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Before we started this channel, Adam and I did some googling to find out what people were searching for after How do they know? That's how I found this post
在我們開始這個頻道之前，Adam和我做了一些Google搜尋，想知道人們在「他們是怎麼知道的？」這個問題後在搜尋什麼。這就是我如何找到這篇貼文的。
on Reddit. It was talking about Prehistoric Planet, the BBC series that uses CGI to give dinosaurs the planet Earth treatment. This is Prehistoric Planet. The poster just really wanted to
它在Reddit上。在討論《史前星球》，BBC的那個用CGI給恐龍做地球脈動式處理的系列。這就是《史前星球》。發文者只是真的很想
know how they know these things. So, I got comfy, turned on the show, and in episode three, I fell in love. A giant terasaur, Helaxus.
知道他們是怎麼知道這些事情的。所以，我舒服地坐下來，打開節目，在第三集，我愛上了一種巨大的翼龍。
Look at that majestic, bizarre creature. Terasaurs are technically not dinosaurs, but they lived at the same time, and this was one of the biggest. There aren't any humans
看看那個雄偉、奇異的生物。翼龍技術上不是恐龍，但它們生活在同一時期，而這是最大的之一。《史前星球》裡沒有任何人類
for scale in prehistoric planets, so I called in a favor.
做比例參考，所以我找了個朋友幫忙。
Okay, first impressions. It is really hard to get me and this thing in the same frame. That's Lexi, one of our Patreon members and a friend of the
好的，第一印象。要把我和這東西放在同一個畫面裡真的很難。那是Lexi，我們的Patreon成員之一，也是節目的朋友，
show, standing 5'8 in tall next to the scale model of Kessle Kawatlas at the Field Museum in Chicago. I mean, it's really giraffeike in its height and then
身高5呎8吋，站在芝加哥菲爾德博物館的風神翼龍等比例模型旁邊。我是說，它的高度真的很像長頸鹿，然後
it has this huge head on top. But the evidence that Kettzelquatas really existed in all of its glory. H the only thing that it left behind is this pile
頂部還有這麼大的頭。但證明風神翼龍真正存在過的所有輝煌證據，它留下的唯一東西就是這堆
of bones from its left wing. Okay. So, we don't even have any part of the head here. No part of the head. So, how do they know what it looked like or how it
來自左翼的骨頭。好的。所以，我們這裡連頭部的任何部分都沒有。沒有頭部的部分。那麼，他們是怎麼知道它長什麼樣子或它是怎麼
moved? I called up a bunch of paleontologists to find out how they reconstruct these animals and which parts are basically made up for TV. But before we get to that, I want to quickly
移動的？我聯繫了一群古生物學家，想了解他們如何重建這些動物，以及哪些部分基本上是為電視編造的。但在我們談到那個之前，我想快速
thank the sponsor of today's video, which is Story Blocks. It's a stock library, but they don't just have video.
感謝今天影片的贊助商，Story Blocks。這是一個素材庫，但他們不只有影片。
They have sound effects, music, they have still images, they have After Effects templates, which I think is really handy, and it's all one subscription, right? It's all one price.
他們有音效、音樂、他們有靜態圖片、他們有After Effects模板，我覺得這真的很方便，而且全部都是一個訂閱，對吧？全部一個價格。
So, you don't have to pay peace meal for each asset that you download. So, to get started with unlimited stock media downloads at one set price, go to storyblocks.com/howtown.
所以，你不需要為你下載的每個素材單獨付費。所以，要開始使用一個固定價格的無限素材下載，請前往storyblocks.com/howtown。
or you can just click the link in the description. One of the things that they do is that they recommend music to pair with some of the clips on their site.
或者你可以直接點擊描述中的連結。他們做的事情之一是推薦音樂來搭配他們網站上的一些片段。
And so I've got this cool super zoom clip of Big Bend National Park. And that's where our story begins. Oh, a spectacular discovery being reported by fossil hunters digging in the barren
所以我有這個很酷的大彎國家公園超級變焦片段。這就是我們故事開始的地方。噢，一個驚人的發現正在被報導，化石獵人正在德克薩斯州大彎地區的
flinty soil of the Big Bend region of Texas. And it was so big I thought it was a dinosaur, but the texture of the bone of these terasaurs is different.
