VOA慢速英语(翻译+字幕+讲解):比利时"神奇鸡"被认为是现代鸟类的祖先
日期:2020-03-26 15:40

(单词翻译:单击)

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听力文本

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Belgium's 'Wonderchicken' Believed to Be Ancestor of Modern Birds
The remains of a small bird are giving scientists a rare look at early ancestors of modern birds. Scientists believe it may be the oldest known fossil from this group of animals.
Researchers are calling the ancient creature "Wonderchicken." They say the fossil dates back to right before an asteroid hit the Earth, killing off dinosaurs and other creatures.
The researchers released a report describing a partridge-sized bird, whose scientific name is Asteriornis maastrichtensis. It lived in coastal wetlands more than 66 million years ago during Earth's Cretaceous Period.
The report appeared this month in Nature magazine.
Daniel Field of Cambridge University was the lead author of the paper. He told The Associated Press that Wonderchicken is "down near the bottom of the modern-bird family tree." He said it had a face like that of today's chicken-like birds and a body like that of a duck.
The fossil was discovered in Belgium. It appeared as a block of broken rocks with some broken leg bones. But imaging equipment showed the remains of the creature's head inside the rock. An earlier reported fossil find from Antarctica is almost as old. But its exact age and place on the evolutionary tree are not clear. Field thinks the Belgian skull is a little older.
The leg bones let researchers estimate the creature was the size of a very small duck, weighing less than 400 grams. Its legs were long and thin, and it could probably fly, Field said.

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现代鸟类祖先“神奇鸡”复原图.jpg
Researchers think birds developed from small feathered dinosaurs that lived about 150 million years ago. Many birds still had teeth until the asteroid struck some 66 million years ago, leading to the disappearance of three-fourths of Earth's plant and animal species.
Close relatives of Wonderchicken survived this event. And the fossil itself shows qualities that have been suggested as helpful for its survival, Field said. Its legs suggest it did not live in trees, which is important since forests were thought to have been destroyed by wildfires after the asteroid.
"It also probably paid to not be picky about what you are eating," since there wasn't much ... in the aftermath of the asteroid," said Field. The area around Wonderchicken's mouth shows no signs of a specialized diet, he added.
Scientists unconnected to the research are expressing interest in the findings.
Kevin Padian, a paleontologist at the University of California, Berkeley, said the fossil provides the best evidence yet of when and how the earliest ancestors of today's birds evolved.
Genetic studies have suggested that those ancestors appeared tens of millions of years before Wonderchicken, he said. But the fossil record shows no support for that, and there is no known fossil that is clearly from this lineage that predates Wonderchicken, he added.
Julia Clarke is a fossil-bird expert at the University of Texas at Austin. She said the fossil "has a lot of information that can start to add to our picture of the earliest steps" in the spread of living bird species.
Fossils are like pictures taken by a camera, she said. And right now there are few records from this time period that relate to modern-day birds.
"Any new picture is of key importance," said Clarke.
I'm Pete Musto.

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重点解析

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重点讲解:
1. date back to 追溯(到);开始(于);始造(或建)(于);
The community's links with Syria date back to biblical times.
这个团体与叙利亚的关系可以追溯到《圣经》时代&teuiIQ)=H
2. kill off 被全部杀死;被灭绝;
Their natural predators have been killed off.
它们的天敌被全部杀死Zt^4[b-GPBHZE3@S|O
3. lead to 招致;致使;导致;
The new system may be more economic but will lead to a decline in programme quality.
新系统可能更合算,但是会降低程序质量1AUf%+XB@T.My
4. add to 添加;增加;
I have nothing to add to my earlier statement.
我对我早先说的话没有什么补充的xCjJxZf(n-tqX

