expanding with each passing moment.

隨著時間的推移不斷擴大。

It is the home of everything that came before, the key to understanding our present.

它是以前一切的家園，是理解我們現在的關鍵。

Here we find the most amazing creatures to ever roam our planet, hundreds of millions

在這裡，我們發現有史以來在我們星球上漫遊的最令人驚奇的生物，數以億計的

of species so diverse that our imagination cannot do them justice.

物種的多樣性使我們的想象力無法對它們進行公正的評價。

Unfortunately the past carefully guards its secrets.

不幸的是，過去小心翼翼地守護著它的祕密。

While there are a lot of things about the past we know, there are way more things we

雖然有很多關於過去的事情我們知道，但有更多的事情我們不知道。

know we don't know.

知道我們不知道。

And worse, there are probably even more things we don't even know that we don't know

更糟糕的是，可能還有更多我們不知道的事情，我們甚至不知道的事情

about.

關於。

Think of the wonder of life: We now recognize about 1.5 million eukaryotic species but there

想一想生命的奇蹟。我們現在認識到約150萬個真核生物物種，但有

may be as many as 10 million alive today.

今天可能有多達1000萬的人活著。

And although we are adding some 15,000 new species to our collective knowledge each year,

儘管我們每年都在為我們的集體知識增加大約15000個新物種。

the vast majority of life on earth is still undiscovered.

地球上絕大部分的生命仍然沒有被發現。

This is just what is around today.

這只是今天周圍的情況。

An estimated four billion species emerged on our planet in past eons.

在過去的年代裡，我們的星球上估計出現了40億個物種。

But at least 99% of them died out, way before humans spoke the first words.

但至少99%的人都死了，遠在人類說出第一句話之前。

The vast majority of all the different species that ever existed are so utterly deleted that

曾經存在的所有不同物種中的絕大多數都被徹底刪除，以至於

they have become part of the “unknown unknown” part of the past, lost to us forever.

他們已經成為過去 "未知的未知 "的一部分，永遠消失在我們面前。

Or are they?

或者他們是嗎？

Could we use science and imagination to glimpse a shadow of the unreachable past?

我們能否利用科學和想象力來瞥見無法觸及的過去的陰影？

Let us start with what we DO know.

讓我們從我們確實知道的事情開始。

To learn about creatures of the past we need fossils, any sort of remains preserved from

為了瞭解過去的生物，我們需要化石，即任何一種保存下來的遺蹟。

past geological ages – bones or shells, impressions or imprints, things preserved

過去的地質年代--骨頭或貝殼、印象或印記、保存的東西

in amber.

琥珀中。

The totality of all fossils on earth is called the fossil record and it is the most important

地球上所有化石的總和被稱為化石記錄，它是最重要的

window on the past we'll ever have.

我們將有一個關於過去的窗口。

For a dead animal to fossilize a number of things must go just right: The right environment,

要使動物屍體變成化石，有許多事情必須做得恰到好處。正確的環境。

timing and conditions.

時間和條件。

And then the fossil needs to survive for millions or hundreds of millions of years and then

然後，化石需要存活數百萬或數億年，然後

get back to the surface – and then be discovered before natural processes dissolve it.

回到表面--然後在自然過程將其溶解之前被發現。

So it is kind of a miracle that we have what we have and know what we know.

是以，我們能擁有我們所擁有的，知道我們所知道的，是一種奇蹟。

Take the dinosaurs since they were one of the largest and most successful groups of

以恐龍為例，因為它們是最大和最成功的群體之一。

animals for some 165 million years – and are also a lot of fun to animate.

在大約1.65億年的時間裡，動物們都是如此--而且也是一種非常有趣的動畫。

What were they really like and what are we missing?

他們到底是什麼樣的人，我們錯過了什麼？

In the last 200 years we've found tens of thousands of fossils from over 1000 dinosaur

在過去的200年裡，我們已經從1000多隻恐龍中發現了數以萬計的化石。

species..

種類...

Lately we've entered a golden era of discovery and about 50 new dinosaur species are discovered

最近我們進入了一個發現的黃金時代，大約有50個新的恐龍物種被發現。

each year, expanding what we know and what we know that we don't know about them, which

每年，我們都在擴大我們所知道的和我們所不知道的關於他們的資訊。

is amazing.

是驚人的。

But it also makes us aware of all the things lost to the past forever.

但它也使我們意識到所有的東西都永遠地消失在過去。

Imagine if we took all the animals that lived in the last 50 million years and randomly

想象一下，如果我們把所有生活在過去5千萬年裡的動物，隨機的

chose 10000 individuals from 1000 species to fossilize.