堅硬火石土壤中挖掘。它太大了，我以為它是恐龍，但這些翼龍骨頭的質地不同。
That's Douglas Lawson. He found the fossils of the largest flying creature presently known when he was a master student at the University of Texas and he named it Ketzel Katalus Northropai
那是Douglas Lawson。他在德克薩斯大學讀碩士時發現了目前已知最大飛行生物的化石，他把它命名為Quetzalcoatlus Northropai，
after an Aztec god and a designer of military planes. That was early 1970s. I was not born yet, but uh growing up in Texas and in paleontology, it uh kettle
以阿茲特克神和一位軍用飛機設計師的名字命名。那是1970年代初。我那時還沒出生，但在德克薩斯州長大並從事古生物學，風神翼龍
looms large. You must be Mr. Ketzel Colotlas. Yep. Always a pleasure to meet a fellow terasaur.
影響很大。你一定是風神翼龍先生。是的。很高興認識一位同行翼龍。
A team at the Smithsonian was even inspired to build a half-scale model that could actually fly for a 1986 IMAX film.
史密森尼的一個團隊甚至受到啟發，為1986年的IMAX電影製作了一個真正能飛的半比例模型。
But despite the media attention, Lawson ended up leaving paleontology and nobody published a full write up of the fossils until 2021.
但儘管有媒體關注，Lawson最終離開了古生物學，直到2021年才有人發表了化石的完整研究報告。
Brian Andre was part of the team that finally got it done. He's a lifelong terasaur enthusiast. I've tried to see as many terasaurs as I can. In fact, um
Brian Andre是最終完成這項工作的團隊成員。他是一個終身翼龍愛好者。我試圖看盡可能多的翼龍。事實上，
on our honeymoon, my wife suggested going to um Iceland because it they definitely didn't have any terasaurs there that I could go and take a look at. Um his 150 page report described two
在我們的蜜月旅行中，我太太建議去冰島，因為那裡肯定沒有任何我可以去看的翼龍。他的150頁報告描述了兩種
kettzlequatus species. The big one known from these wing bones from two individuals plus some other fragments that are suspected to belong to the species and a smaller one kettle loani
風神翼龍物種。大的那種只從這些翼骨中得知，來自兩個個體，加上一些其他被懷疑屬於這個物種的碎片，還有一種較小的Quetzalcoatlus Lawsoni，
which was compiled from a much larger number of specimens found 40 km away from the giant. And he mapped out their place in the terasaur family tree. This
是從離巨型那種40公里外發現的更大數量的標本中匯編的。他還繪製了它們在翼龍家族樹中的位置。這條
line is the meteorite that wiped them all out. And right up to the end there's Ketzel Katlas part of a group called the Ashdarkids.
線是滅絕它們的隕石。而就在末期，有風神翼龍，屬於一個叫做阿茲達奇類的群體。
Where does that come from? It feels sort of Tolkenesque or something. I believe it is Persian in its roots. Persian.
這個名字從哪來的？聽起來有點像託爾金風格。我相信它的根源是波斯語。波斯語。
Okay. When you find a humorous of a a dark, you're like, that's an Azarid humorous. I know it like the back of my hand. Like, how do they If I saw that,
好的。當你發現一個阿茲達奇類的肱骨時，你會說「那是阿茲達奇類的肱骨。我對它瞭如指掌。」你們是怎麼知道的？如果我看到那個，
I'd be like, that could be a triceratops for all I know. You know what's I mean when you read the papers they basically describe every ratio possible on all of
我會說「就我所知那可能是三角龍的」。你知道嗎，當你讀這些論文時，他們基本上描述了所有這些骨頭上所有可能的比例，
these bones and they are looking for bumps and little features and they put this all in a big data matrix table and if it you know has enough things in
他們在尋找凸起和小特徵，他們把這些全部放進一個大數據矩陣表，如果它與其他阿茲達奇類有足夠多的共同點，
common with other ajarids they can then infer the sort of evolutionary relationships between them. As darkids are toothless with long limbs, but the strangest thing about them is their
他們就可以推斷它們之間的進化關係。阿茲達奇類是無齒的，有長肢，但它們最奇怪的是它們
stretched out neckbones. This one was found in Jordan in the 1940s. It's so long that for decades they didn't realize that it was part of a neck. That
拉長的頸骨。這個是1940年代在約旦發現的。它太長了，幾十年來他們都沒有意識到它是頸部的一部分。那
seems so weird because you you see like if you look at I think I'm thinking about other things with long necks or a whale. You know, you see whale vertebrae
看起來很奇怪，因為你看，如果你看其他有長脖子的東西或鯨魚。你知道的，你經常看到鯨魚椎骨，
all the time or at least you do on the on the West Coast and uh they're they just look like giant versions. And so they're like the little discs that just
至少在西海岸是這樣，它們看起來就像是放大版的。所以它們就像那些堆疊的小圓盤，
stack, right? And this does not look like a little disc. No, it's it's quite unusual.
