【英语时差8,16】群居的剑齿猫
时间：2018-12-27 作者：英语课 分类：英语时差8，16
Social Saber-Toothed Cats What’s more dangerous than meeting one saber toothed cat? Meeting a gang of them. The saber toothed cat, Smilodon fatalis, existed in North and South America until 10,000 years ago. It was lion sized, but with a heavier build and a short tail like a bobcat. Being one of the most preserved species at the La Brea Tar 1 Pits of Los Angeles, Smilodon is most famous for its seven inch long canine 2 teeth, but its behavior remains 3 shrouded 4 in mystery.Did it live alone or in groups? Some scientists suspect Smilodon was a social cat like the lion, coming to the tar pits to feed on animals trapped in the sticky goo. Of course, the big cats were often trapped too. Surprisingly, their fossils contained healed injuries and debilitating 5 arthritis 6. Was this a sign that old and wounded cats were supported by other group members? Scientists didn’t think so, but weren’t positively 7 sure. So, scientists conducted a unique experiment, comparing the abundance of Smilodon fossils at the tar pits with the number of modern predators 8 responding to playbacks in Africa. The playbacks were recordings 9 of distressed 10 prey 11 animals, mimicking 12 the conditions at the tar pits thousands of years ago. Playbacks attracted lions, hyenas 13, and jackals, all social predators. Solitary 14 predators were rare visitors. This was an unexpected finding, since there are fewer social predators than solitary ones in the African population. When they compared data, scientists were excited to find that the proportion of social predators attracted to the playbacks in Africa matched the proportion of Smilodon fossils found at the tar pits.This evidence suggested Smilodon lived in groups. It seems, meeting a saber toothed gang may have been the rule, not the exception.
- The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
- We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。
- The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
- Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。
- He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
- The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
- The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
- The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
- You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。
- Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
- He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。
- She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
- The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
- birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
- The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
- old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
- He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
- The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。
- Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
- The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
- She's always mimicking the teachers. 她总喜欢模仿老师的言谈举止。
- The boy made us all laugh by mimicking the teacher's voice. 这男孩模仿老师的声音，逗得我们大家都笑了。 来自辞典例句