史前星球（2022）

The herd is led by a large male.
它维持着秩序 好让每一位成员能安稳地觅食
He keeps order, so everyone is able to search for food in peace.
但兽群中暗流涌动
But trouble is brewing within the herd.
这只年轻的雄性到处惹是生非
The young male is throwing his weight around.
处于领导地位的雄性该教训它一下了 或者干脆把它赶走
It's time for the dominant male to put him in his place or kick him out.
它炫耀着自己彩色的头饰
He flaunts his colorful headgear...
想要吓退这只年轻厚头龙
trying to intimidate the youngster.
但它不会轻易退缩
But he's not going to back down that easily.
25厘米厚的头骨让它们可以 承受强力的迎头对撞
Ten-inch-thick skulls enable them to survive powerful, head-on collisions.
年长的雄性更重
The older male is heavier,
但年轻的龙更加敏捷 体力更好
but the younger is more agile and has more stamina,
因此占据了上风
and that tips the balance in his favor.
胜利的吼叫
A bellow of victory.
但它高兴得太早了
But too soon.
失败者不得不付出惨重代价
The loser has to pay a heavy price.
遭到流放
Exile.
独自行动的它将会为生存苦苦挣扎
Alone, it will be a struggle to fend for himself.
但这里的生活环境对胜利者来说也不友好
But life here will not be easy for the winner either
除非水能在近期回到这片土地
unless the water returns to this land and soon.
在这片广阔大♥陆♥的另一边
Across this vast continent,
有超过二十五万平方公里的沼泽地
there are over 100,000 square miles of swamplands...
其中大部分全年保持着淹水状态
and most of them remain flooded all year round.
到了春天
Here in spring,
新长出来的植物 给聚集于此的兽群提供了极好的觅食区
new plant growth creates excellent feeding grounds for the gathering herds.
但凡是有大量食植动物的地方
But where there are large numbers of plant eaters...
就有优秀的猎手
there are great hunters.
霸王龙
T. Rex...
地球上最强大的陆地掠食者
the most powerful land predators on the planet.
它们通常会伏击猎物
They usually ambush their prey...
但放哨的动物太多了
but with so many watching eyes...
这不是个适合出击的时机
this is not the right time to attack.
随着夜幕降临
As darkness falls,
一部分之前在开阔地带吃草的兽群
some of the herds that had been grazing out in the open
回到了森林的庇护中
retreat into the forest for shelter.
现在局面变得对掠食者有利了
Now the odds switch in favor of the predators.
霸王龙的眼睛是所有恐龙中最大的
Tyrannosaurs have the largest eyes of any dinosaur,
有着强大的夜视能力
which gives them superb low-light vision.
它们还能悄无声息地在森林中穿行
And they're able to move through the forest in near silence,
这多亏了它们脚上厚厚的脚垫
thanks to cushioned pads on their feet.
一群埃德蒙顿龙
A group of edmontosaurs.
它们没有护甲
They lack armor,
但它们和霸王龙一样大 速度是其两倍
but they're as big as T. rex and twice as fast.
想捕获一只需要巧妙的方法
To catch one needs cunning.
每一位猎手小心地进入各自的位置
Each of the hunters carefully moves into position.
然后其中一位故意发出噪声
Then one deliberately makes a noise.
埃德蒙顿龙警觉了
The edmontosaurs are alarmed.
它们现在知道猎手就在附近
They now know hunters are close,
但它们不知道其具体的方位
but they don't know exactly where they are.
该收网了
Time to spring the trap.
一只霸王龙冲了出来
One T. Rex rushes out.
兽群乱作一团 冲向其他霸王龙伏击的陷阱
The herd panics and bolts to where the other T. Rex is waiting in ambush.
计划完美执行
A perfectly executed plan...
实施者是一群有史以来 最了不起的陆地掠食者
by one of the greatest land predators that have ever lived...
就在我们史前星球上的沼泽地里
in the swamps of our prehistoric planet.
(揭秘《Prehistoric Planet》)
(厚头龙真的会用头冲撞吗 )
这是一个厚头龙的头骨
This is the skull of a pachycephalosaur,
身长5米的食植动物
a 16-foot-long plant eater.