對吧？而這個看起來不像小圓盤。不，它相當不尋常。
As dark giants have been found all over the world. Aaron Borgania in Jordan, Hatsyopter in Romania, Cryodracon in Canada, and Thanoos Dracon in Argentina.
阿茲達奇類巨人在世界各地都有發現。約旦的Arambourgiania，羅馬尼亞的Hatzegopteryx，加拿大的Cryodracon，還有阿根廷的Thanatodracon。
They were the largest flying animals the world has ever seen. But they're also known from just a handful of bones.
它們是世界上有史以來最大的飛行動物。但它們也只從少數骨頭中得知。
And there's a reason for that. Let me take this. This is a box. This is more or less how we would expect the terasaur bone to be, especially the wing
這是有原因的。讓我拿這個。這是一個盒子。這基本上就是我們預期翼龍骨頭的樣子，特別是翼
bones or leg bones. So they have a thin layer and sometimes the sediments because they are so heavy, they will just crush the bones. So many fossils
骨或腿骨。所以它們有一層薄薄的，有時候沉積物因為太重，就會把骨頭壓碎。所以很多化石
are very flattened. When we have a 3D preservation, we're going to see much better on the bones. The Kzel Katlas fossils are 3D, so already that's rare.
都非常扁平。當我們有3D保存時，我們能在骨頭上看到更多細節。風神翼龍的化石是3D的，所以這已經很罕見了。
But it's worth dwelling a bit more on the journey that these bones took over the past 70 million years. First, cats needed to die without being destroyed by other carnivores. You want these things
但值得多想一下這些骨頭在過去7000萬年經歷的旅程。首先，風神翼龍需要在沒有被其他食肉動物破壞的情況下死亡。你希望這些東西
to be kind of as preserved as quickly as possible, and part of that is burial.
盡可能快地被保存，而其中一部分就是埋葬。
Rapid burial is preferred. a river needed to overflow pretty quickly, pick it up and carry it to a quiet spot where it could sink and be buried by sand. And
快速埋葬是首選。一條河需要很快氾濫，把它撿起來帶到一個安靜的地方，在那裡它可以沉下去被沙子埋住。而且
so he got um well, they got deposited by the movement of sediment through the river. It had to spend thousands of years undisturbed while the minerals in the groundwater filled up the pores in
所以它被河流的沉積物運動沉積了。它必須在地下水中的礦物質填滿骨頭孔隙並把它變成石頭的同時，不受乾擾地度過數千年。
the bone and turned it to stone. And millions of years later, tectonic shifts needed to lift up the section of rock containing the fossil. I can't tell you
數百萬年後，板塊移動需要把包含化石的那部分岩石抬升起來。我無法告訴你
how much rock was originally on top of Katzoqualis at its maximum amount. I just know that eventually it got down to zero when we took it out. The timing of
最初在風神翼龍上面有多少岩石。我只知道當我們把它取出來時，最終它變成了零。侵蝕的
that erosion needed to be just right, too slow and Ketzel Quatlas could still be buried today. But if the erosion was too fast, then the fossil would disintegrate before Doug Lawson could
時機也需要恰到好處，太慢的話風神翼龍今天可能還被埋著。但如果侵蝕太快，那化石會在Doug Lawson能
spot it or perhaps even before the evolution of a primate that could do science. And so you just need a lot of things to kind of line up. So really to
發現它之前就分解了，或者甚至在一種能做科學的靈長類進化之前。所以你只需要很多事情排列起來。所以真的要
fossilize anything, but especially to find something big in a river, it was Yeah, it was amazing that it ever happened at all.
讓任何東西變成化石，特別是在河裡找到大東西，是的，它能發生真的很神奇。
So we love the fossils. We're grateful for the fossils. But how do you get from this to this? And why are experts so sure that these older depictions are wrong?
所以我們喜愛這些化石。我們感謝這些化石。但你怎麼從這個變成這個？為什麼專家們如此確定這些舊的描繪是錯的？
First, there are some things you can say about all terasaurs. We know from fossils that they laid soft shell eggs.
首先，有些事情你可以說適用於所有翼龍。我們從化石中知道它們產軟殼蛋。
Many had fuzzy bodies, and it's reasonable to guess that as darks did, too. And all terasaurus had the same type of wing. So, here's my hand. Um, terasaurus don't have this finger.
