by Brian Switek 胡德良 译
What was toothless, may have been the size of an ostrich, and lived alongside the dinosaurs? According to a paper published today in Biology Letters, the answer is Samrukia nessovi—an enormous bird discovered in the 83-million to 70-million-year old strata of southern Kazakhstan. Very little is known about the creature. Paleontologists have only a pair of lower jaw fragments to go on, the larger of which (pictured above) is almost 11 inches long. Nevertheless, the size and anatomy of the bones identify Samrukia as a unique species of archaic bird which would have weighed at least 25 pounds—far larger than any of its known contemporaries. That overturns the previously held idea that birds stayed small until the nonavian dinosaurs died out. In life, Samrukia may have resembled an albatross if it could fly, and an ostrich if it was flightless (two possibilities envisioned in silhouette in this speculative restoration) though paleontologists have a few more bones to pick before they can be sure. | 跟鸵鸟的大小相当、跟恐龙一道生活的无牙鸟类是什么?根据今天发表在上《生物学快报》的一篇论文,答案是哈萨克神凤凰。哈萨克神凤凰是一种体型巨大的鸟类,发现于距今7,000万年至8,300万年的南哈萨克斯坦的古老地层中。人们对于这种生物知之甚少,古生物学家只能靠两块下颌片段进行研究,其中较大的一块(见上图)大约为11英寸长。这些骨骼的大小和解剖结构说明哈萨克神凤凰是一种独特的古代鸟类物种,体重可能至少25磅,比已知的同时代鸟类要大得多。这一发现推翻了先前持有的观点:鸟类一直保持着小体型,直到非鸟类恐龙灭绝。活着的哈萨克神凤凰如果会飞的话可能跟信天翁类似,如果不会飞的话可能跟鸵鸟相似(对两种可能性进行设想,再根据推测复原后成为图中的剪影)。然而,等古生物学家们再挖出几块骨骼来,才能确定这种鸟的真面目。 |
译自:美国《科学》杂志网站(9 August 2011, 7:02 PM)
原著:Brian Switek
百科大全
| |||||||||||||||||||
海底世界 | 博古通今 | 奇方妙药 | 民间土方 | 在线读报 | 视觉大餐 | 博客技巧 | 新修藏经 | 生活宝典 | 生命科学 | 宇宙探秘 | 名著分享 | 新书上架 | 在线工具 | 博客游戏 | 实用网址 | 日记边框 | 电脑技巧 | 美女赏析 | 代码使用 |
家常好菜 | 星座物语 | 购物中心 | 天气在线 | 银行汇集 | 旅游天空 | 租房买房 | 美食天下 | 汽车之家 | 健康成长 | 宠物贴吧 | 时尚女性 | 少儿频道 | 职业搜索 | 手机之家 | 各地大学 | 音乐搜吧 | 游戏基地 | 视频直播 | 电影资讯 |
新闻联播 | 小说聚集 | 军事基地 | 图片素材 | 非常动漫 | 体育赛事 | 交友天地 | 明星聚集 | 社区论坛 | 笑话大全 | 软件工具 | 空间博客 | 设计学院 | 硬件精灵 | 桌面壁纸 | 摄影部落 | 本本购买 | 曲艺小品 | 篮球播吧 | 法律顾问 |
评论