從1000個物種中選擇了10000個個體來製作化石。

Think about all the things that would be missed, or that seem too weird to be true.

想一想會錯過的所有事情，或者那些看起來奇怪得不真實的事情。

Like the Giraffe, a yellow animal with brown patterns that looks like a horse and an antelope

像長頸鹿，一種黃色的動物，有棕色的圖案，看起來像馬和羚羊

had a baby, with a long neck and two tiny hairy horns.

生了一個孩子，有一個長長的脖子和兩個小毛角。

How many “dinosaur giraffes” were there?

有多少隻 "恐龍長頸鹿"？

Animals so weird and selected for ecological niches so specific that evolution molded their

動物如此怪異，選擇的生態環境如此特殊，進化塑造了它們的

bodies very absurdly - today they might seem made up to us..

身體非常荒謬--今天他們可能對我們來說是編造的。

We know a lot of species are lost forever just because of the environment they lived

我們知道很多物種永遠消失了，只是因為它們生活的環境。

in.

在。

For example, lush jungles basically prevent fossilization as the chances that an animal

例如，鬱鬱蔥蔥的叢林基本上阻止了化石的形成，因為一個動物的機會

will be buried here is minimal.

將被埋葬在這裡的人很少。

Countless scavengers of all sizes break down freshly deceased animals extremely quickly

無數大小食腐動物極快地分解剛死去的動物

and the soil is often so acidic that bones are dissolved.

而土壤往往是如此的酸性，以至於骨頭都被溶解了。

And so fossils of dinosaurs from jungles are practically nonexistent.

是以，來自叢林的恐龍化石實際上是不存在的。

Today half of all known species live in the few remaining rainforests that only cover

今天，所有已知的物種中有一半生活在僅剩的幾片雨林中，這些雨林只覆蓋了

2% of earth's landmass.

佔地球陸地面積的2%。

Millions of years ago when dinosaurs roamed earth, jungles covered much more of the planet.

數百萬年前，當恐龍在地球上游蕩時，叢林覆蓋了地球上更多的地方。

So besides some insects and other small animals trapped in amber, there should be millions

是以，除了一些昆蟲和其他小動物被困在琥珀中，應該有數百萬的

of species that emerged and vanished, without leaving any trace.

的物種出現和消失，沒有留下任何痕跡。

Trapped deep inside the unknown, unknown.

被困在未知的深處，未知。

But just in general biology trips us up.

但只是在一般情況下，生物學使我們陷入困境。

Look at your body.

看看你的身體。

It's mainly squishy, gooey, soft stuff.

它主要是柔軟的、粘稠的、軟的東西。

Which does not preserve well.

這並不能很好地保存。

What remains the longest are the crystalized parts of your bones and so most dinosaur fossils

留存時間最長的是你的骨骼的結晶部分，是以大多數恐龍化石

are bones or teeth – usually fragments, not entire skeletons.

是骨頭或牙齒--通常是碎片，而不是整個骨架。

This means that almost all boneless or shell-less animals are practically wiped from the fossil

這意味著幾乎所有的無骨或無殼動物幾乎都被從化石中抹去了。

record.

記錄。

If we take a look at the stunning diversity of weird animals like worms, jellyfish and

如果我們看一下奇怪的動物，如蠕蟲、水母、水母等驚人的多樣性。

slugs alive today we can only speculate what we are missing.

今天，我們只能推測我們缺少什麼。

Although thankfully many mostly soft and gooey species also left us an incredible diversity

儘管值得慶幸的是，許多主要是柔軟和粘稠的物種也給我們留下了難以置信的多樣性

of shells that tell us an amazing amount about our past, so at least we have that.

的貝殼，告訴我們關於我們過去的驚人數量，所以至少我們有這個。

Still when we think about all the boneless species that may have existed in the last

然而，當我們考慮到所有可能存在於上個世紀的無骨物種時

half billion years even our best attempt at imagining them falls short.

5億年後，即使我們對它們進行最好的想象也是不夠的。

But it's not like reimagining something based on its bones is straightforward and so the

但是，根據其骨骼來重新想象一個東西並不是很直接的，所以

way we envisage what dinosaurs actually looked like has changed a lot in the last few years.

在過去的幾年裡，我們設想恐龍實際長什麼樣的方式已經發生了很大的變化。

In the past many illustrations had a bony, minimalistic look, with a toothy grin to signify

在過去，許多插圖都有一個骨感的、簡約的外觀，用一個露齒的笑容來表示

fierceness and danger.

