动物的末日（2009）

你一定会有预感即将有大事要发生了
there are must have been premonitions of something about to happen.
突然间剧烈的震动传遍整个森林
Suddenly violent tremors rip their way through the forest.
地球上已知最严重的大灭绝开始了
The great dying, the worst mass extinction the world has ever known has begun.
大量融化的玄武岩如一片死亡之海
Molten basalt rock, and ocean of liquid death,
从地面下96公里的深处翻滚着猛冲上来
roars from 60 miles below the surface.
大地上出现了一道约128米长的大裂缝
20 mile crack severs the landscape.
地球真的就像被撕开了一个口子
The Earth is literally splitting apart.
很多动物在一瞬间被焚化
Animals are incinerated in a flash,
就像火焰里的纸片一样
like paper in the flame.
流动的火海吞噬着一切
Consumed by a tidal wave of liquid fire.
岩浆大量地涌了出来 流速非常快
So fast and profuse is the lava flow,
能在48小时内完全覆盖整个纽约州
it could cover all of New York State in 48 hours,
而且熔岩还在不断地涌出
and still the surge keeps coming.
地球史上最惨重的大灾难 揭开了它恐怖的面纱
The worst catastrophe in Earth history is off to a terrifying start.
到处都能听到周围成千上万动物可怕的哀嚎声
The air is filled with the fearful wailing of thousands of animals.
过不了多久 全世界的动物都会跟着一起悲鸣
In time, all the creatures of the world will join this sad chorus.
第一次喷发已经过去了一年
One year after the first eruptions,
岩浆还在不断渗出
lava continues to ooze.
今天科学家们把这次火山爆发称为西伯利亚暗色岩事件
Today scientists refer to this volcanic episode as the Siberian Traps event.
大多数火山喷发过后就会停止活动
Most volcanoes blow their top and then stopped,
火山活动期很短 喷发的间隔也很长
short term volcanic activity, long periods in between.
但是西伯利亚暗色岩完全不按规则行事
But Siberian Traps these flood basalt didn't play by the rules.
它们就是不断地喷发 不断地喷发
They kept spewing and spewing and spewing,
喷发一百年 一千年 一万年了
and now 100 years 1000 years 10,000 years.
火山通常是从单一和有限的岩浆室喷发
Volcanoes typically erupted from a single finite pocket of magma,
但是西伯利亚暗色岩喷发的地方
but the Siberian Traps are endlessly stunned
却不断透过一系列管道 把下方翻滚的熔岩补充上来
through a series of pipelines from a sea of liquid rock churning below.
因为人类从来没有看过真正的洪流玄武岩喷发
Because humans have never seen a real flood basalt eruption,
我们只能想象岩浆从地壳缝隙里
I think we can only imagine what it's like to have thousands of years
不断冒出好几千年的情形
of lava, it just well in out of cracks in the Earth.
在我们现在的世界里 各个大洲已经分散开来
In our time, with the continents split apart,
这种喷发或许只会造成区域性的灾难
this type of eruption might only cause a local disaster.
但是在那个时代 各大洲都还连接在一起
But at this time, with a countenance joined,
连锁反应不可避免
the chain reaction can't be contained.
这时候所有受伤 饥饿和充满疑惑的生还者
Wounded, hungry and confused,
开始集体迁徙离开西伯利亚地区
the survivors began a mass exodus from Siberia.
有这么多软弱无力的动物
with so many animals completely vulnerable,
丽齿兽在这个时候过得非常不错
the Gorgans are thriving for now.
随着大灭绝发生了数个月甚至数年之久
As the great dying drags on, with months becoming years,
所有动物都很清楚 现在是无处可逃了
it will become crystal clear but there is nowhere to run.
没有任何动物能逃过命运的捉弄
That no creature will escape their fate.
火山的狂怒慢慢征服了全世界
The volcanoes wrath slowly overcomes the world,
地球大地己经失去了平衡
throwing mother Earth off-balance.
