Nizar Ibrahim: How we unearthed the spinosaurus

譯者: Alan Wang 審譯者: William Choi

These dragons from deep time are incredible creatures.

這些來自遠古時代的恐龍 真是不可思議的生物，

They're bizzarre,

牠們樣貌奇異，

they're beautiful,

卻又美麗，

and there's very little we know about them.

而我們對牠們知之甚少。

These thoughts were going through my head

當我翻開人生中 第一本與恐龍有關的書籍時，

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

這些想法早在我腦海中不斷盤旋，

I was about five years old at the time,

儘管那時我才五歲，

and I decided there and then

而當時我已決定了

that I would become a paleontologist.

未來要成為一名古生物學者，

Paleontology allowed me to combine my love for animals

因為古生物學者能將熱愛動物

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

與周遊列國的願望結合。

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

幾年後，現在我已經帶領過 數次考察工作，

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

曾到過地球上最遙遠的角落— 撒哈拉大沙漠，

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

到撒哈拉的原因是我要尋找

to uncover new remains of a bizarre, giant predatory dinosaur

一種奇特而巨大的遠古恐龍的遺骸，

called Spinosaurus.

名叫棘龍。

A few bones of this animal have been found

一名德國古生物學家

曾於約一百年前在埃及沙漠中

in the deserts of Egypt

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

發現牠的骨骼。

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

不幸的是，這些棘龍骨骸 在第二次世界大戰中被毀壞，

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

現在只保留著一些繪畫和筆記。

From these drawings,

從這些圖畫中，

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

我們發現這個活在一億年前的生物

was very big,

體型十分巨大，

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

背上有著明顯的長刺， 形成一個帆狀物，

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

牠的頜骨又細又長，有點像鱷魚，

with conical teeth,

牙齒呈圓錐狀，

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

可能是用於捕獵表面光滑的獵物， 例如魚類。

But that was pretty much all we knew

但是我們對棘龍的認識

about this animal for the next 100 years.

在後來的一百年幾乎毫無進展。

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

我們曾前往摩洛哥和 阿爾及利亞的邊界附近，

a place called the Kem Kem.

一個名為卡瑪卡瑪的地方 進行實地考察，

It's a difficult place to work in.

那裡的工作環境十分惡劣，

You have to deal with sandstorms and snakes and scorpions,

你需要應付沙塵暴、蛇及蝎子，

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

也很困難地才找到保存完善的化石。

But our hard work paid off.

但是我們所做的努力並沒有白費，

We discovered many incredible specimens.

我們發現許多非常棒的標本，

There's the largest dinosaur bone

包括在撒哈拉沙漠中從未發現過 體積如此龐大的恐龍骨骸化石，

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

We found remains of giant predatory dinosaurs,

我們發現了體型龐大的掠奪性恐龍、

medium-sized predatory dinosaurs,

中型的掠奪性恐龍、

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

以及七或八種類似鱷魚的獵手。

These fossils were deposited in a river system.

這些化石沉積在某一河流系統中，

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

而且它還是一種有如汽車般大的巨型鋸瑤、

a monster sawfish,

像怪獸的腔棘魚的棲息地。

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

這片河流系統的上空還佈滿翼龍，

flying reptiles.

一種懂飛行的爬行動物，

It was a pretty dangerous place,

真是一塊極危險的區域，

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

如果你有時光機，也不會想去遊覽一番。

So we're finding all these incredible fossils of animals

我們找到所有這些與棘龍 共同生存過的動物的化石，

that lived alongside Spinosaurus,

but Spinosaurus itself proved to be very elusive.

但棘龍本身蹤跡卻難以尋找，

We were just finding bits and pieces

我們只找到一些化石碎片，

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

我期待著有一天終能找到 一副局部的骨骼。

Finally, very recently,

直到最近，

we were able to track down a dig site

我們終於追尋到一個挖掘場，

where a local fossil hunter found several bones of Spinosaurus.

一位當地的化石獵人在那裡 發現了幾塊棘龍的骨骸化石，

We returned to the site, we collected more bones.

我們再度造訪那發掘地時， 也收集到更多的骨骸化石，

And so after 100 years we finally had another partial skeleton

一百多年後，我們終於發現另一塊 屬於此奇異生物的局部骨骸。

of this bizarre creature.

And we were able to reconstruct it.

我們隨後對骨骸進行修復，

We now know that Spinosaurus had a head

我們現在知道

a little bit like a crocodile,

棘龍的頭部有點像鱷魚，

very different from other predatory dinosaurs,

有異於其他食肉恐龍，

very different from the T. rex.

也有異於雷克斯霸王龍。

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

然而真正令人感興趣的是 骨架的其餘部分。

We had long spines,

牠們背脊上的長刺

the spines forming the big sail.

形成一個巨大帆狀物，

We had leg bones, we had skull bones,

我們發現腿骨和頭蓋骨，

we had paddle-shaped feet, wide feet --

還有寬大的槳狀腳掌，

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

同樣的，這腳掌是極不尋常的， 從未在其他恐龍身上發現過，

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

我們認為這有助於 在鬆軟的沉澱物上行走，

or maybe for paddling in the water.

或者在水中划動。

We also looked at the fine microstructure of the bone,

我們還研究了骨骼的顯微組織，

the inside structure of Spinosaurus bones,

即是棘龍骨頭的內部結構，

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

研究發現其骨骼的密度很高 且十分緊實，

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

這個特徵對長時間居住在水中的 生物來說很常見，

it's useful for buoyancy control in the water.

以便更好地控制水中浮力。

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

我們用電腦斷層掃描檢測所有骨骸， 並建立一副棘龍的數位化骨架，

And when we looked at the digital skeleton,

當我們觀察這副數位化骨架時，

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

我們發現這真是一種與眾不同的恐龍，

It's bigger than a T. rex,

牠比雷克斯霸王龍巨型，

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

而且頭部顯示牠是一種 喜好捕魚的恐龍，

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

整副骨架也證明牠是種親水動物—

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

緊實的骨質、漿狀的腳掌、 後肢的尺寸減小，

and again, this is something we see in animals

這些確實是

that spend a substantial amount of time in the water.

常常生活於水中的動物所具有的特徵。

So, as we fleshed out our Spinosaurus --

因此，當我們還原棘龍的形態時—

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

我觀察到牠的肌腱附著點 以及還原其皮膚時—

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

我們認為正在研究著一隻河中巨獸，

a predatory dinosaur, bigger than T. rex,

一隻掠奪性恐龍， 比雷克斯霸王龍還巨型，

the ruler of this ancient river of giants,

古代河流的統治者，

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

牠們進食早前在此介紹過的各樣水中動物。

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

這真是一項驚人的發現，

It's a dinosaur like no other.

因為這隻恐龍跟其他的不同，

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

有些人對我說：「嘩， 這真是一輩子只有一次的發現，

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

世上還未被發現的事情已經不多了。」

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

嗯，我認為事實並非如此，

I think the Sahara's still full of treasures,

我認為撒哈拉大沙漠 仍隱藏著很多寶藏，

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

當其他人告訴我， 這世上已再沒有地方可被探索時，

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

我會引用羅伊·查普曼·安德魯斯， 一位著名的恐龍探索家的名言，

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

他說：「每個轉角處都會遇上奇遇， 而世上轉角處仍無處不在。」

and the world is still full of corners."

That was true many decades ago

數十年前，羅伊·查普曼·安德魯斯 寫下這句說話時，

when Roy Chapman Andrews wrote these lines.

這是事實，

And it is still true today.

到了今天，也依舊如此。

Thank you.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

(鼓掌)