中國又發(fā)現(xiàn)新恐龍！

British and Chinese researchers have confirmed that fossils found in China are from an entirely new species of dinosaur that belonged to the same family as the iconic extinct giants diplodocus and brontosaurus.

經(jīng)中英研究人員確認(rèn)，在中國發(fā)現(xiàn)的化石是一種全新的恐龍，與著名的梁龍、雷龍同屬一個大家族。

The fossils were first discovered in 2004 by a farmer in Lingwu, Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Since then, an excavation led by Xu Xing, a paleontologist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has turned up whole or partial skeletons from between seven to 10 individual dinosaurs.

這些化石于2004年在寧夏回族自治區(qū)的靈武市被一位農(nóng)民發(fā)現(xiàn)。從那以后，中國科學(xué)院古生物學(xué)者徐星所帶領(lǐng)的挖掘團(tuán)隊(duì)又發(fā)現(xiàn)了7-10只恐龍個體的完整或者部分骨架。

Xu and researchers from University College London and Imperial College London have published the first comprehensive study of the 174-million-year-old fossils in the journal Nature, confirming the dinosaur to be a new species and the earliest example of a diplodocoid dinosaur ever found.

徐星以及來自英國倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院和帝國理工學(xué)院的研究人員在《自然》雜志上發(fā)表了關(guān)于這些距今1.74億年的化石的首份綜合性研究，確認(rèn)了這些恐龍為新物種，并且是已知的最早的梁龍超科恐龍。

Several distinctive skeletal characteristics provide evidence that the extinct animal belonged to the diplodocoid family, which refers to a group of sauropods that include the gigantic, 25-meter-long diplodocus.

一些獨(dú)特的骨骼特征證明了這一滅絕生物屬于梁龍超科大家族，在這個大家族中，包括了25米長的巨型梁龍和一系列蜥腳類動物。

Xu named the dinosaur Lingwulong shenqi (meaning Lingwu amazing dragon) after the town where the fossils were discovered.

徐星以發(fā)現(xiàn)這些化石的小城名字為這種恐龍命名為：神奇靈武龍。

Lingwulong was relatively small by sauropod standards with a relatively short neck. The beast measured 11 to 17 meters and had a long tail and strong, stout limbs.

以蜥腳類動物的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來看，神奇靈武龍體型相對較小，脖子也比較短。這種恐龍體長在11-17米之間，有著長長的尾巴和粗壯的四肢。

Lingwulong is the first diplodocoid ever discovered in East Asia. Paleontologists had previously theorized that a vast inland sea in the supercontinent Pangea prevented diplodocoids from crossing into Asia from other parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

神奇靈武龍是東亞地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)的首個梁龍超科物種。此前，古生物學(xué)家們的學(xué)說認(rèn)為，泛大陸上有一片巨大的內(nèi)海，令梁龍超科恐龍無法從北半球的其他地區(qū)來到亞洲。

"The fact that it is in China is significant as we thought these animals never got into Asia," said Philip Mannion, a researcher from Imperial College London who co-authored the study. "The inland sea may have been less of a barrier than we once thought, or it could have been seasonal."

“在中國發(fā)現(xiàn)(梁龍超科恐龍)的事實(shí)具有重大意義，因?yàn)橄惹拔覀冋J(rèn)為這些生物從未來到過亞洲，”帝國理工學(xué)院研究人員、該研究的合著者菲利普·曼尼恩表示。“內(nèi)?；蛟S并不如我們先前所想的是道隔離屏障，又或者內(nèi)海是季節(jié)性的。”

The fossils are 174 million years old, making Lingwulong the earliest known diplodocoid ever found. Before the discovery, the general consensus was that diplodocoids lived between 163 million and 145 million years ago during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods.

這些化石距今1.74億年，也讓神奇靈武龍成為了已知的最早的梁龍超科恐龍。在這一發(fā)現(xiàn)之前，普遍共識是梁龍超科類生活在1.63億-1.45億年前的侏羅紀(jì)晚期到白堊紀(jì)早期之間。

"These fossils suggest diplodocoids were around much earlier than previously thought," Mannion said.

“這些化石表明，梁龍超科恐龍比先前認(rèn)為的出現(xiàn)時間要早得多，”曼尼恩說道。

Mannion said the animals that were discovered may have died together after getting stuck in mud or caught in a flash flood.

曼尼恩表示，發(fā)現(xiàn)的這些生物或許因被困于泥沼或者遭遇突發(fā)洪水而一同死去。

"We know from previous finds that sauropods lived in small herds," Mannion said. "We have a good record of their footprints in rock, which show multiple individuals walking side by side."

“從先前的發(fā)現(xiàn)中，我們可以得知蜥腳類動物以小范圍群居的方式生活在一起，”曼尼恩說。“我們在巖層中發(fā)現(xiàn)了它們完好的腳印，顯示了幾只恐龍個體并排而行。”

"They would have spent much of the day eating, consuming pretty much any vegetation that was around," he added.

“它們一天大部分的時間都在進(jìn)食，消耗掉了周遭大量的植被，”他補(bǔ)充道。

The excavation of the Lingwu fossils was the first dig ever televised live in China. Some of the dinosaur remains now form part of a collection at Lingwu Museum.

神奇靈武龍化石的挖掘工作是國內(nèi)首次進(jìn)行電視直播的考古發(fā)掘工程。一些恐龍遺跡成為了靈武博物館的藏品。