Picture a 45-foot-long animal with a 5-foot-long skull and 3-foot-long arms. It may not seem strange until you realize that a human with those proportions would be 6 feet tall with 5-inch arms. Although the Tyrannosaurus rex went extinct 65 million years ago, the mystery of its unusual body __1__ has fascinated scientists for over a century.
Barnum Brown, the paleontologist who first discovered T. rex fossils, initially found it hard to believe that the tiny arms belonged to such a __2__ creature. One of his colleagues speculated that the short forelimbs might have been used to hold the female in place during mating. Later, other theories __3__. Some proposed that the T. rex might have used its small arms to hold down prey. Others suggested the arms could have been used for stabbing __4__ or as anchors to help the animal push itself up from the ground.
Despite these ideas, paleontologists have long struggled to explain why such a formidable predator was __5__ with such short arms. Recently, however, American paleontologist Kevin Padian believed he had found the answer. Upon discovering __6__ that the T. rex hunted in groups, Padian hypothesizes that their shorter limbs were an evolutionary adaptation. Imagine a group of these giant beasts tearing at the flesh of a fresh kill. Longer arms might easily be __7__ by others if they got too close. Severe bite wounds could cause infections and even death. Shorter arms might have increased the chance of __8__ by helping the T. rex avoid such injuries during group feeding. . .
Photo: AdobeStock 照片: AdobeStock
想像一隻身長四十五英尺的動物，擁有五英尺長的頭骨和三英尺長的手臂。這可能看起來並不奇怪，直到你意識到相同比例套在人類身上會是六英尺高、手臂五英寸長。儘管霸王龍在六千五百萬年前就滅絕了，它那不尋常的身體結構之謎在過去一個多世紀以來都讓科學家們著迷不已。
巴納姆布朗是第一位發現霸王龍化石的古生物學家，他一開始很難相信這小小的手臂竟屬於如此巨大的生物。他的一位同事推測這對短前肢可能用於在交配時固定母霸王龍的位置。後來，其他理論出現了。有些人提出霸王龍可能是用牠們的小手臂來壓制獵物。另一些人則認為牠們可能是用手臂來刺傷敵人，或作為支點幫助牠們從地面上撐起自己。
儘管有這些想法，古生物學家們長久以來仍然難以解釋為什麼這麼可怕的掠食者會擁有如此短的手臂。然而，最近美國的古生物學家凱文．帕迪恩認為他找到了答案。在發現霸王龍以群體形式捕獵的證據後，帕迪恩推測牠們較短的前肢是進化上的適應結果。想像一群這樣的巨獸正在撕咬一頭剛捕獲的獵物。如果彼此間靠得太近，較長的手臂就可能會被其他霸王龍咬到。嚴重的咬傷可能會導致感染，甚至死亡。較短的手臂可能藉由幫助霸王龍在群體進食時避免這樣的傷害而提高了生存機率。
化石記錄似乎支持帕迪恩的假設。事實上，暴龍的祖先擁有比後代更長、更具功能性的手臂。隨著時間過去，這些手臂變得更短、更不靈活。雖然這樣的短手臂似乎並未用於捕獵，但霸王龍可能還是因而獲得了其他優勢...。
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What Did You Learn?
(A) ancestors (B) bitten (C) massive
(D) equipped (E) structure
(F) evidence (G) mobile (H) emerged
(I) enemies (J) survival
答案：1. E 2. C 3. H 4. I 5. D 6. F 7. B 8. J
Words in Use
1. mystery n. 謎團
The disappearance of the treasure remains a great mystery to historians.
寶藏的消失對歷史學家來說仍然是一大謎團。
2. fossil n. 化石
The museum has a collection of fossils from different geological periods.
這間博物館收藏了來自不同地質時期的化石。
3. stab vt. 刺，捅，戳
The victim was stabbed multiple times in the chest during the robbery.
受害者在這起搶案的過程中胸口被多次刺中。
4. evolutionary a. 演化的
The theory of natural selection is a key concept in evolutionary biology.
天擇理論是演化生物學中一個關鍵的概念。
5. beast n. 野獸
The lion is considered the king of the beasts in the animal kingdom.
獅子被認為是動物界中的野獸之王。
6.flesh n.（動物或人的）肉；果肉
The hunter butchered the animal, carefully removing the flesh from the bones.
獵人宰殺了這隻動物，小心地把肉從骨頭上去除。
7. severe a. 嚴重的
Helen was suffering from a severe headache and needed to rest.
海倫當時有嚴重的頭痛，需要休息。
8. infection n. 感染
The doctor said that the infection could be treated with the right medication.
醫生說這種感染可以透過正確的藥物來治療。
9. functional a. 功能的，實用的
The office was designed to be functional, with plenty of storage space and comfortable seating.
這間辦公室設計得相當實用，有大量的儲物空間和舒適的座椅。
Practical Phrases
1. belong to. . . 屬於……
This book belongs to my sister, so please return it to her after reading.
這本書是屬於我妹妹的，讀完之後請歸還給她。
聽文章朗讀及講解: https://ivy.pse.is/455bfu
本文出自常春藤解析英語雜誌: www.ivy.com.tw
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