好几年过去了
Years pass,
累积在大气中的火山气体
volcanic gases build up in the atmosphere,
即将引发另一场灾难
driving the next wave of the disaster.
那就是致命的气候变化
Lethal climate change.
地表的裂缝把数以亿计的二氧化碳
The cracks in the Earth released giga tons of carbon dioxide,
和二氧化硫释放到大气里
and sulfur dioxide into the air.
二氧化硫会阻挡太阳光
Sulfur dioxide blocks out the sun,
而二氧化碳则会吸附大量的热量
while carbon dioxide traps heat.
这两种气体的增加
Increase of both gases
引发了长达几十年的强烈两极化的气象模式
triggers decades of intense see-sawing weather patterns.
最初的火山喷发影响了气候 造成全球变冷
The climate is disrupted by the initial volcanic eruptions,
那是因为火山灰和二氧化硫的关系
which cause global cooling because the dust and the sulfur dioxide.
大概之后就会造成全球变暖
And then probably warning
因为二氧化碳开始在大气里累积
is CO2 begins to build up in the atmosphere,
因此这两种情况混合在一起 就会让气候变得忽冷忽热
So you have sort of a mix of things and climates are probably switching back and forth,
让动物们很难适应
that makes it pretty hard for animal to figure out how to live.
即使在现在的南非地区
Even here, in what is now South Africa,
这里距离西伯利亚暗色岩喷发点大约有两万四千多公里远
15,000 miles from the Siberian Traps,
空气中也充满了末日的气氛
a pall of doom is in the air.
气候的突然变化
The sudden change in the climate
为幸存下来的动物带来一个全新的挑战
creates a whole new challenge for those still living,
那就是呼吸
breathing.
或许全世界都会感受到这种变化
The whole world would have started feeling this
因为全球变暖和大量的二氧化碳不会只出现在一个地方
because global warming, carbon dioxide doesn't stay in one spot.
这些二氧化碳从西伯利亚地区上升到大气中
All this CO2 is going up into the atmosphere in Siberia,
然后二氧化碳气体会迅速地扩散到全球
the CO2 rapidly disperses all over the globe.
所以当西伯利亚以及其上空的二氧化碳浓度增加时
So a CO2 increases in percentage over Siberia,
二氧化碳在全球的浓度也会增加
so CO2 does it globally.
不但全世界的温度升高了关键性的几度
Not only do temperatures worldwide go up by a few critical degrees,
氧气的含量也正在迅速降低
oxygen levels start going down.
水龙兽和丽齿兽还不知道到底发生了什么事
The Lystrosaurus and Gorgons have no idea what's happening to them,
但是突然之间 呼吸好像变得越来越困难
but suddenly it's getting harder and harder to breathe.
它们原始的爬行动物呼吸系统
Their primitive reptilian respiratory systems
没有办法适应这越来越稀薄的空气
simply aren't equipped to handle the thinning air.
掠食者和猎物们现在开始一起为生存而奋斗着
The hunter and hunted now share the same struggle to survive.
但体型较小的三尖叉齿兽还能坚持下去
Still it's the little Thrinaxodon that perseveres.
进化在这场危机中好像比较优待最弱势的群体
Seems like evolution is favoring the ultimate underdog in this crisis.
它那瘦小的骨架
Her small thin frame
让它和这个失落世界里的大型动物相比更能适应高温天气
makes her better suited to the heat and the bigger players of this lost world,
它的鼻子和嘴巴中间有一块骨骼隔开
and the bony plates separating her nose from her mouth,
这是很明显的哺乳类特征
a distinctly mammalian trait,
这让三尖叉齿兽可以同时呼吸并咀嚼食物
enables the Thrinaxodon to breathe and chew at the same time.
当周围空气变差时 这是非常关键的适应能力
As the air turns foul, it's a critical adaptation,
这是比它们更大更强壮的爬行类动物所缺乏的
and it's something the larger stronger mammal-like reptiles are missing.
