阿拉斯加北坡发现新品种鸭嘴龙

阿拉斯加北坡发现新品种鸭嘴龙

Researchers working with specimens1 at the University of Alaska Museum of the North have described a new species of hadrosaur, a type of duck-billed dinosaur2 that once roamed the North Slope of Alaska in herds3, living in darkness for months at a time and probably experiencing snow. Ugrunaaluk (oo-GREW-na-luck) kuukpikensis (KOOK-pik-en-sis) grew up to 30 feet long and was a superb chewer with hundreds of individual teeth well-suited for eating coarse vegetation. Earth sciences curator Pat Druckenmiller said the majority of the bones used in the study came from the Liscomb Bone Bed, a fossil-rich layer along the Colville River in the Prince Creek4 Formation, a unit of rock deposited on the Arctic flood plain about 69 million years ago.

"Today we find these animals in polar latitudes," Druckenmiller said. "Amazingly, they lived even farther north during the Cretaceous Period. These were the northern-most dinosaurs5 to have lived during the Age of Dinosaurs. They were truly polar."

The name, which means ancient grazer, was a collaborative effort between scientists and I?upiaq speakers. Druckenmiller worked with Ronald Brower Sr., an instructor6 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Native Language Center, to develop a culturally and geographically7 appropriate name that honors the native I?upiaq people who live there today.

Druckenmiller; UAF graduate student Hirotsugu Mori, who completed his doctoral work on the species; and Florida State University's Gregory Erickson, a researcher who specializes in the use of bone and tooth histology to interpret the paleobiology of dinosaurs, published their findings in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, an international quarterly journal that publishes papers from all areas of paleontology.

Druckenmiller and Erickson have previously8 published documentation suggesting that during this time period, a distinct, polar fauna9 existed in what is now northern Alaska. At the time, Arctic Alaska was covered in a polar forest because the climate was much warmer. Since it was so far north, the dinosaurs had to contend with months of winter darkness and snow. "The finding of dinosaurs this far north challenges everything we thought about a dinosaur's physiology," Erickson said. "It creates this natural question. How did they survive up here?"

1 specimens

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。

The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dinosaur

n.恐龙

参考例句：

Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？

He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

3 herds

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。

There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

4 creek

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。

People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

5 dinosaurs

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 instructor

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。

The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

7 geographically

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句

All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分

8 previously

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。

Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 fauna

n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系

参考例句：

This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。

Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念，指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。