BBC | 《南太平洋》-奇妙岛屿 16

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It's home to a living fossil,

这里是活化石的家

a relict,

一个避难所

barely changed for over 100 million years. The tuatara.

鳄蜥一亿多年来几乎没什么变化

And half the world's population survive on this one island refuge.

全世界近半数的鳄蜥生活在这所避难岛上

During the reign of the dinosaurs,

在恐龙当道的时代

the ancestors of the tuatara were everywhere.

鳄蜥的祖先无处不在

They survived the cataclysm that killed off the dinosaurs,

它们在那场让恐龙灭绝的灾难中幸存下来

but then couldn't compete with the mammals and died out.

但是他们没法和哺乳动物竞争慢慢的灭绝了

Everywhere, except on what was then a mammal-free New Zealand.

除了那块没有哺乳动物的地方——新西兰，是它们能活下去的避难所

Unlike mammals,

鳄蜥不像哺乳动物

tuatara live life in the slow lane.

它们的生活节奏很慢

Days can pass when they barely move a muscle.

许多天过去了，也许他们还没动过身上的任何一块肌肉

Sometimes taking just one breath an hour.

有时甚至一个小时只呼吸一次

They feed on wetas,

他们吃沙螽

beetles and other invertebrates

甲虫和其他无脊椎动物

but don't appear very good at catching them.

但是它们不太擅长捕捉这些东西

Even after millions of years of practice,

即使是经过了几百万年的实践

eye-mouth co-ordination is not what it could be.

口眼的协调还是不怎样

"Survival of the fittest" just doesn't seem to apply here. “

优胜劣汰”的生活似乎并不适用于这里

The tuatara's survival,

鳄蜥的生存

first on New Zealand,

首选新西兰

now on Stephens Island,

现在大多集中在斯蒂芬斯岛

proves a point - islands are pretty safe places to be,

这也证实了岛上的生活还是相当安全的

at least until invaded.

至少在被入侵之前是这样。

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