Nizar Ibrahim: How we unearthed the spinosaurus

翻译人员: Wei Wu 校对人员: 多多 王

These dragons from deep time are incredible creatures.

远古时代的恐龙是不可思议的物种。

They're bizzarre,

它们非常的奇特,

they're beautiful,

也非常的壮观，

and there's very little we know about them.

而我们对它们的了解还非常有限。

These thoughts were going through my head

在我第一次拿到一本介绍恐龙的书，

when I looked at the pages of my first dinosaur book.

这些念头就已经开始在我的脑海中浮现。

I was about five years old at the time,

那个时候我大概只有5岁，

and I decided there and then

我当时就下定决心

that I would become a paleontologist.

要做一名古生物学家。

Paleontology allowed me to combine my love for animals

研究古生物学不仅满足了 我对远古动物的好奇心，

with my desire to travel to far-flung corners of the world.

也让我能够在世界上各个 广袤的角落间游历。

And now, a few years later, I've led several expeditions

目前我已经进行了多年的相关研究， 也多次带领考古队探索了

to the ultimate far-flung corner on this planet, the Sahara.

地球上最古老的辽阔之地， 撒哈拉沙漠。

I've worked in the Sahara because I've been on a quest

之所以选择撒哈拉沙漠， 是因为我最近在探寻，

to uncover new remains of a bizarre, giant predatory dinosaur

希望能够找到一种奇特、 巨大的肉食性恐龙，

called Spinosaurus.

叫做“棘龙”。

A few bones of this animal have been found

一百多年前，一位德国古生物学家

in the deserts of Egypt

在埃及境内的沙漠

and were described about 100 years ago by a German paleontologist.

发现了少量棘龙的骨骼化石。

Unfortunately, all his Spinosaurus bones were destroyed in World War II.

非常可惜，所有的化石 都在二战中被毁掉了。

So all we're left with are just a few drawings and notes.

所以我们现在能找到的资料 就只有一些笔记和（骨头的）素描。

From these drawings,

通过这些素描，

we know that this creature, which lived about 100 million years ago,

我们发现这种生活在 一千万年前的生物

was very big,

体型非常的庞大，

它们的背上有高耸的脊椎， 形成了一条巨大的尾巴，

it had tall spines on its back, forming a magnificent sail,

and it had long, slender jaws, a bit like a crocodile,

下巴非常的细长， 像是鳄鱼的嘴一样，

with conical teeth,

牙齿是圆锥型的，

that may have been used to catch slippery prey, like fish.

这可能是用来捕食 很滑的食物，例如鱼类。

But that was pretty much all we knew

但是在接下来的一百年中，

about this animal for the next 100 years.

基本上就没有任何新的发现了。

My fieldwork took me to the border region between Morocco and Algeria,

我们在摩洛哥和阿尔及利亚交界附近，

a place called the Kem Kem.

一处叫卡玛卡玛的地方 进行了实地考察。

It's a difficult place to work in.

在这种地方工作很艰苦。

You have to deal with sandstorms and snakes and scorpions,

你需要应对沙尘暴，蛇，蝎子等等，

and it's very difficult to find good fossils there.

而要找到保存较好的化石也很难。

But our hard work paid off.

好在我们的努力没有白费。

We discovered many incredible specimens.

我们发现了很多不可思议的物种。

There's the largest dinosaur bone

这是目前为止

that had ever been found in this part of the Sahara.

在撒哈拉发现的最大的恐龙骨骼。

We found remains of giant predatory dinosaurs,

我们发现了巨型食肉恐龙，

medium-sized predatory dinosaurs,

中等大小的食肉恐龙，

and seven or eight different kinds of crocodile-like hunters.

以及7到8种不同类型的鳄鱼嘴型的恐龙。

These fossils were deposited in a river system.

这些化石堆积在一个河流底部的淤泥中。

The river system was also home to a giant, car-sized coelacanth,

在这条水系里也埋藏着 有汽车那么大的巨型腔棘鱼，

a monster sawfish,

怪兽一样的锯鲛（鱼），

and the skies over the river system were filled with pterosaurs,

河流的上空盘旋着大量的热翼龙，

flying reptiles.

一种会飞的爬行动物。

It was a pretty dangerous place,

毫无疑问这是个非常危险的地方，

not the kind of place where you'd want to travel to if you had a time machine.

这可不是一个你会想要乘坐 时光机参观猎奇的好去处。

So we're finding all these incredible fossils of animals

我们找到了这么多的不可思议的动物，

that lived alongside Spinosaurus,

这些生物都生活在棘龙的周围，

but Spinosaurus itself proved to be very elusive.

但是我们一直追寻的棘龙， 其踪迹还是难以琢磨。

We were just finding bits and pieces

我们只找到它的一些化石碎片，

and I was hoping that we'd find a partial skeleton at some point.

