- [Narrator] Dinosaurs are awesome.

- [旁白]恐龍是真棒。

(dinosaur roaring)

（恐龍咆哮）

We all know it.

我們都知道。

When we figured out

當我們發現

these guys were a thing,

這些傢伙是一個東西。

we wanted more, more fossils, more art, more, well,

我們想要更多的，更多的化石，更多的藝術，更多的，嗯。

whatever this is.

不管這是什麼。

So we went out and found them.

所以我們出去找到了他們。

Fast forward to today,

快進到今天。

we're still discovering like never before.

我們還在探索前所未有的東西。

(soft marimba music)

(輕柔的馬林巴音樂)

- Paleontology as a science started in the 1800s.

- 古生物學作為一門科學，始於19世紀。

Back then, we understood for the first time

那時候，我們第一次明白

they were a unique and different group of animals.

它們是一群獨特而不同的動物。

- [Narrator] Fossil discoveries were happening

- [旁白]化石發現正在發生

long before this distinction, though.

早在這種區別之前，雖然。

Dinosaur bones were mistaken for mythological creatures

恐龍骨頭被誤認為是神話中的生物

thousands of years before science

數千年前的科學

could tell us what they really were.

可以告訴我們他們到底是什麼。

And for generations,

而且世代相傳。

people connected these fossils to living creatures

人們把這些化石和生物聯繫在一起

they already knew.

他們已經知道了。

Until Richard Owen, frenemy of Charles Darwin,

直到理查德-歐文，查爾斯-達爾文的敵人。

concluded these fossils were different

結論是這些化石是不同的

from any living creature on earth.

從地球上任何生物。

- He coined the term dinosaur,

- 他創造了 "恐龍 "一詞。

the terrible lizard.

可怕的蜥蜴。

- [Narrator] New type of animal, big step forward.

- [旁白]新型動物，向前邁進了一大步。

(dinosaur roaring)

（恐龍咆哮）

- For the first 100 years,

- 在前100年裡。

we knew very, very little about dinosaurs.

我們對恐龍知之甚少。

We only knew 50 or 100 species or so.

我們只知道50或100種左右。

- [Narrator] Discovery started slow,

- [旁白]發現者開始緩慢。

but the public's curiosity was high.

但公眾的好奇心很強。

So a view into this prehistoric world

所以，我們可以看到這個史前世界的景象。

came from a different perspective, art.

來自不同的角度，藝術。

(upbeat jazz music)

(歡快的爵士樂)

Creativity brought dinosaurs to the cultural forefront.

創意將恐龍帶到了文化的前沿。

While these drawings, paintings, and sculptures

雖然這些圖畫、繪畫和雕塑作品

were initially based on scientific discoveries,

最初是基於科學發現。

(toilet flushes)

(衝廁)

let's just say that didn't last.

讓我們只說那沒有持續。

Our imaginations might've gotten a headstart,

我們的想象力可能已經得到了一個先機。

but technology, it's catching up.

但科技，正在迎頭趕上。

- Paleontology has been undergoing this massive revolution.

- 古生物學一直在經歷這場大規模的革命。

- [Narrator] One of those technologies?

- [旁白]這些技術之一？

CT scanning, giving paleontologists a new look at dinosaurs.

CT掃描，讓古生物學家對恐龍有了新的認識。

- You can look at the brain size,

- 你可以看看大腦的大小。

you can look at the different parts of the brain,

你可以看看大腦的不同部分。

because basically the bones that demarcate the brain cavity

因為基本上劃分腦腔的骨頭。

are very good proxy for what the brain actually looked like.

是非常好的代理，大腦實際的樣子。

So there's a ton of new morphological information

所以有大量新的形態學資訊

that we can get through these high resolution

我們可以通過這些高分辨率

imaging techniques that are fairly new.

成像技術，是相當新的。

- [Narrator] This in depth view has been a game changer

- [旁白]這種深度觀察已經改變了遊戲規則。

in the field,

在外地。

but one classical aspect of paleontology

但古生物學的一個經典方面

has also experienced a renaissance.

也經歷了一次復興。

(shovels scraping)

（鏟子刮）

Finding fossils.

尋找化石。

- In the U.S. or Europe,

- 在美國或歐洲。

that's where paleontology first grew as a science,

這就是古生物學作為一門科學最初發展的地方。

but other continents,

但其他大陸。

they have not been explored as much.

它們還沒有得到那麼多的探索。

There are so many expeditions being conducted right now,

現在有這麼多的考察活動在進行。

but many, many new dinosaur species

但很多，很多新的恐龍物種

are coming from these places.

是來自這些地方的。

- [Narrator] Example, Diego's team in Patagonia

- 例子，迭戈在巴塔哥尼亞的團隊。

discovering the Patagotitan mayorum,

發現了八卦壇大殿。

one of the largest dinosaurs ever found.

有史以來最大的恐龍之一。

Fossil discoveries in China are also answering

中國的化石發現也在回答著。

an age old question,

一個古老的問題。

dinosaurs' relationship to birds.

恐龍與鳥類的關係。

- Birds are extremely rare in the fossil record,

- 鳥類在化石記錄中極為罕見。

and this is for a number of reasons.

