侏羅紀(jì)搏擊俱樂部 第52期:恐龍骨頭為何會(huì)匯集在一起?

The excavation uncovered one set of remains, thenanother, then another.

挖掘工作發(fā)現(xiàn)了一具骨骸之后又一具之后再一具。

Soon, they had thousands of bones from multiplespecies.

很快就有了來自多個(gè)物種的數(shù)千塊骨頭。

The Cleveland Lloyd quarry is absolutely one of themost remarkable fossil sites in the world.

克利夫蘭勞埃德石場絕對是世界上最了不起的化石地點(diǎn)之一。

Over 15,000 individual bones have come out of thisquarry.

這片石場出土了一萬五千多塊骨頭。

Paleontologists think that's not even half the amount of bones that are still buried in theground.

古生物學(xué)家們認(rèn)為這還不到地下仍然埋藏著的骨化石的一半。

It's an amazing site, but one of the first things have to ask is, why are so many bones from somany different kinds of dinosaurs assembled in that one location?

這是個(gè)絕妙的地方，不過要問的第一個(gè)問題是為什么這么多種不同種類恐龍的這么多骨頭會(huì)匯集在一個(gè)地點(diǎn)呢?

Thousands of bones lay scattered across an area no more than a mile across.

整片地方散布著數(shù)千塊骨頭覆蓋半徑超過一公里半。

Then, another revelation.

然后是另一個(gè)啟示。

Of the bones found at the site, almost every herbivore bone recovered showed signs of beingcrushed, broken and bitten.

在石場發(fā)現(xiàn)的骨頭里，幾乎每塊植食動(dòng)物的骨頭上都有被壓碎、斷裂和被咬過的痕跡。

Deep gashes in some bones.

有些骨頭上有深深的溝痕。

Others had been somehow pulverized.

其它的都有一定程度的碎裂。

They needed to explain why all of these dinosaurs had perished at this one site.

需要解釋的是為什么這些恐龍都死在這個(gè)地方。

The paleontologists first employed a scientific approach called taphonomy.

古生物學(xué)家首選使用的科學(xué)方法叫做埋葬學(xué)。

Taphonomy is basically looking at what happened to a fossil from the time of death of an animaluntil it actually is buried and fossilized.

埋葬學(xué)基本上是研究古生物從死亡到被埋葬成為化石而被保存下來的學(xué)科。

And taphonomy is basically a technique for understanding what lead to the death and burialof the animal or the plant itself.

埋葬學(xué)基本上就是一種用來了解動(dòng)物或植物死亡和被埋原因的技術(shù)。

So we can get a tremendous amount of information just by being careful in how we excavateour sites,

所以我們只要在進(jìn)行挖掘的時(shí)候細(xì)心就能獲得非常多的信息，

because that gives us clues about what happens leading up to the death of that animal.

這會(huì)給我們帶來相關(guān)線索發(fā)現(xiàn)導(dǎo)致該動(dòng)物死亡的事件。

Taphonomy evidence revealed that the site was once a freshwater lakebed.

埋葬學(xué)證據(jù)揭示了該地點(diǎn)原來是淡水湖床。

During times of extreme drought, the water levels in a lake can shrink pretty rapidly.

在極度干旱期間，湖中水位能迅速下降。

As they shrink, what happens is the upper layer of mud sort of becomes dry, when underneath,it remains pretty wet and sticky.

隨著水位下降，湖泥的表層就會(huì)變干而下面仍然又濕又粘。

So as animals walk out across this to get to the water and get a drink, they get stuck.

所以當(dāng)動(dòng)物從上面走過去到水邊喝水時(shí)就會(huì)被困住。

Their weight causes them to crack through the upper crust and that's when they get stuck andthey're not gonna get out.

它們的重量會(huì)壓碎表層硬殼而一旦被困住，它們就無法脫身。

It was the first vital clue.

這是第一個(gè)重要線索。

This prehistoric death trap was once a lakebed.

這個(gè)史前死亡陷阱曾是一片湖床。

Many species would have come to drink here.

很多種動(dòng)物會(huì)來此飲水。

Then, another breakthrough.

然后又有了突破性進(jìn)展。

Scientists identified one of the dinosaurs.

科學(xué)家們鑒別出來其中一種恐龍。

It was one of the most distinctive of the Jurassic period - Stegosaurus.

侏羅紀(jì)時(shí)期最標(biāo)志性的恐龍之一劍龍。