动物的末日（2009）

但这才刚刚开始
and this is just the beginning.
翻滚的蒸汽云把真双齿翼龙给吞噬了
Rolling clouds of steam subsume the Eudimorphodon.
有角鳄率先往高处跑去
Desmatosuchus lead the way to higher ground,
狂齿鳄则躲进深水中寻找庇护
while Rutiodon seek shelter in the deep,
但它们一个都逃不掉
but there will be no escape.
翻滚着的蒸汽只不过是个警告
The steam eruptions are just a warning shot,
这就意味着 岩浆的喷发已经近在咫尺了
lava eruptions are not far behind.
泛大♥陆♥在剧烈的蒸汽喷发中撕裂开来
Pangaea is coming apart at the seams.
几星期过去了
Weeks pass,
北美洲的蒸汽喷发仍在继续
and the steam eruptions in North America continue.
有个妈妈正在尽全力保护它的孩子 让它们免受这次灾难所带来的伤害
One mother does her best to shield her young from the approach of armageddon.
它们就是大带齿兽
This is Megazostrodon,
是那个时代跟我们最相似的祖先
our closest ancestor of this time.
它的长颚以及其锐利的小牙齿
Its long jaws and rows of tiny sharp teeth,
代表着它原本是爬行类动物
suggests a reptilian origin,
但是覆盖在它身上的不是鳞片 而是毛发
but it is covered in hair, not scales.
大带齿兽是第一种真正的哺乳类
Megazostrodon is the first true mammal.
所有哺乳类的未来都靠它了
The future of the entire class of animals rests with it.
大带齿兽是一种相当小的动物
Megazostrodon was quite a small creature,
你会想到它像鼬鼠那样瘦瘦长长的
you've got to think of something like a weasel, I guess quite long and thin,
甚至你还可能不会注意到它 它就跟今天的鼬鼠一样行踪隐秘
you might hardly have noticed it like weasels today, it's quite secretive.
这种动物的幸存对我们来说非常重要
And it's a pretty important survivor for us,
因为它跟现代的哺乳类有很大的关系
because it's the animal that is related to modern mammals.
它们或许大多数跟它们瘦小的动物一样是穴居动物
Probably like most small animals of that size is a burrowing animal.
大带齿兽居住在洞穴中 会受到很好的保护
Megazostrodon is well protected in its burrow,
但是在地面上栖息的动物就没有这么幸运了
but those on the surface are not so lucky.
大地持续发出轰隆巨响
The ground rumbles,
接着在震耳欲聋的巨大轰隆声中
then with an ear-splitting boom,
中大西洋岩浆区的喷发正式开始了
the camp eruptions begin in earnest.
岩浆从地壳上的大裂缝喷涌而出
Lava bursts out of huge cracks in the Earth,
就像喷泉一样喷发到空中
fountains of magma explode into the air.
其破坏力远比从单一火山口喷发时的威力大得多
It's far more destructive than a typical volcano that explodes from a single mountain top.
这些大裂缝可能有几十公里长
These cracks can be dozens of miles long.
火焰就像巨浪一样从裂缝中涌了出来
A tidal wave of flame courses from the fissures.
就像是一波接一波的岩浆缓缓流过地面
Almost like a wave of the scuff slowly moving over the landscape,
在它的行进路上 许多可怜动物拼着命逃生
at all these poor animals in its way running for their lives.
成群动作缓慢的食草动物狂奔着逃离火海
Herds of of lumbering herbivores run from the walls of flame,
但是它们哪里能逃得掉
but there's no escape.
尽管它们身上的刺可以抵御掠食者
Their spikes may protect them from predators,
但是现在只会成为累赘
but only slow them down now.
只要碰到岩浆 所有的生物都必死无疑
Anything in its path is going to be completely immediately wiped out.
连续几星期 甚至几个月 岩浆持续地从裂缝喷向地面
For weeks even months on end, the fissures spew lava onto the surface.
熔岩所经之处会毁灭一切 地面上的一切都被无情地消灭殆尽
The molten rock destroys anything it touches, laying waste to the landscape.