虽然经过了多年的研究
Despite years of research,
我们还在努力理解 它的头部形状为何如此奇怪
we're still trying to understand why it had this bizarre-shaped head.
厚头龙最显著的特征 当然是...
The most distinctive feature about the pachycephalosaurs, of course,
(自然历史博物馆 苏珊娜梅德门特博士)
...它们头上那个非常奇怪的圆顶
is this really weird dome that they have on their head.
圆顶的周围 是一系列奇形怪状的结节 凸起
All around it is a series of very odd tubercles and nobbles and bobbles.
它们看起来很像龙
They look quite dragonlike.
(自然历史博物馆 保罗巴雷特教授)
人们最初见到这些厚实的圆顶头骨
When they first saw these very thick, domed skulls,
可厚达30厘米
and these domes could be up to 30 centimeters in thickness,
人们认为其强度极为可观
they were thought to be very strong.
猜想厚头龙也许用头互相冲撞
It was thought that maybe they were using them for headbutting each other
来竞争社会地位
in contests over social hierarchy.
今天 像大角羊这样的动物 就是用头冲撞来一分高下
Today, animals like bighorn sheep butt heads in this way.
加厚的头骨有助于保护大脑不受冲击
A thickened skull helps protect their brain from impact.
但这一理论能够完全解释 厚头龙的圆顶头吗
But does this fully explain pachycephalosaur's domed head?
一些考古学家认为应该观察头骨内部
A number of paleontologists thought that they should look inside the skulls.
它们切开了一些厚头龙的圆顶头骨
They sliced up a number of pachycephalosaur domes,
过程中 他们发现也许其强度也许不足以
and when they did that, they found out that maybe it wasn't strong enough
抵御迎头撞击
to withstand these direct head-on impacts.
然而 他们还有其他发现 表明圆顶头骨有不同的用途
However, they did discover something else, suggesting the dome had a different use.
其表面覆盖着一张由细小纤维构成的网
The surface was marked with a mesh of tiny fibers.
也许圆顶上面是颜色鲜艳的皮肤
Perhaps they supported brightly colored skin,
是用来吸引配偶的
used to attract a mate.
这一新理论似乎被人们所接受 直到2013年
This new theory seemed to be accepted until 2013,
有了一项新的发现
when a new discovery was made.
一只厚头龙被找到
A pachycephalosaur was found,
其头上的痕迹表明 它曾多次受伤并活了下来
with marks showing it had survived multiple injuries to the top of its head,
而且并不是一次性事件
and it wasn't a one-off.
人们回头去审视历史博物馆里的藏品
They went back and looked through historic museum collections
发现其实有很多这样的损伤
and discovered that actually there was quite a lot of evidence for these lesions
遍布众多厚头龙当中类似的部位
in a similar place across a whole bunch of different pachycephalosaurs.
这是有力的证据 表明它们可能确实曾用头冲撞
This is good evidence that they probably were headbutting.
那么头骨到底够不够坚固
So, were the skulls strong enough
以保护厚头龙的大脑呢
to protect pachycephalosaur's brain after all?
为了寻找答案 科学家们使用了最新的扫描技术
To find out, scientists turned to the latest scanning technology.
我们可以用CT扫描来打造虚拟骨骼模型
We can use CT scans to build virtual models of the bones,
然后我们可以用它们进行各种工程测试
and then we can subject those to various engineering tests
就像测试航♥空♥零件或人工髋关节一样
in the same way that we'd do with an aeroplane part or an artificial hip.
这是最后一个证据
This provided the final piece of evidence.
种种证据表明 厚头龙的圆顶
What they've shown is that pachycephalosaur domes
真的可以承受巨大的冲击力
could actually have withstood an enormous amount of force.
就像美国橄榄球运动员们互相冲撞时的
It's the sort of force that goes through American footballers
那种力量
when they hit each other.
我们现在相信厚头龙把头部
We now believe pachycephalosaurs used their head
当成可怕的武器
both as a formidable weapon...
也当成五彩斑斓的展示品
and as a colorful display.
它们用这两种方式展示 在史前世界谁才是老大
Two ways to demonstrate who was boss in their prehistoric world.