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参考译文

比利时“神奇鸡”被认为是现代鸟类的祖先
一只小鸟的遗骸为科学家提供了研究现代鸟类早期祖先的难得机会nrto@4DN|h。科学家认为,这可能是已知最古老的现代鸟类化石Z[4spwZ@Pp
研究人员将这种古老的生物称为“神奇鸡”vE4Szw.dynF!。他们认为,这一化石可追溯到小行星撞击地球致恐龙和其他生物灭绝之前n^6[@m=Hd,[DuPl.
研究人员发布了一份报告,里面描述了一种鹧鸪大小的鸟,其科学名称为阿斯忒瑞亚鸟AvzD4)[43pqH8_%_;VVj。这种鸟生活在6600多万年前地球白垩纪时期的滨海湿地jxP0[1Zb1UMva7z.|
这份报告刊登在本月发表的《自然》期刊上3m#JtVumS7;_Wgp
剑桥大学的丹尼尔·菲尔德是这篇论文的主要作者pgr5rrZ+X)1c(。他对美联社表示,“神奇鸡”在“现代鸟类系谱的接近底部”O]ixAM0^(@]&UN41=tgn。他说,其面部很像今天的似鸡鸟类,身体则像现在的鸭类HPdBs3BE]y0@RH
化石在比利时发现jQ59y|=0J,0F。它看起来像一块破碎的岩石和一些断裂的腿骨p#~*y+p!|!m(f。但成像设备显示,岩石内是这种生物的头部遗骸R*_[8J=g;]b8Ba。这块化石与此前报告的一块南极化石的年代差不多久远;CF~itfcS|9z。但其确切年龄和在进化树上的位置尚不清楚;POOCGFK7A~5。菲尔德认为这块比利时发现的头骨稍古老一些_b#3r!F*HYgW[
通过这些腿骨,研究人员估计这种生物的体型相当于一只非常小的鸭子,体重不足400克T.p_;-GLx47,0HYd)Qo。菲尔德说,它的腿又长又细,很可能会飞TQAeE,_VV#Ku#)n~%
研究人员认为,鸟类由生活在约1500万年前的小型有羽毛恐龙进化而来ri*yg;=-b^LAFk7=zK。直到6600万年前小行星撞击地球致地球上四分之三的植物和动物物种消失时,许多鸟类仍长着牙齿slPc&.=VnWG85Y-C=_y)
“神奇鸡”的近亲在这场灾难中幸存下来kBDZWKVbbP。菲尔德说,化石本身也显示了一些被认为有利于其度过危机的特征xkQjkM=HoBPsgK^。它的腿表明其并不生活在树上,这是一个重要因素,因为人们普遍认为森林在小行星撞击后被野火摧毁Cj2FEC.jfJ=
菲尔德说,“不挑剔食物也是一个因素”,因为小行星撞击之后没有多少东西可吃VL^9^Cr75nOtY。他补充说,“神奇鸡”的喙没有显示出特殊饮食的迹象W=#H7l!8!lK!
没有参与这项研究的科学家们也表达了对这项研究的兴趣ZrA733_a*uC-zZJ
加利福尼亚大学伯克利分校的古生物学家凯文·帕迪安说,这块化石提供了迄今为止有关现代鸟类最早的祖先何时和如何进化的最好证据E@EzM3G(#OQ6exK-Z2
他说,基因研究表明这些祖先出现在“神奇鸡”存在的数千万年前!4+_]ov&Xb。但他同时表示,化石记录并不支持这一点,而且也不存在已知且确定来自这一世系并早于“神奇鸡”的化石GPe26~4LO*fk_u
朱莉娅·克拉克是得克萨斯大学奥斯汀校区的化石-鸟类专家DoxFqfJj9BHDnlPT!。她说,这块化石“拥有很多信息,可以开始补充我们对鸟类物种传播的早期阶段的了解”*@qO&]iT8DLB
她说,化石就像照相机拍摄的照片6~JK7Zaq*L(。目前这一时期涉及现代鸟类的记录很少)a|I]hwUH1Gzj
克拉克说:“任何新照片都至关重要GX@,)*Zzx&eH。”
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译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!

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