凶猛和危險。

But if we draw today's animals in a similar way, based on their skeletons, just for the

但如果我們以類似的方式畫出今天的動物，根據它們的骨架，只是為了

fun of it, we get the most bizarre creatures.

的樂趣，我們得到了最奇怪的生物。

Elephants, swans and baboons that look like monsters right out of nightmares.

大象、天鵝和狒狒，看起來就像從噩夢中走出來的怪物。

So similar to animals today, we should imagine dinosaurs with much more soft tissue, fat

所以與今天的動物相似，我們應該想象恐龍有更多的軟組織、脂肪

bellies or chests, weird soft parts like skin flaps, lips and gums and just more pronounced

腹部或胸部，奇怪的軟部位，如皮瓣、嘴脣和牙齦，只是更明顯的是

features that would make them seem like much more pleasant fellows.

這些特徵將使他們看起來像更令人愉快的夥伴。

Some soft features actually leave distinctive traces on bones that we can look for in the

一些軟性特徵實際上在骨骼上留下了明顯的痕跡，我們可以在這些痕跡中尋找到

skeletons of extinct animals, which is where today's animals with similar features are

已滅絕動物的骨骼，這就是今天具有類似特徵的動物的地方

really helpful.

真的很有幫助。

It's a similar story with color.

這與顏色的情況類似。

Because we know what the feathers of living birds look like, modern technology combined

因為我們知道活鳥的羽毛是什麼樣子的，現代技術結合了

with the exceedingly rare fossils with preserved remains of fuzzy feathers give us a glimpse

與極其罕見的保存有模糊羽毛殘骸的化石讓我們看到了

of the real colors of extinct dinosaurs.

滅絕的恐龍的真實顏色。

We know that tiny Sinosauropteryx had a striped tail and its tiny dino buddy Anchiornis huxleyi

我們知道，小Sinosauropteryx有一個條紋的尾巴，它的小恐龍夥伴Anchiornis huxleyi

was white and black with gorgeous red feathers around its head.

它是白色和黑色的，頭上有華麗的紅色羽毛。

Still, for the vast majority of really any ancient extinct species we have no real clue

然而，對於絕大多數真正的古代滅絕物種，我們沒有真正的線索

what color they were.

他們是什麼顏色。

But we know what modern dinosaurs, birds, look like and here we find the most amazing

但我們知道現代恐龍、鳥類是什麼樣子的，在這裡我們發現最令人驚奇的是

variety.

種類繁多。

So some dinosaurs will have tried to blend into the background, while others might have

是以，一些恐龍將試圖融入背景，而另一些恐龍可能有

fielded aggressive color schemes to attract mates or to appear dangerous.

在戰場上，為了吸引配偶或顯示出危險性，他們採用了攻擊性的顏色方案。

Some might have had impressive decorations or colorful beaks.

有些人可能有令人印象深刻的裝飾或五顏六色的喙。

Some may have been striped or patterned.

有些可能有條紋或圖案。

Similarly we don't know that much about dinosaur behaviour, although once again we

同樣，我們對恐龍的行為也不太瞭解，儘管我們再次

can draw conclusions from existing animals.

可以從現有的動物中得出結論。

For example even apex predators like lions spend a lot of their time lying around and

例如，即使像獅子這樣的頂級捕食者也會花很多時間躺在那裡，並且

cuddling and licking each other and playing.

互相擁抱，互相舔舐，互相玩耍。

Why would dinosaurs be so different?

為什麼恐龍會如此不同？

When we first found the skull of T. rex with its mighty teeth and probably the strongest

當我們第一次發現霸王龍的頭骨和它強大的牙齒以及可能是最強大的

bite of any land animal ever, we imagined a fierce and stupid beast.

我們想象中的任何陸地動物的咬合，都是一種凶猛而愚蠢的野獸。

But modern scanning technology has revealed that T.rex had a larger brain-to-body ratio

但現代掃描技術顯示，霸王龍有更大的腦與身體的比例

than some earlier giant meat-eaters.

比一些早期的巨型食肉動物還要多。

And it probably had very sharp hearing, vision and sense of smell and was in all likelihood

而且它可能有非常敏銳的聽覺、視覺和嗅覺，並且很可能是

not a stupid animal.

不是一個愚蠢的動物。

So maybe T.rex was a cuddly fellow that spent a lot of time playing around or impressing

是以，也許霸王龍是一個可愛的傢伙，他花了很多時間來玩耍或討好別人。

potential mates when it was not hungry.