我一直希望有一天能够 找到一些大的骨架。

Finally, very recently,

终于，在最近，

we were able to track down a dig site

我们成功的找到了一个 当地化石勘探者挖掘的大坑，

where a local fossil hunter found several bones of Spinosaurus.

他在这个坑里挖出过一些棘龙的化石。

We returned to the site, we collected more bones.

我们重新回到这个坑里寻找更多的化石。

And so after 100 years we finally had another partial skeleton

终于，在100多年之后， 我们又挖掘到了这种

of this bizarre creature.

奇特生物的骨架， （译注：第一具已经在二战中被毁）

And we were able to reconstruct it.

我们成功的重建了它。

We now know that Spinosaurus had a head

我们现在能够确认棘龙的头

a little bit like a crocodile,

形状跟鳄鱼的头有点像，

very different from other predatory dinosaurs,

跟其它的肉食性恐龙差别非常大，

very different from the T. rex.

跟雷克斯暴龙家族（T. rex）差别非常大。

But the really interesting information came from the rest of the skeleton.

更有意思的是骨架的其它部分。

We had long spines,

我们发现了很长的脊椎骨，

the spines forming the big sail.

构成了一条粗大的尾巴，

We had leg bones, we had skull bones,

我们找到了腿骨和头盖骨，

we had paddle-shaped feet, wide feet --

我们找到了桨状的足， 脚趾分的很开——

again, very unusual, no other dinosaur has feet like this --

非常的少见， 这是已知恐龙中唯一带有这种特征的——

and we think they may have been used to walk on soft sediment,

我们猜测是因为他们需要在 松软的沉积物上行走的缘故，

or maybe for paddling in the water.

或者它们需要在水里滑行。

We also looked at the fine microstructure of the bone,

我们还检查了骨头的微结构，

the inside structure of Spinosaurus bones,

棘龙骨头的内部构造，

and it turns out that they're very dense and compact.

发现骨头非常的密实和紧凑。

Again, this is something we see in animals that spend a lot of time in the water,

这样的结构我们经常在长期 泡在水里的动物身上看到，

it's useful for buoyancy control in the water.

有助于它们在水中控制平衡。

We C.T.-scanned all of our bones and built a digital Spinosaurus skeleton.

我们用CT扫描了收集到的所有骨头， 并对棘龙的骨架进行了数字建模。

And when we looked at the digital skeleton,

当我们仔细研究骨架模型时，

we realized that yes, this was a dinosaur unlike any other.

我们意识到，没错，棘龙是独特的。

It's bigger than a T. rex,

它比之前发现的雷克斯暴龙还要大，

and yes, the head has "fish-eating" written all over it,

没错，棘龙的头就是为了 捕鱼而设计的，

but really the entire skeleton has "water-loving" written all over it --

但是实际上棘龙的全身都 透露着“亲水型”的设计——

dense bone, paddle-like feet, and the hind limbs are reduced in size,

紧致的骨骼、蹼状的足、 相对短小的后足，

and again, this is something we see in animals

同样的，这些特征都让我们相信

that spend a substantial amount of time in the water.

只有长期呆在水里的动物 才会有这些身体构造。

So, as we fleshed out our Spinosaurus --

所以，当我们重建了棘龙的血肉——

I'm looking at muscle attachments and wrapping our dinosaur in skin --

当我注视着棘龙的肌肉和 最外层的皮肤时——

we realize that we're dealing with a river monster,

我们意识到我们面对的是 一头水里的猛兽，

a predatory dinosaur, bigger than T. rex,

一种比雷克斯暴龙还要大的 肉食性恐龙，

the ruler of this ancient river of giants,

远古时代的河流统治者，

feeding on the many aquatic animals I showed you earlier on.

通过捕食我刚才介绍的 其他水生生物生存。

So that's really what makes this an incredible discovery.

这个发现非常地不可思议。

It's a dinosaur like no other.

这是独一无二的恐龙。

And some people told me, "Wow, this is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.

有人跟我说，“哇，能发现这个， 这辈子也就没有什么遗憾的了。

There are not many things left to discover in the world."

毕竟，这个世界上已经没有 多少地方可挖了。”

Well, I think nothing could be further from the truth.

不过，我觉得并不是这样。

I think the Sahara's still full of treasures,

我觉得撒哈拉依然到处都是宝藏，

and when people tell me there are no places left to explore,

每当有人告诉我说， 已经没啥地方可以探索了，

I like to quote a famous dinosaur hunter, Roy Chapman Andrews,

我都喜欢引用一位著名恐龙化石考古学者 Roy Chapman Andrews 的话，

and he said, "Always, there has been an adventure just around the corner --

他说过，”你总是能够在 角落里发现一些什么——

and the world is still full of corners."

而这个世界从来不缺角落。”

That was true many decades ago

这句话不仅在很多年前，

when Roy Chapman Andrews wrote these lines.

Roy Chapman Andrews 写下它时是正确的，

And it is still true today.

在今天依然如此。

Thank you.

感谢各位。

(Applause)

（掌声）