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Hey there! Squeaks and I are getting ready for a big trip.
嘿，你们好！我和吱吱正在为一次大旅行做准备。
We’re going to take an airplane… and it will be Squeak’s first time ever, flying.
我们将要坐飞机…这将是吱吱有史以来的第一次飞行。
And even though he was pretty nervous about it, we’ve been learning all about flying to help him feel better.
尽管他对此非常紧张，但我们一直在学习有关飞行的知识，让他感觉好一些。
You’re right, Squeaks.
你说得对，吱吱。
It seems pretty amazing that things as big as planes can fly!
像飞机这么大的东西能飞起来，这似乎很神奇!
A lot of the things that we see that can fly, — like insects, bats, and birds, aren’t nearly so big.
我们看到的很多会飞的东西，比如昆虫、蝙蝠和鸟类，体型都没有这么大。
Squeaks wants to know if any animal that could fly was as big as an airplane.
吱吱想知道会飞的动物是否有像飞机那么大的。
Well, not as big as the jumbo jet we’re going to take.
嗯，没有我们要乘坐的大型喷气式飞机那么大。
But scientists think that once, a long time ago, there was an animal about as big as a smaller airplane that flew in Earth’s skies.
但是，科学家们认为，很久以前，曾经有一种动物和一架小型飞机一样大，在地球的天空中飞行。
It was a giant reptile that lived millions of years ago… and its name is Quetzalcoatlus.
这是一种生活在数百万年前的巨型爬行动物…它的名字叫风神翼龙。
Oh, good question!
哦，问得好！
Even though Quetzalcoatlus lived at the same time as some dinosaurs, it wasn’t a dinosaur.
尽管风神翼龙与一些恐龙生活在同一时期，但它并不是恐龙。
Dinosaurs are just one group of animals that lived a long time ago, so not all of the animals that lived in the past are dinosaurs.
恐龙只是生活在很久以前的一群动物之一，所以并不是所有生活在过去的动物都是恐龙。
There were actually lots of animals living with the dinosaurs!
实际上有很多动物和恐龙生活在同一时期！
Things like turtles, small furry mammals, and crocodiles all lived at the same time as dinosaurs, too.
海龟、小型毛茸茸的哺乳动物和鳄鱼等生物也与恐龙生活在同一时期。
And there were the pterosaurs, which is the group that Quetzalcoatlus comes from!
还有翼手龙，风神翼龙是一种翼手龙！
Pterosaurs and dinosaurs have different shaped bones in their hips and in their arms, which helps us tell that they’re not the same group of animals.
翼手龙和恐龙臀部骨骼和手臂骨骼形状不同，这有助于我们区分它们之间的不同。
Like lots of other ancient plants and animals…
像许多其他古代动植物一样…
Quetzalcoatlus is extinct, which means it’s not found anywhere on Earth any more.
风神翼龙已经灭绝，这意味着地球上的任何地方都找不到它了。
And it went extinct long before people were around on Earth.
早在人类出现之前，它就已经灭绝了。
So no one has ever seen one when it was alive.
因此，当它还活着的时候，从来没有人见过它。
But we do know some pretty cool things about this animal.
关于这种动物，我们确实知道一些很酷的事情。
Like, Quetzalcoatus was really big.
比如，风神翼龙体型真的很大。
It was as tall as a giraffe… Right!
它和长颈鹿一样高...正确!
And it was as big as a small airplane with its wings stretched out.
它和一架张开翅膀的小飞机一样大。
No one has actually ever seen a Quetzalcoatlus, so have never had the chance to watch it and see if it could fly.
实际上，从来没有人见过风神翼龙，所以从来没有机会对它进行观察，看看它是否会飞。
Still, many scientists believe they did!
尽管如此，许多科学家仍然相信它们会飞！
Good question, Squeaks!
问得好，吱吱！
How do we know so much about these extinct animals if no one has ever seen them?
如果没有人见过这些灭绝的动物，我们怎么知道这么多？
Well, there are scientists who study ancient life that are called paleontologists.
