侏羅紀(jì)搏擊俱樂(lè)部 第37期:終極武器:獵殺爪

Although its teeth were formidable, the claws ontheir hands were just as important in a fight.

雖然它的牙齒是很強(qiáng)的武器，但它們的爪子在爭(zhēng)斗中也極為重要。

They really look a lot like cat talons.

它們看上去極像貓的爪子。

They're pretty incredible and I suspect they wereused in much the same way.

它們很不可思議，我猜它們的作用也差不多。

These were very, very sharp instruments of great pain.

這些非常銳利的武器能帶來(lái)劇烈的疼痛。

But one thing set this dinosaur apart from all other meat eaters - the killing claw.

但恐龍的這種武器使之在所有的肉食恐龍中鶴立雞群——它的獵殺爪。

With this claw on the foot, this was clearly a killing claw, but what was it doing? Going afterthe ankles of other dinosaurs?

腳上的這根爪子很明顯是致命的利爪，但具體功能是什么呢?攻擊其它恐龍的腳踝嗎?

No. In order for it to have been useful, it had to be leaping around to slash and tear at itsvictims.

不是，要想能夠發(fā)揮其能力，迅猛龍要跳到半空去撕扯獵物。

Well, the thing that really typifies Dromaeosaurs in general, the group to which Deinonychusbelongs, is that they have this large raptorial claw on their foot.

恐爪龍屬于馳龍類恐龍，它們最明顯的共同特征就是它們腳上猛禽般的大型利爪。

And even the claw today, the bony part of the claw, is about four inches long or so.

即便到了現(xiàn)在，爪子的骨質(zhì)部分長(zhǎng)度也有十多厘米。

But in life it would have been covered with a sheaf like a fingernail that would of made theclaw twice as large.

它活著時(shí)，這上面會(huì)有一層像指甲的鞘，使得爪子變成兩倍大。

So it would have been a pretty spectacular weapon.

所以它是一種極為驚人的武器。

CAT scan research of their brain cavities conducted by Dr. Larry Witmer of Ohio University,concluded that members of the Raptor family had excellent vision.

俄亥俄大學(xué)拉瑞·維特莫博士對(duì)其顱腔進(jìn)行CT掃描，得出的結(jié)論是迅猛龍一類，具有非常敏銳的視力。

What I was able to do was get my hands on a variety of fossil skull bones of Deinonychus andCAT scanned a variety of them to get a glimpse inside the head of Deinonychus.

我做的就是找到各種恐爪龍的頭骨化石，并對(duì)它們進(jìn)行CT掃描，以便能對(duì)其顱內(nèi)有所了解。

When we look inside the brain cavity of Deinonychus what we see is an expansion of the visualcenters.

當(dāng)我們觀察恐爪龍的顱腔內(nèi)部時(shí)，我們看到了視覺(jué)中樞的膨大。

Centers that in more primitive dinosaurs, we didn't really see enlarged.

在更原始的恐龍顱腔里，我們看不到它的伸展。

That suggests to us that vision was a very important sensory modality in Deinonychus and UtahRaptor and these other Raptors.

這表明視覺(jué)能力對(duì)于恐爪龍、猶他伶盜龍和各種迅猛龍都是至關(guān)重要的。

It was clearly a major part of their hunting strategy.

這顯然是它們獵殺策略的重要組成部分。

In fact, their vision was so good, experts had to consider if they had night vision.

事實(shí)上，它們的視力很敏銳，專家需要考慮它們有夜視能力。

They had a very large optic lobe of the brain, so there's no reason to think that they could nothave hunted at night.

它們的腦里有一個(gè)很大的視葉，所以我們沒(méi)有理由認(rèn)為它們不能在夜間捕獵。

But it doesn't mean that they were restricted to that.

但也并不意味著它們僅限于此。

Having that incredible eyesight would not just be helpful at night, it would be an awesomeasset anytime there is limited light.

其非凡的視力不僅有助于夜間活動(dòng)，光線不足時(shí)也對(duì)它們非常有利。

During volcanic activity or storms, they would still have the ability to see when other creatureswouldn't have.

在火山爆發(fā)或風(fēng)暴來(lái)臨時(shí)，它們?nèi)阅芸吹狡渌鼊?dòng)物看不見(jiàn)的東西。

Like a modern cat, Raptors relied on their large eyes to hunt in the dark.

像現(xiàn)今的貓科動(dòng)物一樣，迅猛龍靠大眼睛在夜間狩獵。

They were perfectly suited for night kills.

它們非常適合夜間獵殺。