飞行巨兽（2011）

at a time when the planet was very different from today.
那时候的地球和现在是完全不同的
Much of it was tropical.
大部分是热带地区
The early dinosaurs were rising to dominance.
早期恐龙占据主导地位
And flying high above them were the pterosaurs
飞行高度最高的就是翼龙
of the kind whose bones Mary Anning had discovered.
也就是已经被玛丽·安宁发现的骨头的那一种
Dimorphodon.
双形齿兽 属翼龙
Up here in the trees,
在这片树木上方
they were safe from those predatory dinosaurs
它们远离了那些地面上的
down on the ground.
掠夺性恐龙的威胁
And there were plenty of flying insects for them to catch and eat.
并且天空中有大量的飞行类昆虫供其捕食
But these early flying reptiles were pioneers.
这些早期的飞行爬行动物是开拓者
And it maybe that,just occasionally, they were a little clumsy on the wing.
也许它们的翼在如今看来是有点笨拙
Sometimes, as their bodies lay on the sea floor,
之后 当它们舒展了身体躺在海底
they were slowly covered with mud,
慢慢地被覆盖上了泥土
that over millenia, eventually turned to stone.
数千年以后 最终变成了化石
Fossils of pterosaurs have been discovered
在世界各地的许多地方
in many parts of the world.
都发现了翼龙化石
In Africa, Asia and South America.
比如非洲 亚洲和南美洲
But the very first were found here, at Solnhofen, in Southern Germany.
但是它们最初是在在德国南部的索伦霍芬被发现的
This limestone has been quarried for building purposes,
自罗马时代起
since Roman times.
这些石灰石以建设目的被开采
But those who work here
但是那些在这里工作的人
sometimes find something far more valuable
有时候会发现一些比瓦片
than just roof tiles.
远远有价值的东西
The discoveries made here
这些发现
make this one of the most important places in all over the world
使这里成为了世界上最重要的地方之一
for anybody who’s interested in pterosaurs.
对于那些对翼龙感兴趣的人来说
And the perfection of their preservation
对于它们的保护
has enabled us to unlock many of the secrets
使得我们能够解开许多
about how these wonderful animals flew.
关于那些神奇的动物是怎样飞行的的秘密
The Solnhofen limestone formed on the floor
索伦霍芬的石灰岩形成了
of a shallow tropical lagoon,
浅浅的热带泻湖
protected from the currents of the open sea by a reef.
使得它们不被外在大海中珊瑚礁所产生的电流所破坏
So, its waters were still, and they were few currents
所以它的水质仍然保持原状
to disturb the rotting bodies.
并且很少有东西来干扰腐烂的尸体
The rock here is really extraordinary.
这里的岩石果然不同凡响
When it’s fresh, it’s very solid, hard building stone.
清洗后 它们是非常扎实 高硬度的建筑材料
Excellent.
太棒了
But when the frost gets at it, it begins to split.
当霜降落到岩石上时它们开始分♥裂♥
And when it’s really weathered,
当它真正风化
you can open blocks of it like leaves of a book.
你可以像打开一本由树叶构成的书一样打开它
Like that, for example.
就像那样
And sometimes there’s something written on these leaves,
有时候这些叶子上还会写上一些东西
but mostly
但是大多数
nothing.
什么都没有
And maybe for…
也许…
I was going to say, ”Maybe there’s nothing.”
我正想说 也许那里什么都没有
But, on this one, there’s a perfect little ammonite,
但是在这一块上面有一个完美的小菊石
a shellfish.
是一个贝类
This quarry has produced so many fossils
这个采石场已经产生了那么多的化石
that the town’s castle has been turned into a museum to house them.
以至于这个小镇的古堡已经变成了收藏它们的博物馆
The majority are sea creatures,
大部分是海洋生物
but sometimes, there are animals that fell into the water
但是有时候 也有从上面的天空
from the skies above.
掉进水里的动物
Pterosaurs.
比如翼龙
Here is one that did.
这就是其中的一只
It’s a kind called Rhamphorhynchus.
这是一种叫做嘴口龙的翼龙
Not only are its bones still connected, as they were in life,
不仅是它们的骨骼像它们活着的时候那样连接着
you can even see something of its soft parts.
你甚至可以看到它们身体上一些柔软的部位
This is one of the most perfect pterosaur fossils ever found.
这是迄今发现的最完美的翼龙化石之一
And it’s a miracle, bearing in mind it’s a 150 million years old,
这是一个奇迹 1.5亿年前的历史被记录了下来
and yet it’s complete in all the tiny details.
其所有细小的部分都依然完整
It had a long bony tail,
它有一个长长的骨尾
long toes on its feet.
长长的脚趾
Its spine and its ribs still connected.
其脊椎和其肋骨仍然连接着
Its jaws have long teeth
它的下颌长有长牙
which would’ve enabled it to snatch fish from the surface of the lagoon.
使它可以捕食泻湖表面的鱼
But the most fascinating parts of its anatomy are its wings.
但其结构上最迷人的部分是它的翅膀
They are supported as in all pterosaurs by a hugely elongated finger.
