第2679期:Ancient Sea Creatures Found Off Coast of Angola

Millions of years ago, many large, strange-looking sea creatures lived in what is now the South Atlantic Ocean. A museum in Washington, D.C., is giving visitors a chance to learn about these ancient animals.数百万年前，许多大型，奇怪的海洋生物都生活在现在的南大西洋。 华盛顿特区的一家博物馆为游客提供了了解这些古老动物的机会。Scientists say the continents of South America and Africa separated millions of years ago. As this happened, they say, many kinds of dangerous animals and other lifeforms settled in the newly formed body of water off the coast of Angola.科学家说，南美和非洲的大洲分开了数百万年前。 他们说，当发生这种情况时，许多危险的动物和其他生命形式定居在安哥拉沿海的新形成的水体中。Today, scientists are studying ancient animal remains discovered on the Angolan coast. It is part of a project created by an international team of researchers called Projecto PaleoAngola. The researchers come from Angola, Portugal, The Netherlands and the United States.如今，科学家正在研究在安哥拉海岸发现的古代动物遗体。 它是由一个名为Projecto Paleoangola的国际研究人员创建的项目的一部分。 研究人员来自安哥拉，葡萄牙，荷兰和美国。One U.S. researcher involved with the project is Louis Jacobs of Southern Methodist University, or SMU, in Dallas, Texas. He told VOA that scientists knew there would be remains in the area, but “didn't know how good they would be.”一位参与该项目的美国研究人员是德克萨斯州达拉斯的南方卫理公会大学的路易斯·雅各布斯（Louis Jacobs）。 他告诉VOA，科学家知道该地区会有遗骸，但“不知道它们会有多好。”Jacobs and a team of scientists and students at SMU helped prepare the remains to be shown at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.雅各布斯（Jacobs）和SMU的一组科学家和学生团队帮助准备了遗体，将在华盛顿特区的国家自然历史博物馆展出。He said visitors to the museum can see the similarity between the ancient and modern ocean environment and animals.他说，博物馆的游客可以看到古代和现代海洋环境与动物之间的相似性。Michael Polcyn is another researcher at SMU. He says one ancient fish-eating animal had a long nose and teeth similar to that of a dolphin. He notes that visitors can see the remains of large, fierce animals like the mosasaur, as well as gentler creatures like an ancient giant sea turtle.Michael Polcyn是SMU的另一位研究员。 他说，一只食用鱼类的动物的鼻子和牙齿与海豚类似。 他指出，游客可以看到像莫萨尔这样的大而凶猛的动物的遗体，以及像古老的巨型海龟这样的柔和生物。"We have a snapshot of this moment in time 72 million years ago that has preserved all of these animals that were living together in one place."“我们有7200万年前的这一刻的快照，保存了所有这些动物，它们一起生活在一个地方。”Scientists say a large rock from space hit the earth millions of years ago and killed most of the animals.科学家说，太空中的一块大石头袭击了数百万年前的地球，并杀死了大多数动物。