我们人类对中大西洋岩浆区这个情况并不是很了解
We have no human understanding or connection to an event such as camp,
这跟我们也没有什么关系
to an event such as can.
在进化出人类之后 这种事就再也没有发生过
Nothing like that has happened since humans evolved.
动物开始从喷发中心点大规模撤离
Animals evacuate ground zero,
曾经栖息在现在美国东岸的动物 现在无家可归了
for those that used to live in what is now the east coast of the United States, there is no home left.
正当大多数动物都在持续逃亡时
As the exodus continues,
有种动物好像比较能够适应这些变化
one type of animal seems better equipped to adjust to the changes.
它们就是南十字龙 最早的恐龙之一
The earliest dinosaurs, like Staurikosaurus.
南十字龙和其它类似的动物一样
Staurikosaurus and others like him,
身高只有一米多
are just a few feet tall,
但是它们是这个世界上最独特的动物
but they're unique in this world,
因为它们是那个时期唯一用双腿直立行走的动物
the only animals to walk upright on two legs.
用两只腿走路的动物非常罕见
Being bipedal is a very rare thing to do,
哺乳类里的人类会 袋鼠也会
mammals do it in terms of humans and in terms of Kangaroos.
但恐龙才是第一批利用两条腿奔跑的动物
But dinosaurs were the first ones to really take advantage of running on two legs.
南十字龙在动作缓慢笨拙的四脚动物中脱颖而出 成为身手敏捷的猎人
Staurikosaurus is a nimble hunter, in a world of lumbering quadrupeds.
这让所有动物都感到十分震惊
What a shock for all these animals,
"噢天啊 我们在陆地上生活快一亿年了"
Gee I've been on land for 100 million years
"以前从来没有看过有谁只用后腿走路"
and never seen anybody walk around with his hind legs before.
这看起来或许十分可笑
The would of look maybe ridiculous,
但等到那家伙高速地朝你冲过来时 你就笑不出来了
but maybe not, once that thing started running at you at high speed.
虽然还不算是那个时代的霸王龙
While far from the T-Rex of it's day,
但它们开始日渐强大
its prowess grows.
而其他大型动物还在挣扎求生
As larger animals continue to struggle.
早期的恐龙体型还不够大 无法打败巨大的爬行动物
We had these early dinosaurs not yet big enough to take down one of these big reptilian types,
但是对付它们的幼崽还是绰绰有余的
but certainly big enough to take down their young.
但就算是连这种身手敏捷的掠食者也无法逃脱这场大灾难
But even this nimble creditor cannot outrun this devastation.
岩浆还在持续不断地喷发
The eruptions continued,
致命的副作用开始出现在地球上的每一个角落
deadly side effects begin to take hold on every corner of the globe.
地球的处境十分不妙
The Earth has been set on an ominous path,
这颗蓝色的行星 距离变成这颗红色星球还需多长时间呢
how long before the blue planet becomes the red planet?
几十年来可怕的火山爆发
For decades horrific volcanic eruptions,
把大量岩浆喷到地球表面
have spewed vast amounts of lava onto Earth surface.
大规模的岩浆爆发向地球大气层释放大量的有毒气体
The massive eruptions have a toxic effect on Earth's atmosphere.
火山爆发不只会产生岩浆 那只是一时的结果
The volcanic eruptions don't just produce lava, that's the most immediate consequence.
熔岩爆发还会释放出因为高压
They also produce a great deal of gas
而溶解在岩浆中的大量气体
which is dissolved at high pressure within the magma,
熔岩升到地面时 压力就被释放
as that comes towards the surface, the pressure reduces,
这些气体就会随着岩浆喷涌而出 然后进入大气层中
and this explodes out of the lava into the atmosphere.
几百万吨♥有毒气体被排放到大气中
Millions of tons of toxic gas are pumped into the air.
地球大气之中的二氧化碳含量成倍地激增
The amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere increases exponentially.
我们现在来举个例子
Let's take an analogy here,
让我们回到过去 而不是那些岩浆喷发
let's go back and instead of these volcanoes going off,
比方说我们在那边建造了一万座燃煤发电厂
let's say that we build 10,000 coal-fired power plants,
将它们列成一排 并把数以万吨♥的煤运到发电厂中
line them all up, tons of coal coming in planning,
源源不断地为其输送燃料用于发电
for power plant, for power plant and for power plant.....
