It's an incredible idea. But most experts now believe that today's birds are the direct descendants of ancient dinosaurs.
这是一个很不可思议的观点。但是大多数专家认为今天的鸟类是古代恐龙的直系后代。
So does that mean birds actually are dinosaurs?
这么说鸟类是恐龙？
Yes. Absolutely.
是的，当然。
How can you be sure about that？
你怎么如此肯定？
You have evidence from the skeletal anatomy. You have evidence from the shape of the eggs and the microstructure of the eggshell, the discovery about a wealth of feathered dinosaurs, animals that are unquestionably dinosaurs and yet have feathers. They looked just like the feathers on modern birds.
你能从骨骼解剖图里找到证据，从卵的形状、卵壳在扫描电镜下的微观结构找到证据。发现大量长有羽毛的动物，毫无疑问这种动物就是恐龙，长有羽毛的恐龙。他们看起来就像现代的鸟类。
It's a discovery that revolutionizes the way we see dinosaurs. Even some tyrannosaurs were feathered. But the relationship between birds and dinosaurs can tell us much more than simply what they may have looked like.
这个发现彻底改变了我们对恐龙的看法。有些霸王龙竟然也长有羽毛。鸟和恐龙的关系会为我们揭开更多奥秘，而不是仅仅展示外貌上的相似。
So does this mean that we can use living birds to help us understand dinosaurs?
那么这意味着我们能利用活着的鸟类帮助我们了解恐龙吗？
Absolutely. You know you have 10,000 living species of birds that are providing you an enormous amount of information that you can use to understand the biology of the ancient dinosaurs.
当然。你也知道世界上有10000种鸟类，这就为我们研究古代恐龙的生物学提供了大量的信息。
It's quite amazing. But it also makes a certain degree of sense when really you look at them.
这太令人惊奇了。但当你真正观察它们的时候，在一定程度上也合情理。
If we want to learn about how the ancient dinosaurs moved and even how quickly they ran, few animals can tell us more than ostriches. They evolved on an early branch of the avian family tree. And like dinosaurs they are related to, they are large, bipedal and flightless.
如果我们想要了解古代恐龙如何运动，了解他们跑得多快，那就没什么能比鸵鸟带来更多信息。鸵鸟是由早期的鸟类家族分支进化而来。正如与之关系密切的恐龙一样，鸵鸟个头巨大，两足且不能飞翔。
I have some living dinosaurs here to take a look at.
我这儿有一些活恐龙可供观察。
Hello, ladies.
嗨，女士们。
They're all ladies, are they?
他们都是雌恐龙，是吗?
Yes. Yes. They are a bit more manageable when they are females.
是的，是的。雌恐龙才更容易控制。
原文译文属秀哈原创，未经允许请勿转载！
