they could leap rapidly into the air.

　　另外，翼龍的腿和翅膀要比任何可以相提并論的鳥類和蝙蝠都要強壯，這一點強化了它們可以迅疾騰空的觀點。

　　Their conclusion was that Anurognathus did indeed feed by sallyingand probably moreeffectively than any living creature.

　　兩位博士Habib和Witton的結論是，蛙嘴龍的確是突然騰空襲擊獵物的而且它們的狩獵有可能比任何生物都要更高效。

　　詞語解釋

　　1.work out 解決;作出

　　Negotiators are due to meet later today to work outa compromise...

　　談判人員定于今天晚些時候進行會談，商定一個折中方案。

　　It took me some time to work out what was causingthis.

　　我花了一些時間才弄清此事的起因。

　　2.chase around 向某方向急奔

　　Clive and carol chase around a lot together.

　　克萊夫和卡羅爾兩人交往甚密。

　　It was all quite exciting as a slow-motion game of chase around the islands ensued.

　　圍著島嶼，慢速追逐，這非常刺激。

　　3.wait for 等候

　　I ll wait for you.

　　我會等你的.

　　But foreign wars don t wait for washington inaugurations.

　　但是國外的戰爭是不會等待華盛頓的就職儀式。

　　4.similar to 跟。。。類似得，與。。。同樣的

　　You should see something similar to figure 2.

　　你應該會看到類似圖2的內容。

　　Try and visualize this energy as a bright white light similar to that of sunlight.

　　試著想象這一能源，把它當做一種明亮如陽光一樣的白光。

　　Ancient animal behaviour

　　遠古動物行為

　　Jurassic lark

　　侏羅紀雨燕

　　How the pterosaur caught its supper

　　翼龍是如何逮到晚餐的

　　PALAEOETHOLOGY, working out how long-extinct animals behaved, is a subject whosepractitioners can never, definitively, be proved right.

　　古行為學，作為一門研究那些早已滅絕的動物的行為的學科，其研究者永遠不可能證明自己的理論是確鑿無誤的，

　　But that does not stop them trying.

　　但這一點從來沒有阻止過他們對真相的探索。

　　The latest effort, to be presented laterthis month to the International Symposium on Pterosaurs in Rio de Janeiro, is an attempt byMichael Habib of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, and Mark Witton at theUniversity of Portsmouth, in Britain, to work out how one of the most peculiar of the flyingreptiles of the Jurassic earned its living.

　　本月晚些時候，將于里約熱內盧舉行的國際翼龍目研討會將展示該領域最新一項研究成果，南加州大學的Michael Habib和普利茅斯大學的Mark Witton進行了該項研究，目的在于弄清楚侏羅紀最神奇的飛行類爬行動物之一是如何捕捉食物的。

　　Anurognathus and its relatives have been known for 90 years.

　　蛙嘴龍及其近親為人類了解已有90年。

　　They were the size of swifts and until now it had been thought that, like swifts, they chasedaround the sky after insectsa technique known as hawking.

　　它們體型如雨燕般大小，直到今天，人們一直認為它們像雨燕一樣在天空中到處疾飛追逐昆蟲即一種被稱為飛行捕食的攝食策略。

　　Dr Habib and Dr Witton believe this is wrong.

　　兩位博士Habib 和Witton認為這種理論是錯誤的，

　　They suspect instead that Anurognathus sat in wait for its prey, and then sallied forth tointercept it like a surface-to-air missile.

　　他們猜想蛙嘴龍反而是靜待獵物，然后像地空導彈一樣突然騰空截擊。

　　They came to this conclusion by comparing Anurognathus with 36 birds and 20 bats from theSmithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

　　在將蛙嘴龍與取自斯密森學會博物館的36種鳥和20種蝙蝠進行對比后，Habib和Witton做出這一推論。

　　Using a mix of computerised tomography and mundane measurements with callipers, theyassessed the lengths, widths, thicknesses, densities and bending potential of the bones ofthe modern animals and compared them with those gleaned from Anurognathus fossils.

　　他們綜合了計算機斷層攝影術和使用卡鉗的普通測量方法，分析評估了現代動物骨骼的長度，寬度，厚度，密度及彎曲度可能性，并將它們和從蛙嘴龍化石中搜集到的數據進行對比。

　　Anurognathus s mouth, they found, was similar to the mouths of nightjars, which also sallyafter prey.

　　他們發現，蛙嘴龍的嘴與夜鷹相似，后者也是突襲獵物的。

　　Moreover, the pterosaurs legs and wings were stronger than those of any comparable birdor bat, reinforcing the idea that they could leap rapidly into the air.

　　另外，翼龍的腿和翅膀要比任何可以相提并論的鳥類和蝙蝠都要強壯，這一點強化了它們可以迅疾騰空的觀點。

　　Their conclusion was that Anurognathus did indeed feed by sallyingand probably moreeffectively than any living creature.

　　兩位博士Habib和Witton的結論是，蛙嘴龍的確是突然騰空襲擊獵物的而且它們的狩獵有可能比任何生物都要更高效。

　　詞語解釋

　　1.work out 解決;作出

　　Negotiators are due to meet later today to work outa compromise...

　　談判人員定于今天晚些時候進行會談，商定一個折中方案。

　　It took me some time to work out what was causingthis.

　　我花了一些時間才弄清此事的起因。

　　2.chase around 向某方向急奔

　　Clive and carol chase around a lot together.

　　克萊夫和卡羅爾兩人交往甚密。

　　It was all quite exciting as a slow-motion game of chase around the islands ensued.

　　圍著島嶼，慢速追逐，這非常刺激。

　　3.wait for 等候

　　I ll wait for you.

　　我會等你的.

　　But foreign wars don t wait for washington inaugurations.

　　但是國外的戰爭是不會等待華盛頓的就職儀式。

　　4.similar to 跟。。。類似得，與。。。同樣的

　　You should see something similar to figure 2.

　　你應該會看到類似圖2的內容。

　　Try and visualize this energy as a bright white light similar to that of sunlight.

　　試著想象這一能源，把它當做一種明亮如陽光一樣的白光。