第2687期:Scientists Discover a Dinosaur with Shiny

Scientists recently announced the discovery of a small, bird-like dinosaur from China which had unusual, colorful feathers.科学家最近宣布发现了一种来自中国的小鸟般的恐龙，这些恐龙具有不寻常的羽毛。

The scientists named the dinosaur Caihong, the Mandarin word for rainbow. They discovered the nearly complete and almost entirely undamaged fossil in Hebei Province.科学家将恐龙Caihong命名为彩虹的普通话。 他们发现了河北省几乎完整而几乎完全未受损的化石。

Microscopic structures in the fossil suggest that the creature had wide, shiny feathers. The feathers mostly covered the dinosaur’s head and upper body. The colors of those feather would have appeared to change depending on how the light hit them.化石中的微观结构表明该生物具有宽阔的羽毛。 羽毛大多覆盖了恐龙的头和上身。 这些羽毛的颜色似乎会根据光的击中方式而改变。

The colorful dinosaur lived 161 million years ago during the Jurassic Period of earth’s history.五颜六色的恐龙生活在地球历史的侏罗纪时期的16100万年前。

Chad Eliason is an evolutionary biologist with the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. He helped write the study announcing the discovery in the scientific publication Nature Communications. Eliason told the Reuters news service that the discovery “suggests a more colorful Jurassic World than we previously imagined.”乍得·埃里亚森（Chad Eliason）是伊利诺伊州芝加哥田间博物馆的进化生物学家。 他帮助撰写了这项研究，宣布了科学出版物自然传播中的发现。 埃里亚森（Eliason）告诉路透社新闻服务（Reuters News Service），这一发现“暗示了比我们以前想象的要多彩的侏罗纪世界。”

The scientists used powerful microscopes to identify the remains of the cell structures responsible for the apparent color of the feathers. The shape of those structures appears to have influenced what color the feathers would have. Round-shaped structures in the Caihong fossil show that it had feathers similar to that of a modern day hummingbird.科学家使用强大的显微镜来识别负责羽毛表观颜色的细胞结构的残留物。 这些结构的形状似乎影响了羽毛的颜色。 Caihong化石中的圆形结构表明，它的羽毛类似于现代蜂鸟。

Much of Caihong’s body had dark feathers. The shiny, color-changing feathers covered its head and neck. The dinosaur had many bird-like qualities. But researchers doubt that it could actually fly.Caihong的大部分身体都有深色的羽毛。 闪亮的，变色的羽毛覆盖了头和脖子。 恐龙具有许多类似鸟类的品质。 但是研究人员怀疑它实际上可以飞行。

Its feathers could have served the purpose of gaining the attention of sexual partners while also providing protection from heat and cold.它的羽毛本来可以实现的目的是吸引性伴侣的注意力，同时还可以保护热和寒冷。

Caihong was two-legged and had a long, narrow head with sharp teeth. It had boney crests above its eyes, and it hunted other, smaller animals for food.凯恩（Caihong）是两腿，头部狭窄，牙齿锋利。 它的眼睛上方有骨冠，并猎杀了其他较小的动物作为食物。

Scientists say many dinosaurs had feathers. Birds evolved from small feathered dinosaurs near the end of the Jurassic Period.科学家说，许多恐龙有羽毛。 鸟类从侏罗纪时期结束后附近的小羽毛恐龙演变而来。

Caihong had two kinds of feathers. It also is the earliest-known creature with feathers that did not have the same shape on both sides. This is a physical quality that modern birds have and use to direct themselves while flying.Caihong有两种羽毛。 它也是最早的生物，羽毛在两侧的形状都不相同。 这是现代鸟类在飞行时指导自己的身体品质。

The unevenly shaped feathers on Caihong were on its tail. This suggests that tail feathers, not arm feathers, were first used to improve movement through the air in flying dinosaurs, scientists said.Caihong上不均匀的羽毛在其尾部。 科学家说，这表明尾羽羽毛而不是手臂羽毛首先是用于改善飞行恐龙的空气运动。

Xing Xu is a paleontologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Xing Xu said, “It is extremely similar to some early birds such as Archaeopteryx.” Archaeopteryx is the earliest known bird. It is believed to have lived 150 million years ago.Xing Xu是中国科学院的古生物学家。 Xing Xu说：“这与一些早期鸟类（例如Archeopteryx）非常相似。” Archeopteryx是最早已知的鸟。 据信它已经居住了1.5亿年前。

“To be honest, I am not sure what function the feathers have,” Xing Xu added. “And I don’t think that you can completely exclude the possibility that the feathers helped the animal to get in the air.”Xu Xu补充说：“老实说，我不确定羽毛的功能。” “而且我认为您不能完全排除羽毛帮助动物启动的可能性。”

The dinosaur’s full scientific name is Caihong juji, which means “rainbow with a big crest.”恐龙的完整科学名称是Caihong Juji，意思是“带有大冠的彩虹”。