所有翼龙的翼都是用它们拉长的手指支撑的
This is the wing membrane,
这里是翼膜
which, in life, would have been less than a millimetre thick,
只有不到一毫米的厚度
and yet, it’s so perfectly preserved you can see within it
然而 它保存得如此完美 你可以看到它内部
all the tiny details of little structures
所有小结构的微小细节
that would have given that membrane strength.
那会使得它的膜变强壮
There are rows of tiny fibres called actinofibrils,
有些细小的纤维称为actinofibrils
which may have given it precise muscular control
这可能给它精确的肌肉控制
right across the wing surface.
控制整个翼的表面
You can also see from this fossil
您还可以从这个化石看出
how pterosaurs managed their wings when they weren’t flying.
当它们不飞的时候 翼龙如何控制自己的翅膀
Here, at the base of this long finger,
这里 在长手指的基部
is the miracle joint,
是神奇的关节
which enabled the pterosaurs to move their fingers in any direction.
使得翼龙可以从任意方向上移♥动♥它们的手指
And that was a huge advantage
这是一个巨大的优点
because it allowed them to fold up their wings when they landed.
因为这可以使它们着陆后折叠起它们的翅膀
The pterosaurs had evolved a brilliant first solution
对在空中穿梭旅行问题
to the problems of travelling through the air.
翼龙的进化最先给出了一个完美的解决方案
But they were about to become even better aeronauts.
但是它们想要成为更好的飞行者
About 50 million years after the first winged pterosaur
在第一只带翅膀的翼龙出现的5000万年之后
came something much more advanced.
一些更为先进的物种出现了
It lived in a region of the planet that is now China.
它曾经生活在当今中国的领土上
Its skeleton was unearthed
它的骨架是由
by one of the world’s leading experts on pterosaurs,
世界领先的翼龙专家之一
Dr David Unwin.
大卫·昂温博士挖掘出来
So, here’s one of the pterosaurs that we found last year in China.
这个就是去年从中国发现的翼龙化石之一
ATTENBOROUGH: He named it after Charles Darwin.
爱登堡: 它以查尔斯·达尔文命名
Darwinopterus.
达尔文翼龙
ATTENBOROUGH: Gosh, it’s very beautiful.
爱登堡: 天哪 真是太漂亮了
It’s almost complete, isn’t it?
它几乎是完整的 不是吗
UNWIN: It’s absolutely complete.
昂温: 这绝对是完整的
We can tell that from things like this long tail,
根据它长长的尾巴我们可以得出结论
that we’re dealing with a rather primitive kind of pterosaur.
我们正在研究的是一种颇为原始的翼龙
These are classic features of that group.
这是它们的经典特征
But revelation came when we looked at the neck,
但是当我们看它的脖颈时我们得到了启示
and in particular at the skull, because that’s quite astonishing.
特别是颅骨 因为这是相当惊人的
ATTENBOROUGH: Why, it’s huge, isn’t it?
爱登堡: 为什么 它很大 不是吗
I mean, that’s…
我的意思是
longer than the body.
比它的身体更长
UNWIN: The jaws themselves are really very powerful
昂温: 颌骨本身是非常的强大的
and it’s got some big pointed teeth as well.
它还有一些大的尖齿
This is a skull which looks like that of a really advanced pterosaur.
从颅骨来看这是一个特别高级的翼龙
But, the rest of the body looks really quite primitive.
但是它的其它部分看起来却很原始
So we’ve got this weird mix of characters, primitive and advanced.
所以我们需要从这个怪异的组合的特点判断是原始的还是高级的
This is a little bit like Frankenstein’s monster.
这个有点像科学怪人
ATTENBOROUGH: The big head and pointed teeth of Darwinopterus
爱登堡: 达尔文翼龙的巨大的头和尖的牙齿
makes it clear that this was a predator.
表明了这是肉食性动物
So it must have been very agile in the air.
因此它必须在天空中非常敏捷
But, this pterosaur wasn’t just eating insects.
但是这种翼龙不只是吃昆虫
Pterosaur wings were clearly very efficient in the air.
翼龙的翅膀在空气中显然非常高效的
But they evolved at a cost.
但是它们的演变是有代价的
Using wireframe computer simulations of pterosaur movement,
使用线框计算机模拟的翼龙运动
David Unwin has investigated how they moved on the ground.
大卫·昂温研究它们是如何在地面上移♥动♥的
UNWIN: What I’ve done is feed to the vital statistics of this pterosaur
昂温: 我所做的是将翼龙食量的重要统计数字
into the computer,
输入电脑中
and build this model that you can see on the screen.
然后建立一个你可以在屏幕上看到的模型
ATTENBOROUGH: It’s easy to see that walking on flat surfaces
爱登堡: 可以很直观的看到行走在平坦的地面上
would have been quite difficult for it.
对它来说已经是非常困难的了
Did they always move around like that?
它们经常那样移♥动♥吗
Well, we can try and get him to stand
好吧 我们可以尝试着让它站立
just on the hind limbs alone, like a bird,
只是靠单独的后肢 像一只鸟
but when you do that,
但是当你这样做的时候