英國發現最大遠古生物的一塊顎骨

A 250 million-year-old jawbone found in the UK was from an 85-foot sea beast.

近日，英國發現了一隻距今2.5億年、體長85英尺的海獸的顎骨。

Experts say the ichthyosaur was as big as blue whales, the largest animals ever.

相關專家稱，這隻魚龍和藍鯨一樣大，是有史以來最大的動物。

Dean Lomax of Manchester University said the discovery in Lilstock, Somerset, was "25 percent larger" than a 68-foot ichthyosaur jawbone found in 2004.

曼徹斯特大學的迪恩·洛麥斯表示，在薩默塞特郡利爾斯托克發現的這塊顎骨，要比2004年發現的68英尺的魚龍顎骨“大了25%”。

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Lomax said: "As the specimen is represented only by a large piece of jaw, it is difficult to provide a size estimate, but by using a simple scaling factor and comparing the same bone in shonisaurus sikanniensis, the Lilstock specimen is about 25 percent larger."

洛麥斯說：“由於樣本僅是一大塊下顎骨，因此很難提供尺寸的估算值，但通過使用簡單的比例因子以及比較蘇柯薩斯特魚龍中相同的骨骼，發現利爾斯托克的樣本尺寸要大25%。”

"Other comparisons suggest the Lilstock ichthyosaur was at least 65 to 82 feet. Of course, such estimates are not entirely realistic because of differences between species."

“其他的比較數據表明，利爾斯托克的魚龍至少有65到82英尺長。當然，由於物種之間的差異，這樣的估計並不完全真實。”

"Nonetheless, simple scaling is commonly used to estimate size, especially when comparative material is scarce."

“儘管如此，簡單比例法則通常被用來估計尺寸，特別是當對比材料稀缺的時候。”