巨型不飞鸟是“温和的食草动物”
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px][b]Footprints believed to have been made by the giant bird Diatryma indicate that it was a "gentle herbivore" and not a fierce carnivore, scientists say.[/b][/size][/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px][b]科学家称，巨型不飞鸟留下的脚印显示这种鸟是“温和的食草动物”，并非凶残的食肉动物。[/b][/size][/font]
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[color=#0000FF]The giant flightless Diatryma: unequipped to be a carnivore?[/color]
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[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]A team of researchers from Washington, US, examined tracks uncovered in a landslide in 2009.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]Previous investigations have suggested the giant [url=http://www.enread.com/news/cultureandedu/90981.html]bird[/url] was a carnivorous predator or [b]scavenger（食腐动物）[/b].[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]But the absence of raptor-like claws in the footprints supports the theory that Diatryma was not a meat-eater.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]Measuring 7ft (2.13m) tall and with a huge head and beak, the giant flightless bird Diatryma (believed by some experts to belong to the genus Gastornis) is commonly portrayed as a fierce predator in both scientific works and popular media.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]The animal is frequently thought as "the bird that replaced dinosaurs as the top predator", said geologist and team member George Mustoe, from Western Washington University in Bellingham, US.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]"Let's be honest: scary, fierce meat-eaters attract a lot more attention than gentle herbivores."[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]The study, published in the journal Paleontology, analysed a set of footprints made 55.8 to 48.6 million years ago in the Lower Eocene. Preserved in sandstone, the prints formed part of the Chuckanut Formation in northwest Washington, US.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]The team concluded that the multiple, well-preserved tracks were most likely to have been made by Diatryma.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]That would make them the only known footprints left behind by this giant bird, and they provide new evidence about what it ate.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]"[The tracks] clearly show that the animals did not have long talons, but rather short [b]toenails（脚趾甲）[/b]," said David Tucker, from Western Washington [url=http://www.enread.com/news/cultureandedu/90981.html]University[/url], who also worked on the study.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px]"This argues against an animal that catches prey and uses claws to hold it down. Carnivorous birds all have sharp, long talons."[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px][/size][/font][p=30, 2, left][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma][size=12px][font=simsun][size=14px][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun]更多[/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font][url=http://www.enread.com/news/index.html][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=宋体, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=24px][color=#ED1C24][b]英语新[/b][/color][/size][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/url][url=http://www.enread.com/news/index.html][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][font=simsun][color=#ED1C24][size=24px][b]闻[/b][/size][/color][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][/url]
[/p] wow!That's a big bird! interesting yep! it's big herbivore bird
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