有史以来最重的动物

时间:2023-10-30 08:46:44

(单词翻译:单击)

Bizarre-Looking Colossus Whale May Have Been Heaviest Animal Ever (Sorry, Blue Whales)


Scientists excavating1 in a Peruvian desert have found the fossilized bones of what they argue may have been the heaviest animal ever to live: a strange ancient whale that may have had a teensy head attached to a giant, bloated body.
 
The long-lost whale, now dubbed2 Perucetus colossus, had a skeleton that may have weighed two to three times that of a blue whale. Tipping the scales at up to 330,000 pounds, the blue whale is the heaviest animal alive today. Until now, paleontologists hadn’t found anything that could even compare to that behemoth.
 
“It’s an extraordinary claim—the heaviest animal yet described—so that requires pretty extraordinary evidence, and I think they convincingly demonstrated that,” says Annalisa Berta, a retired3 paleontologist and a professor emerita at San Diego State University, who was not involved in the new research. The study was published on August 2 in the journal Nature.
 
Paleontologist and study co-author Mario Urbina first stumbled on one of P. colossus’s vertebrae around a decade ago, says his colleague Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, a paleontologist at Cayetano Heredia University in Peru, who is also a co-author of the paper. Urbina believed he’d found a fossil, but Salas-Gismondi wasn’t convinced. “I was skeptical4 about these fossils. I said to him, ‘It doesn’t look like real bone,’” Salas-Gismondi says, noting that the structure of the bone was very different from most finds. “It looked like a rock, in fact.”
 
But analyses showed that Urbina was correct. And since the initial find, the team has excavated6 13 vertebrae, four ribs7 and part of a hip8. The vertebrae are so weighty that the team could excavate5 only one or two each year, Salas-Gismondi says. “An animal of this size has never been found before in the fossil record anywhere in the world,” he says.
 
Other scientists agree that the bones are unprecedented9. “It’s an astonishing specimen,” says Philip Gingerich, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan, who was not involved in the new research. “These vertebrae are nearly the size of beer kegs or something. They’re unlike anything certainly that I’ve ever seen—that anyone’s ever seen.”
 
As described by Salas-Gismondi and his colleagues, the fossils are extremely massive in two different ways. First, they are particularly dense10. Bones usually have a spongy structure, but these have deposits filling those pores—hence his initial reaction that the vertebra fossil looked like a rock. Second, the bones are large and look like they’ve been inflated11.
 
“It’s just incredibly bulbous,” says Emily Buchholtz, a paleontologist at Wellesley College, referring to a vertebra pictured in the paper. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she adds, noting that blue whale vertebrae are also massive but sleek12, whereas the bones of P. colossus are swollen13.
 
Salas-Gismondi and his colleagues argue that the bones’ incredible mass represents an adaptation to coastal14 living in shallow waters. The dense bones, the researchers say, balanced the buoyancy of blubber and lungs filled with air—essentially they acted as ballast to let P. colossus whales remain underwater with less effort. “Scuba divers15 put on weight belts,” Berta says. “What these whales did was: they increased the density16 of their bones.”
 
The bones are nearly 40 million years old, which means the bizarre animal would have swam the seas just a couple of million years before primitive17 whales began their evolutionary18 split into the toothed and baleen19 whales we know today.
 
But scientists can’t know what P. colossus ate—or much else about how it lived—because they have only excavated the core of the body. “They’ve got the middle of the skeleton. I think they need the front end of it or the back end of it before we’ll really understand what this thing was doing,” Gingerich says.
 
For now, the researchers have filled in the gaps about P. colossus’s appearance by using what they know from its less extreme relatives. These animals tended to have a small head, which the scientists incorporated into the reconstruction20, although they emphasize that the picture is speculative21.
 
All known cetaceans—whales, dolphins and porpoises—are carnivores, so the scientists assume the massive whale was, too. But it would have needed an incredible amount of fuel to survive. Today’s blue whales eat tiny crustaceans22 called krill. The whales feast on massive numbers of krill to make up for their meager23 serving size, but near-coast waters can’t support large populations of animals, even small ones.
 
“I do like the hypothesis of a large scavenger24 that would just eat sunken carcasses,” says study co-author Eli Amson, a paleontologist at the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in Germany. “But it would be a first for a cetacean; that’s really weird25.” Another possibility is that P. colossus was vegetarian26 like the manatees27 whose silhouette28 it echoes, although Amson says that would be even stranger. But without teeth or a jaw29, everything is guesswork.
 
The skeleton was found with its head pointing into a hillside, and the researchers still hope to find the funding to uncover more of the lost animal. In the meantime, the bones excavated to date will reside at the Natural History Museum in Lima, Peru, where both Salas-Gismondi and Urbina work. There they will first be on display for a few months and will then move behind the scenes.
 
