动物的末日（2009）

地壳
地幔
真双齿翼龙
狂齿鳄
有角鳄
大带齿兽
南十字龙
美国西南部
开立式约束
南十字龙
南非
大带齿兽
真双齿翼龙
狂齿鳄
有角鳄
大带齿兽
南十字龙
两亿年前
两亿年前
200 million years ago,
灼热的岩浆
scorching lava,
难以忍♥耐的高温
suffocating heat,
还有致命的毒气
and toxic gases,
猛然将整个地球推向毁灭的边缘
violently push our planet to the brink.
所有生物都在劫难逃
There will be no mercy for anyone.
我们的地球能否度过此次危机？
Will our planet survive?
还是会变成没有任何生命存在的死寂荒原？
Or will it transform into a barren wasteland, devoid of life?
地球的未来就掌握在屈指可数的几种原始动物手中
The fate of Earth's future lies with a handful of primitive creatures.
它们必须适应 否则就会彻底灭绝
They must adapt or die.
请见证地球是怎么被扼杀的
Witness the earth was strangled,
请看本集"动物末日"
on Animal Armagedoon.
这是今天火星的样子
This is Mars today,
上面没有水 没有空气 没有生命
waterless, airless, lifeless.
这是个环境恶劣的荒原 更没有半点生命
A harsh unforgiving desert, where nothing lives,
跟地球相比简直大相径庭
vastly different than Earth.
令人难以置信的是
The chilling reality is
如果两亿年前所有生物真的全部灭绝了 地球可能就会变成这样
this could have been Earth is a mass extinction 200 million years ago had succeeded.
这发生在恐龙称霸地球之前的那个时候
It happened just before the reign of dinosaurs,
这个时期叫做三叠纪
in a time called the Triassic.
三叠纪的世界布满了潮湿的热带丛林
The world of the Triassic is dominated by humid jungle,
茂密的森林以及大♥片♥广袤的原野
with lush forests and vast wooded planes,
从南极一直延伸到北极
stretching from pole to pole.
三叠纪时期的热带地区就和现在的热带地区一样
The tropics of the Triassic would be like the tropics of today,
鉴于我们的世界
but whereas in our world,
如果你从赤道为起点 往北或往南走的话
as you go north or south from the equator,
气温会越来越低
it gets cooler.
但是在三叠纪 或许所有地方都很温暖
On the Triassic probably stayed warm
因为二氧化碳这种温室气体的浓度比现在高多了
because carbon dioxide levels greenhouse gases were much higher.
但我想最大的不同就是植物和动物的种类了
I think the greatest difference would be the plants and the animals.
这时候的地球上生活着很多奇异的动物
A host of bizarre creatures roam this planet.
会飞的爬行类动物
Flying reptiles,
身披铠甲的巨大食草动物
giant armor-plated herbivores,
还有潜伏在阴暗角落中的狡猾掠食者
and cunning predators lurking in the shadows.
还有对我们人类最重要的是这些体型微小的祖先
But most important to humans, our own tiny ancestors,
第一批真正的哺乳类
the first true mammals.
这些动物栖息在一个叫做泛大♥陆♥的超级大♥陆♥上
All of these animals inhabit a vast supercontinent called Pangaea,
这里是所有陆地动物几千万年来的家园
the place land dwellers have called home for tens of millions of years.
我想三叠纪是最酷的时代交叉口
The Triassic would have to have been one of the coolest crossroads of time to ever visit I think,
它是前后两个时代中间一个名副其实的中转站
it really is the strange peculiar intersection between what came before was to become after.
地球还在逐渐地恢复中
Planet Earth is still in recovery,
上次最严重的大灭绝让它奄奄一息
after the mother of all mass extinctions left it for dead.
五千万年前 二叠纪以悲剧告终
50 million years earlier, the Permian period ended tragically,
当时地球在西伯利亚裂开了一个大口子
when the Earth split apart in Siberia,
100万以年来有毒岩浆一直在不断流出
oozing toxic lava for a million years.
这场灾难被称为超级大灭绝
Known as the great dying.
那场浩劫把青翠繁茂的热带乐园
This cataclysmic event turned a lush and thriving wonderland
变成一片了无生机的荒原
into a barren hostile domain.
超过九♥成♥的物种永远地消失了
More than 90% of all species were lost forever.
但是还是有少数动物熬过了此次大灭绝
But a few animals made it through,
生命从这少数零零散散的幸存者们
and from this meager handful of survivors,
缓慢而又稳定地从毁灭边缘恢复回来
life is slowly, but surely clawed its way back from the brink.
经过了五千万年之后
After 50 million years,
地球的生态圈己恢复到趋于正常的状态
ecosystems have returned to something approaching normal.
但是在这些动物的脚下
But beneath their feet,
过去几百万年来 把泛大♥陆♥凝聚在一起的力量
the forces that brought Pangaea together millions of years in the past
现在却要把它撕裂
are now splitting it apart.
地球的地壳漂浮在一层叫做地幔的熔岩上
The Earth's crust floats on a layer of molten rock called the Mantle,
地幔里的熔岩会不断移♥动♥着大♥陆♥
the flow of rock in the mantle moves the continents over time.
随着这些力量把泛大♥陆♥分♥裂♥开来
As these forces tear Pangaea apart,
大量的岩浆会从地球中心深处喷涌而出
an extraordinary amount of lava will be expelled from the bowels of the Earth.