这个小型物种的另一个优势是来源于它们的社会结构
Another advantage this little species has its social structure,
跟今天很多小型哺乳类一样
like many of today's small mammals.
三尖叉齿兽跟相互扶持的家人 还有邻居一起并肩生活着
Thrinaxodon lives in a supportive group of family and neighbors.
这种动物住在洞里或许也在洞里养育后代
This animal was denning, it probably had young in that den.
它们的社会结构或许跟狐礞的相似
It might have even had a communal structure sort of like a meerkat
很多成员住在某一个小型社区架构中
with multiple individuals living in sort of a community structure,
这的确是哺乳类独有的行为
and that's really a hallmark of sort of mammal type of behavior.
特别是在生活压力大的时候
Especially in times of stress,
社区生活可以减轻觅食 或是抵御掠食者的负担
communal living can ease the burden of staying fed or fending off predators.
但是这时三尖叉齿兽并不是唯一熬过这场大灾难的动物
But Thrinaxodon is not the only creature to weather the storm so far.
在迅速暖化的环境中 一种新的掠食者也开始大量繁衍起来
A new predator is thriving in the rapidly warming environment.
那就是古鳄
Proterosuchus.
在二叠纪晚期和三叠纪初期
The nasties of the lake Permian and the early Triassic,
出现了一种很危险的动物 属于古龙类的一种
are a group called archosaurs,
既凶恶又贪婪 是古龙类的最早一批 叫做古鳄
the meanest nastiest and first of them, is called Proterosuchus.
古鳄可不是恐龙
Proterosuchus is not a dinosaur,
但是这种动物到后来会衍生出恐龙
but in time his kind will give rise to them.
它们的样子应该很像鳄鱼
It would have looked very much like a crocodile,
一种有腿的鳄鱼
except crocodile with legs,
不是长在两边 而是往身体下方伸展
not splayed out to the side but underneath it,
它们的头有脖子作为支撑
His head is up on a neck,
它们的头颅很像鳄鱼 只是两侧比较窄一点
it's got a skull that sort of crocodile but a little more compressed to the side.
它是掠食者 或许是水生动物
It was a predator, it may have been aquatic,
可能栖息在水里 会猎食鱼类
and they have lived in water and hunted fish,
还会在溪流岸边抓猎物
and grabbed animals on the bank of the stream.
这是一种很好的适应方式
That's a good kind of adaptation
所以它很能利用机会
and it was able to be opportunistic.
古鳄是冷血动物
Being cold-blooded means Proterosuchus
这表示它们要利用太阳提供的热量来调节体温
uses the sun's energy to regulate his body temperature,
天气越热 它们就越舒服
the hotter it gets, the better he seems to feel.
我们或许认为温血动物很伟大 我们自己就是温血动物
We would like to think that warm-bloodiness is a great thing, we're warm-blooded,
但鳄鱼不是
crocodiles ain't.
但是地球比今天温暖得多的时候
But it's when the world was a lot warmer than it is today,
当冷血动物的话也许会比较好一点
you're probably well off being cold-blooded,
因为最大的差别就是我们需要的食物要比鳄鱼所需的多十倍
because one of the big differences is that we need to eat ten times as much as a crocodile eats,
当温血动物的话会付出很大的代价
it costs us a lot to be warm-blooded.
而古鳄以及它们衍生出来的古龙类就占了很大的优势
So Proterosuchus and the archosaurs from it had a great advantage,
它们用不着找太多食物
They didn't need to find so much food.
距离西伯利亚暗色岩第一次喷发已经过去25年了
It's been 25 years since the first eruptions at the Siberian Traps,
熔化的玄武岩还在不断地流出
and still the molten basalt continues to flow.
它们冷却之后硬化成漆黑的高山 上面什么都长不出来
Hardening into pitch black mountains, where nothing can grow.
曾经栖息在这个地区的动物已经被迫离开了
The animals that inhabited the region have been forced out.
犬齿兽像一群迷路的水牛一样毫无目的地到处游走
Like a heard of lost buffalo, the Dicynodon wander endlessly,