 
And scientists will continue to marvel30 at the evolutionary mysteries the bones pose. “Basically,” Buchholtz says, “my entire reaction to this is: ‘Oh wow. Oh wow.’”

分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 excavating 5d793b033d109ef3f1f026bd95b1d9f5     
v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 );开凿;挖出;发掘
参考例句:
  • A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句
2 dubbed dubbed     
v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 );把…称为;配音;复制
参考例句:
  • Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
  • Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的? 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
4 skeptical MxHwn     
adj.怀疑的,多疑的
参考例句:
  • Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
  • Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。
5 excavate eiBzY     
vt.挖掘,挖出
参考例句:
  • They plan to excavate a large hole.他们计划挖个大洞。
  • A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs.一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。
6 excavated 3cafdb6f7c26ffe41daf7aa353505858     
v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 );开凿;挖出;发掘
参考例句:
  • The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
  • The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 ribs 24fc137444401001077773555802b280     
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹
参考例句:
  • He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
  • Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。
8 hip 1dOxX     
n.臀部,髋;屋脊
参考例句:
  • The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
9 unprecedented 7gSyJ     
adj.无前例的,新奇的
参考例句:
  • The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
  • A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。
10 dense aONzX     
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的
参考例句:
  • The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
  • The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
11 inflated Mqwz2K     
adj.(价格)飞涨的;(通货)膨胀的;言过其实的;充了气的v.使充气(于轮胎、气球等)( inflate的过去式和过去分词 );(使)膨胀;(使)通货膨胀;物价上涨
参考例句:
  • He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
  • They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 sleek zESzJ     
adj.光滑的,井然有序的;v.使光滑,梳拢
参考例句:
  • Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
  • The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。
13 swollen DrcwL     
adj.肿大的,水涨的;v.使变大,肿胀
参考例句:
  • Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着,她的双腿已经肿了。
  • A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她,她的手臂肿起来了。
14 coastal WWiyh     
adj.海岸的,沿海的,沿岸的
参考例句:
  • The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
  • This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
15 divers hu9z23     
adj.不同的;种种的
参考例句:
  • He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人,要他们和他作伴。
  • Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作,同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。
16 density rOdzZ     
n.密集,密度,浓度
参考例句:
  • The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
  • The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。
17 primitive vSwz0     
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物
参考例句:
  • It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
  • His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。
18 evolutionary Ctqz7m     
adj.进化的;演化的,演变的;[生]进化论的
参考例句:
  • Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
  • These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。
19 baleen ZPey2     
n.鲸须
参考例句:
  • Other baleen whales have splash guards too,but not like this.一些须鲸物种头顶也有护住喷水孔的构造,但并不长成这样。
  • Baleen whales often appear in this region. Be careful!这一带经常有须鲸出没,要注意安全啊。
20 reconstruction 3U6xb     
n.重建,再现,复原
参考例句:
  • The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后,该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
  • In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期,技术决定一切。
21 speculative uvjwd     
adj.思索性的,暝想性的,推理的
参考例句:
  • Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
  • The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大,不应理会。
22 crustaceans 37ad1a9eb8e9867969edd084ce8032d5     
n.甲壳纲动物(如蟹、龙虾)( crustacean的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时,它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句
23 meager zB5xZ     
adj.缺乏的,不足的,瘦的
参考例句:
  • He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
  • The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火,开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。
24 scavenger LDTyN     
n.以腐尸为食的动物,清扫工
参考例句:
  • He's just fit for a job as scavenger.他只配当个清道夫。
  • He is not a scavenger nor just a moving appetite as some sharks are.它不是食腐动物,也不像有些鲨鱼那样,只知道游来游去满足食欲。
25 weird bghw8     
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
参考例句:
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
26 vegetarian 7KGzY     
n.素食者;adj.素食的
参考例句:
  • She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
  • I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。
27 manatees 838c504e9733f033c37f82abeb0e60f1     
n.海牛(水生哺乳动物,体宽扁,尾圆,有鳃状肢)( manatee的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The manatees tamed quickly. 海牛很快地被驯服。 来自互联网
  • Gentle and slow moving, manatees are said to be the mythical mermaids of sailors' imaginations. 海牛游动温和而缓慢,被认为是海员遐想中富有神秘色彩的美人鱼。 来自互联网
28 silhouette SEvz8     
n.黑色半身侧面影,影子,轮廓;v.描绘成侧面影,照出影子来,仅仅显出轮廓
参考例句:
  • I could see its black silhouette against the evening sky.我能看到夜幕下它黑色的轮廓。
  • I could see the silhouette of the woman in the pickup.我可以见到小卡车的女人黑色半身侧面影。
29 jaw 5xgy9     
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训
参考例句:
  • He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
  • A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。
30 marvel b2xyG     
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事
参考例句:
  • The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
  • The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

©2005-2010英文阅读网