離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》South Africa’s new jurassic giant 南非的新種侏羅紀巨獸
國際研究團隊在南非發現新種恐龍「Ledumahadi mafube」。圖為該種恐龍的模擬圖。（歐新社檔案照）
◎劉宜庭
A new species of a giant dinosaur has been found in South Africa’s Free State Province. The plant-eating dinosaur, named Ledumahadi mafube, weighed 12 tonnes and stood about four metres high at the hips. Ledumahadi mafube was the largest land animal alive on Earth when it lived, nearly 200 million years ago. It was roughly double the size of a large African elephant.
南非自由邦省發現一頭新種巨型恐龍。這種草食性恐龍名為「Ledumahadi mafube」，重12公噸，站立高度為4公尺。「Ledumahadi mafube」近兩億年前存活於地球上時，是最大的陸生動物。牠的體型約為一頭大型非洲象的兩倍。
A team of international scientists, led by University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) palaeontologist Professor Jonah Choiniere, described the new species in the journal Current Biology today (27 September).
（南非）金山大學古生物學家約拿‧喬尼爾教授領導的國際科學家團隊，今天（9月27日）在《當代生物學》期刊描摹此一新種恐龍。
The dinosaur’s name is Sesotho for "a giant thunderclap at dawn" (Sesotho is one of South Africa’s 11 official languages and an indigenous language in the area where the dinosaur was found).
這種恐龍的名字在斯威士語中指的是「黎明的雷霆」；斯威士語是南非11種官方語言之一，也是這頭恐龍出土地區的原住民族語言。
Ledumahadi mafube is one of the closest relatives of sauropod dinosaurs. Sauropods, weighing up to 60 tonnes, include well-known species like Brontosaurus.
「Ledumahadi mafube」是蜥腳類恐龍的近親之一。蜥腳亞目（動物）重達60公噸，其中包括「雷龍」等著名物種。
《新聞辭典》
dinosaur：名詞，恐龍。例句：The discovery of this dinosaur underscores just how important South African palaeontology is to the world.（這頭恐龍的發現，正好凸顯出南非古生物學對世界的重要性。）
indigenous：形容詞，原生的、本土的。例句：Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.（印地安人是美洲的原住民。）
sauropod：名詞，蜥腳類、蜥腳亞目。例句：All sauropods ate plants and stood on four legs, with a posture like modern elephants.（所有蜥腳類都屬草食性且用四足站立，其站姿與大象類似。）