大灭绝的齿轮已经开始转动了
The gears of mass extinction are in motion,
一场毁灭性的灾难即将上演
disaster is about to strike.
在现今北美洲东部的阿巴拉契亚山脉
In what is now the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America,
从深处传来的隆隆巨响震动了大地
a deep rumble shake the landscape.
一群真双齿翼龙吓得飞了起来
A startled flock of Eudimorphodon takes flight.
它们察觉到事情有点不对劲
They sense that something is wrong,
但是没有地方可以逃避正在地下涌动的毁灭性力量
but there is nowhere to run from the enemy gathering below.
这些像鸟的动物是第一批会飞的爬行类动物
These bird-like creatures are among the first flying reptiles,
也叫翼龙
or Pterosaurs.
翼龙是第一批真正进化出具有动力飞行能力的脊椎动物
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to actually evolved powered flight,
它们不只能从树木高处飞到地面
going not just from high up in the trees to down on the ground,
而且还能倒过来 从地面往上飞
but actually the reverse being able to go from the ground up.
特别长的第四根手指
An elongated fourth finger
形成了它们的薄翼前缘
forms the leading edge of their thin wings.
在我们看来它们很像蝙蝠
To us, it might resemble a bat,
但是它们飞起来就跟鸟一样优雅
but it flies as gracefully as a bird.
它们的大小跟海鸥差不多
First was some of us size of a seagull,
或许会滑翔和拍打翅膀
and if we could probably glide and flap its wings,
拥有像海鸥一样的长翅膀 这对它们很有利
and would benefit from having those rather long wings at a seagull
这就意味着它们就可以利用气流停留在空中
has meaning that it can take advantage of air currents,
不用像蜂鸟那样不停地拼命拍翅膀
to maintain it aloft, it doesn't have to flap furiously all the time like a hummingbird.
真双齿翼龙就跟海鸥一样
And like a seagull,
利用它们的滑翔能力 在水道上方盘旋便于寻找食物
the Eudimorphodon used their gliding ability to patrol the waterways for food,
它们就几乎只吃鱼类
they dine almost exclusively on fish.
正当真双齿翼龙在空中翱翔时 地面上又传来了一阵隆隆巨响
As the Eudimorphodon sore, another rumbled.
三叠纪世界的死神之门已经悄然开启
The Triassic world's grim fate is knocking at the door.
这时地面上有一群正在晒太阳的狂齿鳄
Basking in the sun below, a group of Rutiodon
丝毫没有察觉到世界末日即将来临
take little notice that the end of the world is coming.
这些狂齿鳄长约3.66米 从头到尾都长有鳞甲
12 feet long, armored from head to tail,
还有一副锥形的獠牙
and equipped with large cone-shaped fangs.
它们是泛大♥陆♥湖泊和水池中的顶级掠食者
These Rutiodons are the top predators in the lakes and ponds of Pangaea.
狂齿鳄虽然长得很像鳄鱼
Rutiodon reassembles a crocodile,
但它们彼此却并没有什么血缘关系
though they are not related to each other,
科学家们相信它们在生态系统中占据着同样重要的位置
scientists believe it occupied a similar niche in the ecosystem,
它们都是靠伏击捕猎的掠食者 并且从来不会离开水面太远
an ambush predator that never strayed far from the water.
我觉得狂齿鳄大部分时间都是以鱼类为食
I think most of the time Rutiodon was eating fish,
这只是从它们的头骨形状来判断的
just up based on the shape of the skull.
但只要有机会的话
But given the opportunity,
有些警觉性较低的动物来到河边喝水时
something's not paying attention when it comes down to drink some water at the riverside,
狂齿鳄也许就能把它们咬住
Rutiodon would probably be able to swipe at them,
并把它们拖进水里淹死 然后美餐一顿
and take them into the water, drown them probably.
但是在三叠纪称霸的
But the dominant animals of the Triassic,
主要是身上覆盖厚重甲片的食草动物 例如有角鳄
are heavily armored herbivores, like Desmatosuchus.
因为还没有能够大到可以威胁它们的掠食者
With no predators big enough to take them down,
它们可以肆无忌惮地到处游走
they roam wherever they please.
它们能长到跟一辆两吨♥重的卡车一样大
They can grow as big as a two-ton truck,
身上的鳞甲片可以让它们对抗任何具有潜在性的威胁
and their fortified against any potential attackers.
有角鳄背上长满了很多巨大的甲片
Desmatosuchus got this full-blown armor all over its back,
就像一个巨大的盾牌一样
with giant shields.
肩膀上还延伸出来一些大尖刺
And these giant spikes that stick off over its shoulders.
毫无疑问 当有动物袭击它们的时候
No doubt that this could have been a great offensive piece of weaponry
这些得力的武器肯定能抵御它们的进攻
at the time when some animals attacking it.
但是有角鳄能够悠闲吃草的时日不多了
But Desmatosuchus's days of peacefully grazing are numbered.
几星期以来 这个地方所有的动物
For weeks, all the animals of this place
都没有理会这些神秘的轰隆巨响
have ignored the mysterious rumblings.
现在它们就要为此付出惨痛的代价
And now they will pay the price.
灼热的蒸汽气流高高地喷向空中
Towering flume of searing favor stream into the sky.
这些喷泉就跟黄石公园里的老忠实喷泉一样
These guys are like Old Faithful,
但是其力量要比黄石公园温泉强上100倍
but 100 times more powerful.
超热的水蒸气和碎石一起喷向1公里高的空中
Superheated steam and debris rocket over a mile into the air,