现实版《侏罗纪公园》？得州一公园现1.13亿年前恐龙脚印！

今年，因持续高温天气，全球多地发生干旱。本是件坏事，却让埋藏于河道中的恐龙足迹重见天日。

当地时间8月23日，美国得克萨斯州恐龙谷州立公园发声明称，由于园内河流干涸，大约1.13亿年前的恐龙足迹被暴露出来。

这些是什么恐龙的足迹？对恐龙研究又有哪些帮助呢？我们一起看文章。

Climate change led to dinosaurs' demise. Now, drought reveals more of their tracks

气候变化导致恐龙灭绝，如今干旱揭开更多恐龙足迹

It's not often you find a bright side to drought, but in Texas, the heat and lack of rain have uncovered dinosaur tracks from 113 million years ago.

干旱很少有好的一面，但是在德克萨斯州，高温和缺雨却令1.13亿年前的恐龙足迹得以显现。

The tracks were unveiled at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas — about an hour's drive from Fort Worth. The park is known for its dinosaur tracks, but these newer ones are usually covered with water from the Paluxy River and aren't visible.

这些足迹是在德克萨斯州格伦罗斯(Glen Rose)的恐龙谷州立公园(Dinosaur Valley State Park)发现的，该地距离沃斯堡(Fort Worth)大约一个小时的车程。该公园以其恐龙足迹闻名，但这些新发现的恐龙足迹通常被帕拉克西河(Paluxy River)河水覆盖，并不可见。

"Due to the excessive drought conditions this past summer, the river dried up completely in most locations, allowing for more tracks to be uncovered here in the park," the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said in a statement. "Under normal river conditions, these newer tracks are under water and are commonly filled in with sediment, making them buried and not as visible."

德克萨斯州公园及野生动物部在一份声明中表示：“由于今年刚刚过去的夏天气候过度干旱，大多数地方的河水完全干涸，公园里才可以发现更多的足迹。在河水流量正常的情况下，这些新发现的恐龙足迹藏在水下，通常被泥沙覆盖，无法看到。”

Dinosaur tracks are not as rare as, say, dinosaur bones, according to professor Jerry Harris, the director of paleontology at Utah Tech University, but that's because dinosaurs left way more footprints throughout their lives and ultimately had only one skeleton to leave behind.

犹他理工大学（Utah Tech University，原美国犹他迪仕州立大学Dixie State University，2022年7月更名）古生物学主任杰里·哈里斯(Jerry Harris)教授表示，恐龙足迹并不像恐龙骨骼那样罕见，这是因为恐龙一生中可以留下相当多的脚印，但最终可以留下的骨架只有一副。

Dinosaur tracks reveal more about how the reptiles lived

恐龙足迹揭示了更多恐龙的生活方式

Still, Harris said the newly exposed tracks present a valuable find for researchers because they were made by living animals and can tell those studying the fossils more about the dinosaurs' behavior and day-to-day lives.

尽管如此，哈里斯表示新暴露的恐龙足迹对研究人员来说是很有价值，因为它们是恐龙活着时留下的，化石研究人员能从中获取更多关于恐龙行为和日常生活的信息。

"You can get a lot of information about the posture of the animal that would be more difficult to get from the skeleton, about the speed, the animal which was moving, how it was responding to the sediment when the sediment was loose before it was turned to rock," Harris said.

哈里斯说：“你可以得到很多信息，比如恐龙的体态（通过骨骼很难得知），恐龙的移动速度，以及河底松散的泥沙变成岩石之前，恐龙踩在上面时身体会做出何种反应。”

It's also possible to determine whether the dinosaur was moving in a certain direction, why it was going that way or whether multiple dinosaurs were moving together in a herd, Harris said, adding that all this is much more difficult to discern from studying skeletons alone.

哈里斯还补充道，也许可以确定恐龙是否在向某个方向移动，为什么会向那个方向移动，以及是否有多只恐龙一起成群结队地移动，而所有这些仅靠研究骨骼是很难辨明的。

As for the dinosaur that left the newly uncovered tracks, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said they belong to a theropod called Acrocanthosaurus — one of the two dinosaurs that make up the majority of tracks found around the state park.

德克萨斯州公园及野生动物部表示，留下新发现足迹的恐龙是一种兽脚亚目恐龙，为高棘龙属(Acrocanthosaurus)。在州立公园周围发现的恐龙足迹大多数属于两种恐龙，该恐龙便是这两种恐龙之一。

"This was a dinosaur that would stand, as an adult, about 15 feet tall and [weigh] close to seven tons," the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.

德克萨斯州公园及野生动物部说：“这是一只成年恐龙，约有15英尺高，（体重）接近7吨。” 

Water will cover the tracks again

河水将再次覆盖这些足迹

Eventually, water will cover the tracks again, and they'll be filled with sediment that helps prevent them from eroding away. But before that happens, researchers are working on mapping the tracks and collecting data.

最终，河水将再次覆盖这些足迹，它们会重新被泥沙覆盖，不至于被冲刷掉。但在这之前，研究人员正在努力绘制足迹图像，收集相关数据。

While the discovery of the tracks is exciting, it also presents an interesting juxtaposition, Harris said.

哈里斯说，虽然恐龙足迹的发现令人振奋，但也呈现了有趣的对比。

"There's some irony in the fact that dinosaurs, which were ultimately wiped out by very rapid climate change, now [the] evidence of their living animals was exposed because of human-made climate change today."

“有点讽刺的是，恐龙因十分快速的气候变化灭亡，而现在，它们存活过的证据却因人为导致的气候变化得以显现。”

今日词汇

demise / dɪˈmaɪz / n. 死亡，逝世（正式用词）

reptile /ˈrep.taɪl/ n. 爬行动物

discern /dɪˈsɜːn/ v. 看出；辨别出

theropod /ˈθɪə.rə.pɒd/ n. 兽脚亚目恐龙

Acrocanthosaurus n. 高棘龙属

juxtaposition / ˌdʒʌkstəpəˈzɪʃ(ə)n / n. 并置，并列

翻译讨论

文中倒数第二段 juxtaposition 一词有些难理解。

它是一种表现手法，指：

By putting two separate concepts or objects next to each other, you create a contrast that shows the difference or similarity between them. This can help strengthen an argument, create an emotional response, or otherwise add meaning.（Grammarly）

原文实际指的是下面一段说的，恐龙因气候变化灭亡，如今气候变化又让恐龙足迹得以重现。

译文把它翻成了“对比”。

你觉得怎么翻译更好呢？欢迎留言讨论！

译者：应用型笔译班学员 Fiona

审校：Jennifer

英文来源：NPR

*对应译文由译介翻译团队完成，仅供参考，不当之处欢迎大家在评论区讨论！转载请注明来源！

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