許多有毛茸茸的身體，合理猜測阿茲達奇類也是這樣。所有翼龍都有同樣類型的翅膀。所以，這是我的手。翼龍沒有這根手指。
Forget about it. But they have four fingers. So, I have um like one bone here, two bones here, and several smaller bones here. They also they do as well.
忘了它吧。但它們有四根手指。所以，我這裡有一根骨頭，這裡兩根骨頭，這裡有幾根較小的骨頭。它們也有。
We all have this elongated bones in our palms and in their cases sometimes the elongated bones could be very very large. And then we go to the fingers themselves. So they had like three
我們的手掌裡都有這些拉長的骨頭，在它們的情況下，有時候拉長的骨頭可以非常非常大。然後我們來到手指本身。所以它們有三根
smaller fingers that look like claws and the fourth bone was very very long. So that's completely different from any other animal that has ever lived on Earth. That really long finger held up
較小的手指看起來像爪子，第四根骨頭非常非常長。所以那與地球上任何其他活過的動物完全不同。那根非常長的手指撐起
the fleshy membrane that made up their wing. all terasaurs had it. But if you don't zero in on closer relatives, you're going to get some things wrong.
構成它們翅膀的肉質膜。所有翼龍都有。但如果你不把焦點放在更近的親戚上，你會弄錯一些事情。
So in the 70s when they found caves quiteless, they had some some big terasaurs to look at, but they um they didn't have any a darkis to scale it up
所以在70年代他們發現風神翼龍時，他們有一些大型翼龍可以參考，但他們沒有任何阿茲達奇類可以用來放大。
from. So they were assuming very very long wings because that's what other large terasaurs had at the time. It had a wing spread of 51 ft, greater than the
所以他們假設非常非常長的翅膀，因為那是其他大型翼龍當時的樣子。它的翼展有51呎，比
height of a fivetory building. When we found better a dark wing material, we realized, oh, actually the end of the wing is quite truncated. And so you suddenly bring that estimate down. Mark
五層樓建築還高。當我們發現更好的阿茲達奇類翅膀材料時，我們意識到，哦，實際上翅膀末端相當截短。所以你突然把那個估計降下來了。Mark
Witten is a paleontologist and paleo artist who consulted on prehistoric planet. Before he draws a giant terasaur, he has to build out its skeleton using clues from other Azdarids
Witton是一位古生物學家和古生物藝術家，為《史前星球》做過諮詢。在他畫一隻巨大翼龍之前，他必須用其他阿茲達奇類的線索來構建它的骨架，
like Ketzel Quatlas Loeni, the smaller terasaur from Texas for which there is a partial skull and Xi Jang Opterus, a flattened but nearly complete ajarid found in China in the 1980s. When you
比如Quetzalcoatlus Lawsoni，那個較小的德克薩斯翼龍，有部分頭骨，還有西江翼龍，一個1980年代在中國發現的扁平但幾乎完整的阿茲達奇類。當你
look at the specimen, when you look at photographs of it, the fossilization has not been kind to those bones and it's it's a little bit of a mess. Uh but it
看這個標本時，當你看它的照片時，化石化過程對那些骨頭不太友善，有點亂。但它
was very important to me as an artist looking to reconstruct terasaurs because it did give us things like the the length of the torso which wasn't it's not information we have from any other
對我作為一個想要重建翼龍的藝術家來說非常重要，因為它確實給了我們像軀幹長度這樣的東西，這是我們從任何其他
aid. Scaling up from its smaller cousins gives you a kettlequatless head that's around 2 1/2 m long. Here's Victor Wanyyama for scale.
阿茲達奇類那裡得不到的資訊。從它較小的表親放大得到的風神翼龍頭部大約2.5公尺長。這是Victor Wanyama做比例參考。
Does it make sense to just extrapolate in that way to just be like, well, the head to neck ratio is going to be the same for these two species or the head
這樣外推有意義嗎？就像說，好吧，這兩個物種的頭部和頸部比例會相同，或者頭部
to, you know, humorous ratio is going to be because I can imagine like at some point it's like a head just gets too big no matter what is attached to it. I was
和肱骨的比例會相同，因為我可以想像在某個時候一個頭就是太大了，不管它連接什麼。我也
wondering that too and there's a couple reasons why they think that this is the right ballpark. One is that there are a couple of skull bones from Hatsigopterics and they really do
在想這個問題，他們認為這是正確範圍有幾個原因。一是Hatzegopteryx有幾塊頭骨骨頭，它們確實
justify a huge head for that giant at least. The other argument they make is that terasaur body frames are generally conservative in the sense that within a family of terasaurs you don't see
證明那個巨人至少有一個巨大的頭。他們提出的另一個論點是翼龍的身體框架通常是保守的，意思是在一個翼龍家族中你不會看到
drastically different proportions from one to the next. So they had big heads.
