科學(xué)60秒:透過(guò)鴕鳥(niǎo)看恐龍
來(lái)源:滬江聽(tīng)寫酷
2011-04-30 00:03
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Sometimes it seems there's only so much we can learn about dinosaurs. We can't know what their coloration looked like, we can't watch them ____1____. We can only extrapolate from their remains. But now scientists say we can ____2____ a hint of dinosaur movement - from ostriches.
The giant, flightless birds still have feathered forelimbs that scientists assumed were now solely used for display and temperature regulation. But researchers from Germany and Belgium carefully observed hand-raised ostriches, and modeled their movement in the surrounding air streams. They found that ____3____ being useless in movement, the leftover wings help ostriches break quickly, turn, and zig-zag. The scientists presented their findings at the Society for Experimental Biology's annual conference in Prague.
Ostriches are descendants of dinosaurs, and the researchers liken ostrich movements to those of bipedal dinosaurs. Paleontologists had previously thought that some dinos' small forelimbs had served to catch insects or rip flesh. But this new research shows dinosaurs may have used their forelimbs to help with quickness, stability and ____4____. Further study in this field could lead to more accurate ideas of what it once looked like when dinosaurs went ____5____ their prehistoric landscape.
Sometimes it seems there's only so much we can learn about dinosaurs. We can't know what their coloration looked like, we can't watch them ____1____. We can only extrapolate from their remains. But now scientists say we can ____2____ a hint of dinosaur movement - from ostriches.
The giant, flightless birds still have feathered forelimbs that scientists assumed were now solely used for display and temperature regulation. But researchers from Germany and Belgium carefully observed hand-raised ostriches, and modeled their movement in the surrounding air streams. They found that ____3____ being useless in movement, the leftover wings help ostriches break quickly, turn, and zig-zag. The scientists presented their findings at the Society for Experimental Biology's annual conference in Prague.
Ostriches are descendants of dinosaurs, and the researchers liken ostrich movements to those of bipedal dinosaurs. Paleontologists had previously thought that some dinos' small forelimbs had served to catch insects or rip flesh. But this new research shows dinosaurs may have used their forelimbs to help with quickness, stability and ____4____. Further study in this field could lead to more accurate ideas of what it once looked like when dinosaurs went ____5____ their prehistoric landscape.
interact with each other
discern
far from
agility
dashing through
有時(shí)候感覺(jué)我們對(duì)恐龍的了解恐怕就只有這么多了。我們不知道恐龍的膚色究竟是怎樣的,我們無(wú)法觀察它們之間是如何交流的,我們只能從恐龍的遺骸中做出推測(cè)。不過(guò)現(xiàn)在,科學(xué)家們聲稱,我們可以從鴕鳥(niǎo)身上來(lái)探索恐龍運(yùn)動(dòng)方式的蛛絲馬跡。
鴕鳥(niǎo)這種不會(huì)飛的巨型大鳥(niǎo)一直保留著披有羽毛的翅膀(前肢),科學(xué)家們一直認(rèn)為這僅僅是用于展示和調(diào)節(jié)體溫。德國(guó)與比利時(shí)的研究人員仔細(xì)研究了張開(kāi)翅膀的鴕鳥(niǎo),并在周圍的氣流中模仿它們的運(yùn)動(dòng)。他們發(fā)現(xiàn),鴕鳥(niǎo)在運(yùn)動(dòng)時(shí),它們的翅膀可絕非一無(wú)用處,這些殘余的翅膀幫助鴕鳥(niǎo)更快起步、轉(zhuǎn)彎和跑之字形。科學(xué)家們?cè)诓祭竦膶?shí)驗(yàn)性生物學(xué)年會(huì)上提出了他們的研究結(jié)果。
鴕鳥(niǎo)是恐龍的后裔,研究人員將鴕鳥(niǎo)的運(yùn)動(dòng)比作兩足恐龍的運(yùn)動(dòng)。古生物學(xué)家先前曾認(rèn)為一些恐龍的小小的前肢是用于抓昆蟲(chóng)或撕開(kāi)獵物的肉。但這一新研究表明,恐龍或許會(huì)用它們的前肢使自己的動(dòng)作更為迅速、穩(wěn)定、敏捷、靈活。而在這一領(lǐng)域的進(jìn)一步研究可能會(huì)對(duì)恐龍奔突疾走的史前景觀作出更為準(zhǔn)確的描繪。
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