當它不餓的時候，潛在的伴侶。

Likewise, while their horns and shields might have made ceratopsids appear to be natural

同樣地，雖然他們的角和盾牌可能使角龍看起來是自然的

born fighters, they were probably much more than that.

天生的戰士，他們可能遠不止這些。

Based on the behaviour of modern animals and the complex dances some have to go through

根據現代動物的行為和一些動物必須經歷的複雜舞蹈

to mate, maybe their shields were amazingly colorful, maybe it danced for its mates like

來交配，也許他們的盾牌是驚人的五顏六色，也許它為它的配偶跳舞，就像

many birds do today.

今天，許多鳥類都是如此。

How intensely amazing these creatures must have been.

這些生物一定是多麼的令人驚奇。

And what a loss it is to us that we don't get to experience them first hand.

而我們沒有機會親身體驗它們，這是多麼大的損失啊。

What an even greater loss that there is so much we will never know about them and even

更大的損失是，我們永遠無法瞭解他們的許多事情，甚至是

more tragic, all the absurd and beautiful beings that disappeared without a trace.

更為悲慘的是，所有荒唐而美麗的生命都消失得無影無蹤。

But such is life – time marches on without any concern for our feelings and the past

但這就是生活--時間在前進，而不關心我們的感受和過去。

expands with every moment that passes.

隨著時間的推移而不斷擴大。

Most wild animals alive today will in all likelihood not leave fossils behind and also

今天活著的大多數野生動物很可能不會留下化石，而且還

just disappear forever.

就這樣永遠消失了。

We can do something about that though – instead of accelerating the extinction we are witnessing

但我們可以為此做些什麼--而不是加速我們正在目睹的滅絕。

we could become the guardians of life and preserve it where we find it.

我們可以成為生命的守護者，在我們發現它的地方保護它。

If possible in the wild, if not then in museums, movies and in our minds.

如果可能的話在野外，如果不可能的話在博物館、電影和我們的腦海中。

Because as amazing as our imagination is, and as fascinating to think about the animals

因為儘管我們的想象力很驚人，而且思考動物的問題也很吸引人

that are part of the unknown unknown – it is even better to witness them in the present.

這是不可知的未知的一部分--能在當下見證它們，那就更好了。

The land that we actually inhabit, where we get to experience life as it happens.

我們實際居住的土地，在那裡我們可以體驗生活，因為它發生。

There is one more exciting way to experience Dinosaurs though this year: The 12,022 Human

雖然今年有一個更令人興奮的方式來體驗恐龍。12,022名人類

Era Calendar: Eons Edition.

Era日曆。Eons版。

As always, we're adding 10,000 years to the regular calendar to represent the Human

像往常一樣，我們在常規日曆上增加一萬年，以代表人類

Era and include all cultures around the world.

年代，幷包括世界各地的所有文化。

But this year we're expanding the scope beyond humanity to showcase forgotten animals

但今年我們將把範圍擴大到人類以外，展示被遺忘的動物。

and plants from all across the Phanerozoic Eon, like giant armoured fish, scythe lizards

來自整個泛生代時代的植物，如巨大的盔甲魚、鐮刀蜥蜴等

or giant sloths, on 12 elaborate pages.

或巨型樹懶，在12個精心設計的頁面上。

Witness how multicellular life has persisted for over half a billion years, surviving asteroid

見證了多細胞生命如何堅持了5億多年，在小行星上倖存下來

impacts, volcanoes and frozen oceans.

撞擊、火山和冰凍海洋。

And of course, pandemics.

當然，還有大流行病。

In the end life, uh, finds a way – and we want to celebrate that!

最後，生活，呃，找到了一種方式--我們要慶祝這一點！"。

You can get the very shiny, high-quality, limited Edition now until we sell out and

你現在就可以得到非常閃亮、高質量的限量版，直到我們賣完為止，並且

then never again.

然後再也沒有了。

To support what we do on this channel, to fill the void in your soul or just to have

為了支持我們在這個頻道所做的事情，為了填補你靈魂中的空虛，或者只是為了擁有

something beautiful to look at.

欣賞美麗的事物。

As every year, we also have bundles and special calendar deals with some of your favorite

與每年一樣，我們也有一些你最喜歡的捆綁和特別日曆交易。

products.

產品。

Thank you so much to all of the thousands of birbs who get the calendar every year,

非常感謝所有每年收到日曆的成千上萬的鳥兒。

you enable us to create videos and to publish them for free, for everyone.

你使我們能夠創建視頻，併為每個人免費發佈它們。

We wish you a happy year 12,022.

我們祝願你在12,022年快樂。