而這是出於多種原因。

One is that birds are all pretty small.

一是鳥兒都挺小的。

Aerodynamics limits body size, so you can't get that big.

空氣動力學限制了體型，所以你不可能變得那麼大。

The other thing is that birds have hollow bones.

另外就是鳥類的骨頭是空心的。

They get crushed easily,

它們很容易被壓碎。

they get destroyed, and they just don't survive.

他們得到破壞，他們只是不生存。

So all these fossil birds all come

所以這些鳥類化石都是

from ancient lake deposits,

從古代湖泊沉積物。

(bell dings)

（鐘聲）

the perfect environment to preserve

完美的保存環境

these very delicate fossils.

這些非常精緻的化石。

- [Narrator] Birds evolving from dinosaurs

- [旁白]鳥類從恐龍進化而來。

is not a new idea, but it's the access

並不是一個新的想法，但它是訪問的

to these ancient lake deposits

這些古老的湖泊沉積物

(bell dings)

（鐘聲）

that's finally providing the necessary evidence.

這終於提供了必要的證據。

- The notion that birds are living dinosaurs

- 鳥類是活的恐龍的概念。

actually dates back to like the second half

其實早在下半年

of the 19th century.

19世紀的。

A guy named Thomas Huxley, based on his observations,

一個叫托馬斯-赫胥黎的人，根據他的觀察。

he came up with a hypothesis

他提出了一個假設

that birds descended from small bipedal dinosaurs.

鳥類是小型雙足恐龍的後裔。

But other scientists opposed this idea

但其他科學家反對這種想法

because they said, well, you know,

因為他們說，嗯，你知道，

all birds have a wishbone, right?

所有的鳥兒都有一根魚骨，對嗎？

This is not known in any dinosaurs.

這在任何恐龍中都不知道。

So birds can't be living dinosaurs.

所以鳥類不可能是活著的恐龍。

- [Narrator] Next up, John Ostrom,

- [旁白]下一個，約翰・奧斯特羅姆。

who analyzed theropod dinosaurs,

他分析了獸腳類恐龍。

and also hypothesized that birds were living dinosaurs.

並且還假設鳥類是活的恐龍。

- But again, people kind of rejected this hypothesis.

- 但人們又有點拒絕這個假設。

At the time, their new reason was

當時，他們的新理由是

velociraptors that were supposed to be closely related

迅猛龍

to birds were much younger in the fossil record

在化石記錄中，鳥類的年齡要小得多。

than Archaeopteryx, the oldest bird.

比最古老的鳥類Archaeopteryx。

So they were like,

所以他們很喜歡。

how could Archaeopteryx have descended from taxa

始祖鳥怎麼可能是類群的後代呢？

that don't appear in the fossil record

不見於化石記錄的東西

until like 70 million years later, right?

直到像7000萬年後，對不對？

(engine racing)

(引擎賽車)

- [Narrator] Inconclusive evidence persisted,

- [旁白]不確定的證據仍然存在。

until, well, that's what brings us back

直到，好吧，這就是為什麼我們回來了

to these ancient lake deposits.

到這些古老的湖泊沉積。

- So in 1996, you find

- 所以在1996年，你發現

the first feathered dinosaur in China.

中國第一隻有羽毛的恐龍。

So then an enormous amount of field work started to happen,

於是，大量的實地工作開始發生。

and this produced these thousands of specimens.

這就產生了這幾千種標本。

(upbeat music)

(歡快的音樂)

- [Narrator] Paleontologists then discovered an area

- [旁白]古生物學家隨後發現了一個區域。

where fossils predate Archaeopteryx.

那裡的化石早於始祖鳥。

And within this area,

而在這個區域內。

they found small feathered dinosaurs with bird-like traits,

他們發現了具有鳥類特徵的小型羽毛恐龍。

including wings here and here,

包括這裡和這裡的翅膀。

making his theory much stronger, also.

使他的理論更加強大，也。

- There was a little troodontid dinosaur named Mei long

- 有一隻小恐龍叫梅龍

that was discovered, and it's really tiny.

被發現的，它真的很小。

It's like this big,

就像這個大。

and it's preserved with its head underneath its wing,

而且它的頭被保存在它的翅膀下面。

sleeping the same way modern ducks do.

和現代鴨子睡覺的方式一樣。

So that's behavioral evidence

所以這就是行為證據

that birds are in fact living dinosaurs.

鳥類其實是活的恐龍。

- [Narrator] Today, substantial evidence points

- [旁白]今天，大量證據表明

to birds evolving from dinosaurs, specifically theropods,

到鳥類從恐龍進化而來，特別是獸腳類。

and showcases the progression of paleontology.

並展示了古生物的發展歷程。

But the discoveries don't stop here.

但發現並不止於此。

- There are still new things out there

- 還有新的東西在那裡

that once they are discovered

一旦被發現

are gonna shake up everything we think we know.

要去動搖一切 我們認為我們知道。

New data will cause us to adjust our existing hypotheses,

新的數據會使我們調整現有的假設。

so you just kind of have to go with the flow of discoveries.

所以你只能順其自然的去發現。