 Farmers in Riodeva cleared stones from their almond orchards for generations, never dreaming they weretossing asidedinosaur bones -- and laying a trail for one of Spain's greatest fossil finds.
But when twopaleontologists stumbled acrossa field scattered with the fragments they knew they had probably found a valuablecacheand when digging began in early 2003 it revealed ahoardbeyond their wildest hopes. The remains of the largest dinosaur found in Europe, including an upper limb bone as big as a person -- 5 feet 9-1/2 inches -- werenestlingjust below the surface in this remote corner of the central Spanish region of Aragon. "To find lots of bones is amazing. To find such a big animal is extraordinary, and to find it in Europe isextra-terrestrial," said Alberto Cobos, the man who recognized the potential of the site. The hugereptile, which weighed an estimated 40 to 50 tons, the same as six or seven elephants, probably roamed the region up to 130 million years ago when it was a tropical "dinosaur paradise,"crisscrossedwith rivers and streams. Huge, perfectly preserved toe bone fossils and even a single curved nail, larger than a human hand, were found with a rib and leg and possibly pelvic bones. The herbivore's bones were jumbled with remains from other, smaller animals -- including teeth fromcarnivoresthat may have feasted on its flesh. Up to 114 feet long, the dinosaur could represent a new species, although the team uncovering it is wary of jumping to conclusions -- but its size alone is enough to put Riodeva firmly on the map. The largest known dinosaurs have been found in Latin America and the new Spanish dinosaur claims the record for Europe, Cobos said. (Agencies)
| 西班牙里奧德瓦的果農們世代為杏園清理石子，可他們做夢都沒有想到自己在不斷丟棄恐龍遺骨，并為發現西班牙最偉大的化石之一提供了線索。 當兩位古生物學家偶然發現一片散落著這些碎片的田地時，他們意識到他們可能發現了一個珍貴的秘密隱藏處。2003年初，當挖掘工作開始時，結果超出了他們最狂熱的期望，他們發現了一個寶庫。
這是歐洲目前發現的最大的恐龍殘骸，其中包括一塊長達5英尺9.5英寸，差不多有一人長的上肢骨骼，這些殘骸埋藏在西班牙中部阿拉貢地區偏遠角落的地下。 “發現那么多骨骼是令人驚訝的；發現這么大的動物是極不平常的；而在歐洲發現它就更像天方夜譚了。”阿爾韋托·科沃斯說，他意識到此地潛在的價值。 這只巨大的爬行動物估計有40到50噸重，相當于六七頭大象的體重之和。一億三千萬年前，它可能在這片地區游蕩，當時這里是河流交錯的熱帶“恐龍天堂”。
這里發現了巨大的、保存完好的足趾骨化石，甚至還有一片比人手還大的彎曲的趾甲，同時發現的還有一根肋骨和一條腿，還有一些可能是組成骨盆的骨頭。 這只食草恐龍的骨頭和其他小動物的遺骸混雜在一起，其中包括可能曾經飽餐過恐龍尸體的食肉動物的牙齒。 這頭體長達114英尺的恐龍也許代表著一種新的物種，盡管發現它的調查隊小心翼翼地避免匆忙下結論，但僅憑它的體格就足以使里奧德瓦在地圖冊中占有一席之地。
科沃斯說，拉丁美洲發現了目前已知的最大的恐龍，這只新發現的西班牙恐龍創造了新的歐洲記錄。
toss aside：扔棄
paleontologist：古生物學者
stumble across：偶然發現
cache：秘密儲藏處
hoard：寶庫，積蓄
nestle：位于，坐落在
extra-terrestrial：
地球外的，宇宙的
reptile：爬行類動物
crisscross：縱橫交錯
herbivore：食草動物
carnivore：食肉動物
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2004-07-21 01:00
