  Andrew, a baby dinosaur fossil, has quite a story to tell. 安德鲁，是一只化石恐龙宝宝，它有很多故事要讲。 Sadly, there isn't much of him left now, considering he lived during the Jurassic Period. 可惜的是，它的遗骸所剩无几，因为它居住在侏罗纪时期。 His skull was found in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in Montana, where other dinosaur fossils have been recovered. 它的头骨发现于蒙大拿的上侏罗纪莫里森岩层中，在这里也发现过其他的恐龙化石。  A study of the skull, which is just over 9 inches long, was published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. 对这份只有9英寸长的头骨的研究，周四发表于《科学报告》杂志上。 "This skull is the smallest Diplodocus skull ever found," said Cary Woodruff, study author and director of paleontology at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum in Montana. “这块头骨是迄今发现的最小的梁龙的头骨，”卡瑞.伍德拉夫说，他是这次研究的作者也是蒙大拿的大平原恐龙博物馆的古生物学主任。 "It's not just its size that's important; its overall proportions and especially the teeth help us to better understand how Diplodocus grew up." “重要的不仅仅是尺寸，它的总体比例，尤其是牙齿可以帮助我们更好地理解梁龙是怎样长大的。” By observing the skull of the young Diplodocus, which is a long-necked sauropod like Brontosaurus, the team discovered that baby dinosaurs were a lot different than their parents -- not merely smaller versions of them. 通过观察这块梁龙宝宝的头骨，梁龙是一种长颈的，像雷龙一样的蜥脚类，该团队发现恐龙宝宝跟自己的父母不尽相同——不仅仅是迷你版的父母。 Diplodocus skulls are rare, and it's even more rare to find one belonging to a young one. 梁龙的头骨本来就少，要找到梁龙宝宝的头骨就更罕见了。  The overall proportions and bone shapes suggest that the skull of Diplodocus underwent a lot of shape change through growth into adulthood, Woodruff said. 总体的比例和骨头的形状表明梁龙的头骨在成长过程中经历了很多的形变，伍德拉夫说道。 Though the adults are known for the peg-like teeth at the front of their mouths, Andrew had those as well as spatulate teeth at the back of his mouth. 尽管成年梁龙以嘴前端的钉子一样的牙齿而出名，安德鲁则同时在嘴后部还有铲状齿。 "We think this combination of tooth forms indicates that young Diplodocus were feeding on a wider variety ofplant types," Woodruff said. “我们认为这种组合式的牙齿形式表明幼年的梁龙的食物类型更为多样，”伍德拉夫说道。 "Which makes sense. These young dinosaurs are growing super fast, so a young Diplodocus could quite literally eat 'all of its veggies' to fuel its rapid growth rate." “这是说得通的。这些恐龙宝宝长得飞快，所以幼年的梁龙可能会真的吃掉'各种蔬菜’来供应它的快速增长率。” Spatulate teeth can handle coarse vegetation and bulk feeding, rather than the soft foliage and grazing that are suited for peg-like teeth. 铲状齿可以咀嚼粗壮的植物和粗大的饲料，而不仅仅局限于柔软的叶子或者那些只适合钉状齿的牧草。  Andrew had a short narrow snout, whereas his parents had wide, square snouts. 安德鲁的吻部又短又窄，而它的父母的吻部则又宽又平。 His snout was suited to forests, but his parents would be grazing the ground in open areas. 它的吻部适合森林，而父母的则适合在开阔的地区吃草。 But if adults fed their babies, why would they need to have different teeth and snouts? 但如果成年恐龙会喂食它们的幼崽，幼崽为什么还需要不同的牙齿和吻部呢？ The researchers believe that the babies fended for themselves and were separated from the adults. 研究员们认为恐龙宝宝们自食其力，跟父母是分开的。 The babies most likely lived in forests in age-segregated herds, which could protect them both from predators and from being trampled by their own gigantic parents. 恐龙宝宝们很可能成群住在跟成年人分开的森林里，这样可以保护它们躲避捕食者也防止被自己巨大的父母踩踏。  "I've been thinking of these roving bands of young Diplodocus in the forests akin to Peter Pan's Lost Boys," Woodruff said. “我觉得那些流浪的梁龙宝宝就像彼得潘的走失的儿子们，”伍德拉夫说道。 "These age-segregated herds likely sought refuge in more forested areas where they could hide and be more concealed, opposed to being out in the open." “这些按年龄聚集的恐龙群落很可能会在更多森林的地区寻求庇护，这样更隐蔽，而不是处在空地上。” When the researchers first tested the skull in several ways to see what kind of sauropod Andrew was, they couldn't reach a definitive answer. 当研究员们首次用几种方法测试这块头骨，来看安德鲁属于哪种蜥脚类时，他们没法得出确定的答案。 They also wondered whether he might be a dwarf specimen of the species rather than a juvenile. 他们还好奇它是否是这个品种的一个侏儒样品而不是幼年。  "Parts of it look like Diplodocus; other parts not so much," Woodruff said. “它有一部分看起来像梁龙，而其他的部分则不像，”伍德拉夫说道。 "At the end of the day, we believe we presented enough data to say that more characteristics of Andrew are likewise seen in Diplodocus than any other sauropod. ” “那天最后，我们认为我们已经有足够的数据可以说安德鲁更多的特征是在梁龙中看到的，而不是其他的蜥脚类动物。” “We also show attributes, including the internal aspects of the bone, that demonstrate that Andrew is not an adult." “我们还发现了很多属性，包括骨头的内部方面，都表明安德鲁不是成年。” The discovery of Andrew is helping fill some gaps in the fossil record for Diplodocus, but there are still many questions Woodruff would like to answer. 安德鲁的发现帮忙填补了梁龙的化石记录的一些空缺，不过还有很多的问题伍德拉夫想要知道。  "Andrew represents a critical piece of the puzzle for understanding how young sauropods like Diplodocus grew up," he said. “安德鲁代表了幼年蜥脚类动物比如梁龙是如何成长的拼图中的重要一块，”他说。 "But that story is far from complete, and I want to know more about the intimate life history details of a Diplodocus' entire life." “不过故事还是不完整，我想要知道更多关于梁龙的'整个一生’的秘密生活更多细节。” There's also a reason for his name. 它的名字也是有来头的。 Although all museum specimens get an ID number, so do humans, but we don't go by them, Woodruff said. 尽管所有的博物馆样品都有一个身份证号码，人类也一样，不过我们平时不会叫这个号码，伍德拉夫说道。 A name like Andrew makes it more personal, and the museum wanted to share Andrew's story. 而一个像安德鲁这样的名字会让它更人性化，而博物馆也很想要分享安德鲁的故事。 "Andrew specifically is a nod to the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie," Woodruff said. “安德鲁其实是特地向慈善家安德鲁.卡内基致敬，”伍德拉夫说道。 "Carnegie funded many paleontological expeditions (many for sauropods in Utah), and he even has a species of Diplodocus named in his honor: Diplodocus carnegii. ” “卡内基资助了很多的古生物探险（很多是犹他州的蜥脚类），而他甚至有一种梁龙是以他命名的：卡内基梁龙。” “So naming our specimen Andrew was a nod to Carnegie, and a nod to our calling Andrew a Diplodocus." “所以把我们的样品命名为安德鲁也是向卡内基致敬，也向把我们的安德鲁叫做梁龙致敬。”  对于恐龙宝宝安德鲁的故事，朋友们有什么看法呢？欢迎给amber留言哦！ 感谢关注 跟amber一起看世界 |
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