发电厂所有的烟囱都将滚滚的浓烟排入地球大气
All with their chimneys streaming up gas into the atmosphere.
这个用来形容那个时候发生的事就再合适不过了
That's exactly what's going on with these magnetic provinces.
气温正在迅速地升高
Temperatures skyrocket,
高到让动物们无法忍♥受
it's unbearably hot,
就连狂齿鳄这样生活在水中的动物也受到了影响
even animals that live in the water like Rutiodon are affected.
它们躺在浅滩上 想保持凉爽
They lie in the shallows trying to stay cool,
但是它们必须冒着危险到陆地上产卵
but they must venture up onto land to lay eggs.
这对它们来说是一个致命的缺陷
It's a fatal flaw that dooms their species.
像今天有些爬行动物的体温就决定了它们胚胎的性别
Some reptiles today, heat actually determines the sex of the embryo,
因此我可以想象在三叠纪那个时代
so I could imagine back in the Triassic,
一些动物有这样的繁殖策略
if some of these animals had this type of reproductive strategy,
幼崽的性别取决于周围环境的温度
where sex determination was based on temperature.
周围环境的温度就可以驱使一个物种不断地繁衍出雄性
You could drive a species to extinction by producing just males and males and males and males,
来让它们走向灭绝
and all you're producing as males.
因此这将是毁灭一个物种的绝对方式
And so that would be a devastating way to kill off a species.
保持充足的营养也成了大难题
It's also far more difficult to stay nourished.
高温使它们变得虚弱
The heat saps their strength.
永远也无法满足的饥饿驱使它们开始吞食自己的幼崽
Insatiable hunger drives them to turn on their children,
就像现在一些已知鳄鱼所做的那样
as crocodiles are known to do today.
同类相残就似乎已经决定了这个物种的悲惨命运
Cannibalism might well seal the fate of this species.
大灭绝的脚步正在缓慢地进行中
The slow death march of extinction goes on,
全球气候的突然变暖又带来另一种灾难性的副作用
the sudden warming of the globe ushers in another catastrophic side effect.
氧气浓度降到了前所未有的最低点
Oxygen levels plunge to record lows.
当时大气里的氧气浓度大概就只有我们今天的一半
There's roughly half the concentrations of oxygen in the atmosphere that we have today.
所以有着同样呼吸器官的动物
So it would have been much more difficult given the same respiratory apparatus
要在三叠纪末那样的环境中呼吸的话
for an organism to breathe in the late Triassic,
要比今天现代同样的动物呼吸时困难多了
than it would be for the same organism today.
在今天的美国西南部
In what is now the Southwestern U.S,
一群有角鳄正在寻找着食物
a herd of Desmatosuchus forages for food.
空气里二氧化碳浓度很高 太阳使得周围温度迅速升高
The air is thick with carbon dioxide, the sun unbearably hot,
在这里呼吸 就像在珠穆拉玛峰山顶上呼吸一样困难
trying to breathe Here is like trying to breathe at the top of Mount Everest.
这种身披装甲的四脚巨兽从来不怕掠食者
The big armored beasts have never feared a predator,
但是现在它们最大的敌人或许就潜伏在它们自己的身体里
but now their greatest enemy they lurk within their own bodies.
它们原始的呼吸系统再加上趴着的姿势
Their primitive lung system combined with a sprawling posture,
使得它们很难边走动边呼吸
makes it difficult to breathe and move at the same time.
有角鳄行走时会向两边摆动
Desmatosuchus saunters with a side-to-side motion,
这跟现代蜥蜴的行走方式十分相像
much like a modern lizard.
当它们走路时 身体会屈折起来
As it goes, that flexion expands
让一边肺部扩张另一边压缩
one lung and compresses the other.
这种特征就叫做"开立氏约束"
A trait called "Carriers Constraint".
蜥蜴和蝾螈等像这样趴着走路的动物
Animals like lizards and salamanders that the move in this this this sprawling way,