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It turns out that these particular dinosaurs are the ancestors of modern birds, and they liked to show off their prowess as nest builders during the breeding season.
原来这些特殊的恐龙是现代鸟类的祖先；它们喜欢在繁殖季节炫耀自己高超的筑巢技巧。
This is an extraordinary discovery because it’s practically a dinosaurian lover’s lane.
这是一个非比寻常的发现，因为这可被比作恐龙的情人小径。
It's a rendezvous for dinosaurian trysts, a rendezvous for lovebirds.
这是恐龙的幽会地点，爱情鸟的碰头地点。
What's also interesting is that paleontologists, once they learned that these particular dinosaurs were the ancestors of modern birds, they wrote hundreds of scientific papers speculating, and I say speculating, on whether they used their colored crests and colored feathers to show off during the breeding season.
更有趣的是古生物学家们知道了这类恐龙是现代鸟类的祖先后，写下了上百份学术论文“推测”，我说是“推测”，这些恐龙是否在繁殖季节利用自己的彩色鸟冠和羽毛炫耀。
They probably did show off.
也许是这样。
But here at our feet, we actually have the first physical evidence of dinosaur courtship.
但在我们的脚边，这是第一片恐龙求偶的实体证据。
And what's more, it tells us that this behavior went back for a hundred million years.
这还反映出此行为可以追溯到上亿年前。
So males showing off to females or partners showing off to one another, it's nothing new.
雄性向雌性炫耀，或者配偶互相炫耀，没什么新奇的。
My dad was actually an ornithologist and he studied the behavior of modern birds during their frenzied, energetic activity in the breeding season.
我的父亲就是一名鸟类学家，他研究了现代鸟类在繁殖季节激情狂热的活动中的行为。
He'd be absolutely astonished by this kind of evidence of fossil behavior among dinosaurs.
他一定会对这类恐龙行为的化石证据感到惊奇。
Imagine for a minute these little birds scratching in the sand and how different it would be to see a giant, 2,000-pound carnivorous dinosaur gouging huge scoops in the substrate.
想象一下，小鸟在沙子上经过，这与一头巨型2000 磅的肉食恐龙在地层上踩出巨坑的差别。
Imagine the hormonal cries and the frenzied roars.
想象一下求偶的叫声和歇斯底里的咆哮。
This seems newsworthy.
这似乎是有新闻价值的。
We predict that it will be more than just another report of a dinosaur discovery.
我们预测这将不单单是有关恐龙发现的另一篇报告而已。
And sure enough, we make the lead on the "Nature" journal website and we get into the monologues of the late night talk show comedians.
没错，我们确实登上了《自然》期刊的网站首页，我们也在深夜脱口秀中被提及。
I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every person who told me that they really wish they'd been a paleontologist when they grew up.
如果每个告诉我长大后想成为古生物学家的人都给我一美元，那我得发财了。
I'd also do OK if I had a dollar for every fossil footprint I found.
如果我每发现一处化石足迹就得到一美元，我也会过得不错。
But knowing that the Earth's bedrock is full of these treasures, my motto is quite simple: Just keep on tracking, keep on exploring.
但既然知道地球的基岩充满着这些宝藏，我的座右铭很简短：持续地追寻，持续地探索。
But the real satisfaction comes from the thrill of knowing that I can find these sites, that my friends and colleagues can find these sites, that people like you can find these sites and that they have become valued and protected institutions or destinations.
不过真正的满足感来源于知道我能找到这些遗迹，我的朋友同事们能找到这些遗迹，像在座各位的大众也可以找到这些遗址的欣喜，知道它们会成为受保护、具有价值的机构或地点。
It's very important that these landscapes, these ancient landscapes are preserved because they are actual Jurassic parks.
这些地貌，这些古老的地貌受到保护至关重要，因为它们是现实中的侏罗纪公园。
They are places where dinosaurs and extinct animals lived and loved and fought for survival.
这是恐龙和灭绝的动物生存、择偶并为生存而拼搏的地方。
Just as we protect sites like Stonehenge or Pompeii or the Grand Canyon, we need to protect these sites for the future.
像我们保护巨石阵、庞贝古城和大峡谷这般，我们该将这些遗址保留至今后。
This is what we call our geoheritage.
这是我们所谓的“地质遗产”。
It is a memory, and it's vitally important that we preserve it for the next seven generations of seven-year-old dinosaur trackers.
它是记忆，而我们为以后七代七岁多的恐龙侦探保存它至关重要。
Thank you very much.
非常感谢。