嗯，有一些科学家研究古代生命，他们被称为古生物学家。
They look for clues that the Quetzalcoatlus and other ancient forms of life have left behind.
他们寻找风神翼龙和其他古代生命形式留下的线索。
They put the clues together like a puzzle, to make a picture of what this giant animal was like.
他们把这些线索像拼图一样拼凑在一起，描绘出这种巨大动物的模样。
What kind of clues?
什么样的线索？
Well, the best-known kinds of clues are fossils.
嗯，最著名的线索是化石。
Those are bones and other traces of ancient living things, like Quetzalcoatlus.
这些是风神翼龙等古代生物的骨头和遗迹。
Fossils of pterosaurs helped us figure out that they had big, long wings.
翼龙化石帮助我们弄清楚它们的翅膀又大又长。
We can find very long, stretched-out bones.
我们发现化石的骨头巨长且伸展。
And right by those bones are marks in the dirt that were made by the Quetzalcoatlus’ skin.
就在这些骨头旁边的泥土上有风神翼龙皮肤留下的痕迹。
The marks show us that the long bones were connected by the skin to make a wing!
这些痕迹告诉我们，这些长骨是由皮肤连接起来形成翅膀的。
Paleontologists look at things like the shape of the bones, and compare them to the shape of animals that are living today.
古生物学家们观察像骨头形状这样的东西，并将它们与今天存活的动物的形状进行比较。
If they look similar, then it makes sense that ancient animals might have something in common with animals living today.
如果它们看起来很相似，那么有理由相信古代动物可能与今天的动物有一些共同之处。
And when we compare the wings of animals today to Quetzalcoatlus’s wings, we think that Quetzalcoatlus flew too!
当我们将现如今动物的翅膀与风神翼龙的翅膀进行比较时，我们认为风神翼龙也会飞！
Not all animals that have wings can fly.
并不是所有有翅膀的动物都能飞。
Some, like ostriches and kiwis, don’t.
有些鸟类，如鸵鸟和几维鸟，则不会飞。
But Quetzalcoatlus’s wings had lots of strong muscles.
但风神翼龙的翅膀肌肉很强壮。
This looks different from the wings of birds that don’t fly, like the kiwi.
风神翼龙看起来与这些不会飞的鸟的翅膀不同，比如几维鸟。
And it does look like many birds that do fly.
而且它看起来确实像许多会飞的鸟。
We think that Quetzalcoatlus used their wings and their legs to leap into the air.
我们认为，风神翼龙使用翅膀和腿飞上天空。
And they probably only had to flap their wings a few times to keep themselves up there.
它们可能只需要拍打几次翅膀就能让自己飞上天空。
That’s right, it would look kind of like a kite!
是的，这看起来会有点像风筝！
Kites don't have to move or flap to stay in the air.
风筝不需要移动或拍打就能停留在空中。
Just the air is enough to hold it up there, which is exactly what we think the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus would keep itself soaring through the sky.
仅仅是空气就足以让风筝停留在空中，这正是我们认为巨大的风神翼龙能够让自己在天空中翱翔的原因。
Once in the air, they could probably travel about 16,000 kilometers without stopping.
一旦飞上天，它们大概可能会不间断地飞行1.6万公里。
That’s almost halfway around the Earth!
那几乎是半个地球的距离！
That’s great, buddy!
太棒了，伙计！
Squeaks says with everything he’s learned, he’s not scared to go on a plane any more.
吱吱说，有了他所学到的一切，他再也不怕坐飞机了。
In fact, he’s really excited!
事实上，他真的很兴奋！
Knowing more about the world always makes it less scary.
对这个世界了解得越多，就不会那么可怕了。
And I think we’re in for a fun adventure.
我想我们将迎来一场有趣的冒险。
Don’t you?
你不觉得吗？
Thanks for joining us here on SciShow Kids.
感谢观看《少儿科学秀》。
If you want to keep learning and having fun with Squeaks, me, and all our other friends, be sure to hit the subscribe button, and we'll see you next time here at The Fort!
如果你想继续与我、吱吱以及所有的朋友一起学习，开心地玩，一定要点击订阅按钮，我们下次在堡垒相见！
