双语新闻：中国发现罕见的类鸟恐龙

About 148 to 150 million years ago, a strange chicken-sized and bird-like dinosaur with long legs and arms much like wings lived in southeastern China. Its unusual body suggests it was either a fast runner or lived near water.

大约1.48亿至1.5亿年前，中国东南部生活着一种奇怪的鸡大小、鸟状恐龙，腿和胳膊很像翅膀。它不同寻常的身体表明，它要么是一个跑得快的人，要么生活在水边。

Scientists said last week they had unearthed in the Fujian area the fossil of a dinosaur they named Fujianvenator prodigiosus. They say it lived during the time in Earth's history called the Jurassic Period.

科学家们上周表示，他们在福建地区发现了一种恐龙化石，他们将其命名为巨大的福建龙。他们说它生活在地球历史上的侏罗纪时期。

The new dinosaur find provides more information about an important stage in how birds developed, or evolved, the researchers say.

研究人员表示，恐龙的新发现提供了更多关于鸟类发育或进化的重要阶段的信息。

The question of whether the dinosaur should be called a bird depends on how one defines a bird, said study leader Min Wang. He is a paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

研究负责人王敏说，恐龙是否应该被称为鸟类的问题取决于如何定义鸟类。他是中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所的古生物学家。

Asked for a word to describe Fujianvenator, Wang answered, "I would say ‘bizarre.' Fujianvenator is far from similar to any modern birds."

当被问到用一个词来形容福建鸟时，王回答说：“我会说‘奇怪’。福建鸟和任何现代鸟类都不一样。”

Birds evolved from a grouping of dinosaurs known as theropods in the late Jurassic. The oldest known bird, Archaeopteryx, dates to around 150 million years ago in Germany.
鸟类是由侏罗纪晚期的兽脚亚目恐龙进化而来的。已知最古老的鸟类始祖鸟可以追溯到大约1.5亿年前的德国。

Fujianvenator is a member of a grouping called avialans that includes all birds and their closest non-bird dinosaur relatives, Wang said.

The fossil was discovered last October. It is mostly complete but lacks the animal's head and part of its feet. That makes it hard for scientists to suggest what it ate and how it lived.

鸟类是由侏罗纪晚期的兽脚亚目恐龙进化而来的。已知最古老的鸟类始祖鸟可以追溯到大约1.5亿年前的德国。

Fujianvenator's lower leg bone – the tibia – was twice as long as its upper leg bone – the femur. These sizes are exceptional among theropods. The theropod group includes all the meat-eating dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus.

王说，Fujianvenator是一个名为avialans的群体的成员，该群体包括所有鸟类及其最亲密的非鸟类恐龙亲属。

Wang said that Fujianvenator did have wings, but it is not clear if it could fly. Wang said, if it did fly it probably did not fly well, based on its bone structure. 

王说，“福建龙”确实有翅膀，但还不清楚它是否能飞。王说，如果它真的飞了，根据它的骨骼结构，它可能飞得不好。

Wang said the fossil did not include feathers. But, the animal's closest relatives and almost all bird-like theropods have feathers. Many dinosaurs had feathers, also.

Wang said, "It would not be a surprise if Fujianvenator had feathers ." 

王说，化石中没有羽毛。但是，这种动物的近亲和几乎所有类似鸟类的兽脚亚目恐龙都有羽毛。许多恐龙也有羽毛。

王说：“如果藤本有羽毛，那就不足为奇了。”

Based on its long legs, the researchers suggested it lived in two possible ways – either as a fast runner or near water, similar to birds like cranes or herons.

根据它的长腿，研究人员认为它有两种可能的生活方式——要么是快速奔跑，要么是在水边，类似于鹤或苍鹭等鸟类。
 

Wang has an opinion on the mystery: "I would put my money on runner," the scientist said.

王对这个谜有一个看法：“我会把我的钱花在跑步者身上，”这位科学家说。