中國又發現新恐龍

British and Chinese researchers have confirmed that fossils found in China are from an entirely new species of dinosaur that belonged to the same family as the iconic extinct giants diplodocus and brontosaurus.

經中英研究人員確認，在中國發現的化石是一種全新的恐龍，與著名的樑龍、雷龍同屬一個大家族。

The fossils were first discovered in 2004 by a farmer in Lingwu, Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Since then, an excavation led by Xu Xing, a paleontologist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has turned up whole or partial skeletons from between seven to 10 individual dinosaurs.

這些化石於2004年在寧夏回族自治區的靈武市被一位農民發現。從那以後，中國科學院古生物學者徐星所帶領的挖掘團隊又發現了7-10只恐龍個體的完整或者部分骨架。

Xu and researchers from University College London and Imperial College London have published the first comprehensive study of the 174-million-year-old fossils in the journal Nature, confirming the dinosaur to be a new species and the earliest example of a diplodocoid dinosaur ever found.

徐星以及來自英國倫敦大學學院和帝國理工學院的研究人員在《自然》雜誌上發表了關於這些距今1.74億年的化石的首份綜合性研究，確認了這些恐龍爲新物種，並且是已知的最早的樑龍超科恐龍。

Several distinctive skeletal characteristics provide evidence that the extinct animal belonged to the diplodocoid family, which refers to a group of sauropods that include the gigantic, 25-meter-long diplodocus.

一些獨特的骨骼特徵證明了這一滅絕生物屬於樑龍超科大家族，在這個大家族中，包括了25米長的巨型樑龍和一系列蜥腳類動物。

Xu named the dinosaur Lingwulong shenqi (meaning Lingwu amazing dragon) after the town where the fossils were discovered.

徐星以發現這些化石的小城名字爲這種恐龍命名爲：神奇靈武龍。

Lingwulong was relatively small by sauropod standards with a relatively short neck. The beast measured 11 to 17 meters and had a long tail and strong, stout limbs.

以蜥腳類動物的標準來看，神奇靈武龍體型相對較小，脖子也比較短。這種恐龍體長在11-17米之間，有着長長的尾巴和粗壯的四肢。

Lingwulong is the first diplodocoid ever discovered in East Asia. Paleontologists had previously theorized that a vast inland sea in the supercontinent Pangea prevented diplodocoids from crossing into Asia from other parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

神奇靈武龍是東亞地區發現的首個樑龍超科物種。此前，古生物學家們的學說認爲，泛大陸上有一片巨大的內海，令樑龍超科恐龍無法從北半球的其他地區來到亞洲。

"The fact that it is in China is significant as we thought these animals never got into Asia," said Philip Mannion, a researcher from Imperial College London who co-authored the study. "The inland sea may have been less of a barrier than we once thought, or it could have been seasonal."

“在中國發現（樑龍超科恐龍）的事實具有重大意義，因爲先前我們認爲這些生物從未來到過亞洲，”帝國理工學院研究人員、該研究的合著者菲利普·曼尼恩表示。“內海或許並不如我們先前所想的是道隔離屏障，又或者內海是季節性的。”

The fossils are 174 million years old, making Lingwulong the earliest known diplodocoid ever found. Before the discovery, the general consensus was that diplodocoids lived between 163 million and 145 million years ago during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods.

這些化石距今1.74億年，也讓神奇靈武龍成爲了已知的最早的樑龍超科恐龍。在這一發現之前，普遍共識是樑龍超科類生活在1.63億-1.45億年前的侏羅紀晚期到白堊紀早期之間。

"These fossils suggest diplodocoids were around much earlier than previously thought," Mannion said.

“這些化石表明，樑龍超科恐龍比先前認爲的出現時間要早得多，”曼尼恩說道。

Mannion said the animals that were discovered may have died together after getting stuck in mud or caught in a flash flood.

曼尼恩表示，發現的這些生物或許因被困於泥沼或者遭遇突發洪水而一同死去。

"We know from previous finds that sauropods lived in small herds," Mannion said. "We have a good record of their footprints in rock, which show multiple individuals walking side by side."

“從先前的發現中，我們可以得知蜥腳類動物以小範圍羣居的方式生活在一起，”曼尼恩說。“我們在岩層中發現了它們完好的腳印，顯示了幾隻恐龍個體並排而行。”

"They would have spent much of the day eating, consuming pretty much any vegetation that was around," he added.

“它們一天大部分的時間都在進食，消耗掉了周遭大量的植被，”他補充道。

The excavation of the Lingwu fossils was the first dig ever televised live in China. Some of the dinosaur remains now form part of a collection at Lingwu Museum.

神奇靈武龍化石的挖掘工作是國內首次進行電視直播的考古發掘工程。一些恐龍遺蹟成爲了靈武博物館的藏品。