新发现的翼龙，是有史以来比较大的飞行爬行动物之一

新发现的翼龙，是有史以来最大的飞行爬行动物之一

During the age of the dinosaurs, the skies of North America were home to some of the largest flying animals the world has ever seen. New research now suggests there were at least two types of giant winged reptile living on the continent at the same time.

在恐龙时代，北美的天空是一些世界上见过的最大的飞行动物的家园。现在，新的研究表明，至少有两种大型翼爬行动物同时生活在这块大陆上。

Re-analysing a jumble of pterosaur fossils found in Alberta, Canada, palaeontologists have identified a previously unknown species within the azhdarchid (aka giant pterosaur) group.

古生物学家重新分析了在加拿大阿尔伯塔省发现的一堆翼龙化石，在阿兹达奇德(又名巨型翼龙)群中发现了一个以前不为人知的物种。

It's been named Cryodrakon boreas - "cold dragon of the north winds" - and in its day, roughly 77 million years ago, this reptile's beating wings would have cast an ominous shadow, with a wingspan up to 10 metres wide (32 feet), the size of a small airplane.

它被命名为“北风之寒龙”，在大约七千七百万年前的今天，这种爬行动物扇动的翅膀会投下不祥的阴影，翼展可达10米宽(32英尺)，大小相当于一架小型飞机。

Although these remains were first discovered 30 years ago, experts assumed they belonged to another monstrous azhdarchid species from the Cretaceous period, found in Texas and named Quetzalcoatlus. That creature had a wingspan up to 10.5 metres.

尽管这些化石是30年前首次发现的，但专家们认为它们属于白垩纪时期的另一种名为“风神翼龙”(Quetzalcoatlus)的巨型阿兹达奇(azhdarchid)物种。这种动物的翼展可达10.5米。

"This is a cool discovery, we knew this animal was here but now we can show it is different to other azhdarchids and so it gets a name," says David Hone from Queen Mary University of London.

“这是一个很酷的发现，我们知道这种动物在这里，但现在我们可以证明它不同于其他阿兹达奇类动物，所以它有了这样的名字。”伦敦玛丽女王大学的大卫·霍恩说。