農民發(fā)現(xiàn)被稱為“死神”的雷克斯霸王龍的新表親

農民發(fā)現(xiàn)被稱為“死神”的雷克斯霸王龍的新表親

While on a hike near their home in Alberta, John De Groot and his wife, Sandra, unearthed the well-preserved jawbones of an entirely new tyrannosaur species that scientists have dubbed the “Reaper of Death.”

約翰·德·格魯特(John De Groot)和妻子桑德拉(Sandra)在阿爾伯塔省(Alberta)的家附近徒步旅行時，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種保存完好的全新暴龍物種的顎骨?？茖W家們將這種恐龍稱為“死神”。

At an estimated 79.5 million years old, Thanatotheristes degrootorum — a cousin of the T. rex — is the oldest known fossil of the tyrannosaur kind ever found in North America, according to the University of Calgary and Royal Tyrrell Museum.

據(jù)卡爾加里大學和皇家泰瑞爾博物館的資料顯示，霸王龍的表親——Thanatotheristes degrootorum是迄今為止在北美發(fā)現(xiàn)的最古老的霸王龍化石，估計有7950萬年的歷史。

Dr. François Therrien, curator of Dinosaur Palaeoecology, said in a statement on the museum’s blog, “We are thrilled to announce the first new species of tyrannosaur to be discovered in Canada in 50 years.”

恐龍古生態(tài)學館長弗朗索瓦·瑟林博士在博物館的博客上發(fā)表聲明說:“我們激動地宣布，50年來在加拿大發(fā)現(xiàn)的第一個暴龍新物種。”

In a report published in the journal Cretaceous Research, researchers described the new species as an “apex predator” that measured around 26-feet long and grew serrated teeth to almost 3-inches long. Its genus name is inspired by Thanatos, the Greek god of death, and combined with the Greek word for reaper, “theristes.” The new “degrootorum” species honors De Groot, the humble farmer and paleontology enthusiast.

在《白堊紀研究》雜志上發(fā)表的一份報告中，研究人員將這種新物種描述為一種“頂端捕食者”，體長約26英尺，鋸齒狀的牙齒長到近3英寸長。它的屬名是受希臘死神Thanatos的啟發(fā)，并與希臘死神theristes相結合。這個新的“退化動物”物種是為了紀念德格魯特，一個卑微的農民和古生物學家。

“It definitely would have been quite an imposing animal,” lead researcher Jared Voris, of the University of Calgary, told Live Science. “Roughly 8 feet [tall] at the hips.”

卡爾加里大學的首席研究員賈里德·沃利斯在接受《生活科學》雜志采訪時表示:“這絕對是一種令人印象深刻的動物。”“臀部大約8英尺(高)。”

Voris also pointed out what makes this tyrannosaur particularly unique. “These ridges are not like anything we’ve ever seen before in other tyrannosaur species,” he said. “Exactly what the ridges do, we’re not quite sure.”

沃利斯還指出了是什么讓這只暴龍如此獨特。他說:“這些脊背與我們以前在其他暴龍物種身上看到的任何東西都不一樣。”“這些脊背到底有什么作用，我們不是很確定。”

It took a decade for the rare fossils to be verified after John and Sandra found the bones on the shore of Alberta’s Bow River.

約翰和桑德拉在阿爾伯塔省的波河岸邊發(fā)現(xiàn)了這些罕見的化石，之后花了十年時間才得以證實。

“The jawbone was an absolutely stunning find,” said John. “We knew it was special because you could clearly see the fossilized teeth.”

約翰說:“這塊頜骨的發(fā)現(xiàn)絕對令人震驚。”“我們知道它很特別，因為可以清楚地看到牙齒化石。”

Scientists believe the T. degrootorum enjoyed a high rank on the food chain, as most other dinosaurs found in that region were plant-eaters. But it wasn’t as big as his famous relative the T. rex, which didn’t arrive in the Cretaceous period until about 12 million years later, according to the University of Edinburgh’s Steve Brusatte, who was not involved in the study.

科學家們認為T. degrootorum在食物鏈中享有很高的地位，因為在那個地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)的大多數(shù)其他恐龍都是食草恐龍。但它沒有他著名的親戚霸王龍那么大，據(jù)愛丁堡大學(University of Edinburgh)的史蒂夫·布魯薩特(Steve Brusatte)說，霸王龍在大約1200萬年后的白堊紀才出現(xiàn)。布魯薩特沒有參與這項研究。

He told Live Science this discovery demonstrates that tyrannosaurs “weren’t all colossal hypercarnivores like T. rex, but there were many subgroups that had their own domains and their own unique body types and probably hunting styles.”

他告訴《生活科學》，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)表明暴龍“并不都是像雷克斯霸王龍那樣的巨型超級食肉動物，但也有很多分支，它們有自己的領域，有自己獨特的體型，可能還有狩獵方式。”