我國發現新恐龍 蝙蝠翅膀疑似鳥類祖先

A bizarre new dinosaur with bat-like wings has been discovered by a farmer in China and is now helping to shed new light on the evolution of flight.
中國的一名農民之前曾發現了一種長着蝙蝠翅膀的恐龍化石，現在有關該化石的研究將對動物飛行的演化等具有啓示。

Palaeontologists in China say the impeccably preserved fossil belongs to a small dinosaur thought to have lived 160 million years ago.
中國的古生物學家稱這塊被完好保存的化石來自於一種生活在1.6億年前的小型恐龍。

The strange-looking creature had small stiff feathers on its body and long finger-like bones extending from each wrist that were covered in a membrane like a bat’s wing.
這種外形奇特的生物身上有着小而短的僵硬羽毛，兩隻腕部各有一個棒狀長骨，並覆蓋着一層像蝙蝠翅膀的翼膜。

Scientists believe the dinosaur, which they have named Yi qi, meaning ‘strange wing’, may have glided or even flown through the air.
科學家們成這種生物爲“奇翼龍”，並認爲它可以滑行甚至做短距離的飛行。

The discovery has provided new insight into how vertebrates first began to take to the air.
奇翼龍的發現對解釋脊椎動物是如何開始飛向天空的具有重要意義。

Yi qi belongs the group of carnivorous dinosaurs known as the therapods - which includes Tyranosaurus rex and velociraptor.
奇翼龍屬於霸王龍和迅猛龍所在的一種名爲獸腳亞目食肉恐龍的類羣中。

These dinosaurs are thought to have been the ancestors of modern Birds.
這一類羣被認爲是現代鳥類的祖先。

But unlike modern birds, Yi qi was found to have a strange extra bone extending backwards from its wrist, rather like an entirely separate group of animals that learned to fly - the bats.
但與現代的鳥類不同，奇翼龍腕部有一個棒狀長骨。類似的結構從來沒有在其他恐龍中發現過，但在一些會飛的四足動物比如蝙蝠身上發現過。

Professor Xing Xu, one of the world’s leading prolific palaeontologists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and who led the work, said: 'This is really something for me. It is the most unexpected discovery I ever made.
中國科學院古脊椎與古人類研究所古生動物學家徐星教授說：“這次發現對我很重要，是最出乎我意料的一項發現。”

'Birds are descended from dinosaurs, but how exactly the transition occurred is not really clear. This new discovery is a new species of these bird like dinosaurs.
“鳥類是由恐龍進化而來的，但是具體的轉變過程如何至今仍不清楚。”

'This dinosaur is totally different. It has totally different wings from all other birds and their close relatives.'
“奇翼龍非常的與衆不同，它有着與其他鳥類及近親完全不同的翅膀。”

The Yi qi fossil was discovered by a local farmer in Mutoudeng, in Qinglong County, Hebei Province in China.
奇翼龍的化石是河北青龍縣當地的一位農民發現的。

Analysis by Professor Xu and his colleagues, which is published in the journal Nature, suggest that it is likely the dinosaur glided, perhaps like modern flying squirrels.
徐星教授及同事的研究分析結果發表在了《自然》期刊上，表明了奇翼龍可能能夠像現代鼯鼠那樣滑行。

It is likely that the conclusions will be controversial with other evolutionary biologists, but it could prove hugely valuable in unravelling how birds evolved from their dinosaur ancestors.
這項結論可能會引起其他進化生物學家的和爭議，但它對解釋鳥類是如何從恐龍進化而來的問題有着重要的啓示。

Professor Zheng Xiaoting, from Linyi University in Shandong who also took part in the study, said: 'Yi qi lived in the Jurassic, so it was a pioneer in the evolution of flight on the line to birds.
參與該項研究的山東臨沂大學的鄭曉廷教授說：“奇翼龍生活在侏羅紀時代，所以它算是鳥類支系飛翔演化過程中的一個先鋒。”

'It reminds us that the early history of flight was full of innovations, not all of which survived.'
“它提醒我們，在飛翔演化的早期歷史中，充滿了創新嘗試。”

Dr Kevin Padian, a palaeontologist at the University of California Berkeley, warned that the animal may not have been able to fly at all.
但是加州大學伯克利分校的凱文·帕丁恩警告稱奇翼龍可能根本就不會飛。

He said: ‘Still, we are left in a quandary: an animal with a strange structure that looks as if it could have been used in flight, borne by an animal that otherwise shows no such tendencies.
他說：“我們仍然陷入了一種困境：一種有着奇特的、看起來能夠有助於飛行的結構的動物，卻是由一種沒有顯現出飛行趨勢的動物生出來的。”

‘And so far, there is no other plausible explanation for the function of this structure.’
“到目前爲止，對於這種結構的功能還缺少更有力可信的解釋。”