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Huge long-necked dinosaurs had big, precocious babies 大型長頸恐龍有早熟的大寶寶

精英翻譯社轉自http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=1010568&day=2016-07-13

◎魏國金

The babies of a huge, long-necked dinosaur called Rapetosaurus that lived on the island of Madagascar did not just sit in a nest and look cute. They were born ready for action.

生活在馬達加斯加島的大型長頸龍「掠食龍」的寶寶，不是只坐在巢內看起來可愛而已。牠們一出生就準備行動。

Scientists on Thursday announced the discovery of fossils of a baby Rapetosaurus the size of a big dog that apparently starved to death during a drought several weeks after hatching from its soccer-ball-sized egg.

科學家週四宣佈，發現一個大型犬大小的掠食龍寶寶化石，牠顯然是從足球般大的蛋破殼而出後，在為期數週的乾旱期裡餓死。

Unlike many animal babies, particularly humans, the hatchling Rapetosaurus had adult proportions, meaning it likely did not need significant parental support and was actively foraging for plants rather than waiting for momma to feed it.

有別於許多動物寶寶，尤其是人類的嬰兒，剛孵化的掠食龍具有成龍（軀幹）比例，這意謂牠可能不需要父母的顯著支持，就能主動尋找糧草，而不需等媽咪來餵食。

Such babies are known as "precocial," as opposed to "altricial" offspring that have different body dimensions from adults, cannot get around by themselves and require considerable parental support for food and protection, Macalester College paleontologist Kristi Curry Rogers said.

這類幼獸以「早熟性」知名，與有著和成年獸不同軀幹特點的「晚熟性」幼獸形成對比；該類幼獸無法自行四處行動，需要父母在食物與保護上的大量支持，瑪卡萊斯特學院古生物學家羅傑斯說。

"The main conclusion was that this is the first evidence for a truly precocial dinosaur：one that matured rapidly and without parental care," Adelphi University paleontologist Michael D’Emic added.

「主要的結論是，這是第一個真正早熟型恐龍的證據：快速成熟，而且沒有父母照顧，」艾德菲大學古生物學家德米克補充說。

Rapetosaurus lived about 67 million years ago, not long before the demise of the dinosaurs, and was the largest creature in Madagascar at the time.

掠食龍生存約6700萬年前，在恐龍滅絕不久前，是當時馬達加斯加島上最大的生物。