评论
打印
The bear could have pulled a door off a car with ease or crushed a steel drum like a tin can.
这种熊能不费力地扯下车门，或者把钢鼓踩烂就像是罐头一样。
But in the cave, a second, super-sized ice age monster was found.
不过在洞穴里，又发现了第二只超大的冰期怪兽。
And it would change everything we thought we knew about the time.
我们认为我们了解的那个时期里所有的事情都将改变。
The discovery of natural trap cave in Wyoming revealed more than 40,000 fossils.
人们在怀俄明发现的自然陷阱里，有四万多块化石。
Among them, the skeleton of a mega bear called the god bear by some, for its power.
它们中间，有一头巨熊骨架，有些人称之为神熊，因为它力大无比。
But scientists found something else in the cave, something that was just as menacing.
不过科学家们还在洞穴里找到了别的东西，是一样危险凶残的动物。
A predator of gigantic proportions - the Mega Lion.They are in fact the largest cats that ever lived.
一种庞大无比的掠食者——美洲拟狮。它们是迄今为止最大的猫科动物。
They are bigger than any other fossil cats.
要比其它化石猫科动物都大。
So what it means is, that you're dealing with a lion that probably weighs seven or eight hundred pounds.
这就意味着，我们面对的这种狮子重量可能达到七八百磅。
In addition to weighing more than a third of a ton, the Mega Lion stood nearly 2 meters tall, with a body length of nearly 4 meters.
除了体重超过三分之一吨外，拟狮站立时有近两米高，体长接近四米。
And with those dimensions, the Mega Lion dwarfed its modern cousins.
这样的体型，让拟狮远比其现代亲戚庞大。
It was bigger than a prehistoric raptor.
它比史前迅猛龙还大。
The first thing that surprised paleontogists was its razor sharp claws.
首先让古生物学家们吃惊的是它剃刀般锋利的爪子。
The Mega Lion has five retractable claws on each foot.
拟狮每只脚上有五个可伸缩的爪子。
They're kept out of harm's way within these protective sheaths, but when he needs to use them, the Mega Lion would swing them into action, like switch-blade knives, and could slice up prey.
它们缩回到保护性鞘膜内时不会受到损坏，不过当拟狮要使用它们时，就会把它们探出来，就像弹簧折刀一样，还能切开猎物。
They could cut through flesh like a hot knife through butter.
它们切开血肉就像热刀切过黄油一样。
It also had powerful teeth and jaws.
拟狮也有有力的牙齿和双颌。
While a modern lion has a bite force of over 900 pounds, this lion had a bite force of over 1,800 pounds.
现代狮子有超过900磅的咬合力，而这种巨狮的咬合力超过1800磅。
As with most modern large cats, their teeth and jaws are very strong, musculature in the skull to suffocate or snap the neck of the prey items.
和多数现代大型猫科动物一样，它们的牙齿和双颌都非常强壮，颅骨上的肌肉系统可以让猎物窒息或折断猎物的脖子。
Equipped with 20 retractable claws, and a mouthful of bone crushing teeth, they were major predators.
有了二十个可伸缩的爪子，加上满口能咬碎骨头的牙齿，它们是主要掠食者。
But paleontologists discovered something else - a weakness.These are not long distance runners.
不过古生物学家还发现了别的东西，它的弱点。它们不擅长长距离奔跑。
They're really better designed for chasing prey over a short distance.
它们的身体设计更适合短距离追逐猎物。
Their legs, although relatively long, are not designed for a long distance chase.They're ambush hunters.
它们的腿虽然相当长，但并不适合长距离追逐。它们是伏击猎手。