從一個到下一個的比例有劇烈的不同。所以它們有大頭。
Exactly how big, we're not sure, but they were big. So yeah, you know, for giant terasaurs, um, as with many other giant prehistoric animals, we are having
具體多大，我們不確定，但它們很大。所以是的，你知道，對於巨型翼龍，和許多其他巨型史前動物一樣，我們正在
to to to um I wouldn't say speculate necessarily, but we are definitely extrapolating a lot. And and that that's, you know, that's if if we're being 100% honest. There's no way of
不得不——我不會說是猜測，但我們肯定在外推很多。而且那是，你知道的，如果我們100%誠實的話。沒有辦法
knowing exactly what we're doing is correct at the minute until we get more specimens. In the meantime, paleontologists are really resourceful.
知道我們做的是否正確，直到我們得到更多標本。同時，古生物學家真的很有創造力。
We didn't kill the alligator just for our purposes. It's very important to say that all those animals we studied, they were already going to be euthanized.
我們不是為了我們的目的殺死鱷魚的。非常重要的是要說，我們研究的所有那些動物，它們本來就要被安樂死了。
It's a method called phoggenetic bracketing. Birds and crocodilians are the only surviving arcosaurs and they share their common ancestor with terasaurs. So, if there are soft tissues that both birds and alligators have,
這是一種叫做種系發生支架法的方法。鳥類和鱷類是唯一倖存的主龍類，它們與翼龍共享共同祖先。所以，如果有鳥類和鱷魚都有的軟組織，
it's likely that terasaur had them, too. When Tissa and her colleague dissected birds, they saw this rough patch on a certain part of their neckbones. They found it in the alligator, too. It's
翼龍很可能也有。當Tissa和她的同事解剖鳥類時，他們在頸骨某個部位看到這個粗糙的區域。他們在鱷魚身上也發現了。這是
where this ligament connects the vertebrae, like an elastic band. When they looked at Anes Darkid's neckbones, they found those same rough patches at the top of the neck and toward the
韌帶連接椎骨的地方，像彈力帶。當他們看阿茲達奇類的頸骨時，他們在頸部頂端和底部發現了同樣的粗糙區域，
bottom, but not in the middle. That's a hint that its neck was stiff in the middle, not bendy like this older documentary suggested.
但中間沒有。這暗示它的頸部中間是僵硬的，不像這個舊紀錄片暗示的那樣可以彎曲。
A lot of birds kind of curl up to sleep.
很多鳥類睡覺時會蜷縮起來。
How how would it how would it as dark would they just be like on the ground just like ah well yeah why not right why not that neck wasn't well suited for
那阿茲達奇類怎麼會——它們會不會就躺在地上像是啊好吧為什麼不呢對吧為什麼不那個頸部不太適合
fishing while flying instead when the researchers modeled the rest of the dark's neck muscles by looking for those rough patches on the bones and then checking them against the birds and the
飛行時捕魚，相反當研究人員通過尋找骨頭上的粗糙區域然後與鳥類和
alligator they see a neck that was built for craning down by bending here grabbing prey off the ground and springing back up to swallow it So their study focused on a smaller
鱷魚對比來模擬阿茲達奇類的其他頸部肌肉時，他們看到一個專為向下伸展、在這裡彎曲、從地面抓住獵物然後彈回吞下的頸部，所以他們的研究專注於一個較小的
ardid. But there's another big clue that tells us about the lifestyle of the giants.
阿茲達奇類。但還有另一個重要線索告訴我們關於巨人們的生活方式。
Are those footprints? They're footprints. Exciting. The way that they know that these are as dark footprints.
那些是腳印嗎？是腳印。興奮。他們知道這些是阿茲達奇類腳印的方式。
I don't even want to say that they know that. The reason they think that is that they don't know of anything else big enough to have made them. And they
我甚至不想說他們知道那個。他們這麼認為的原因是他們不知道還有什麼東西大到能留下這些。而且它們
correlate in time with the period that as darkets were active. And the dotted line you see right here is kind of the midline. And what this showed was that
在時間上與阿茲達奇類活躍的時期吻合。你在這裡看到的虛線是中線。這表明
they were really had their legs and arms underneath them. So they're quite upright, right? They're sort of like as opposed to like Yes. sort of clmping around like we saw in those early
它們的腿和手臂真的在身體下方。所以它們相當直立，對吧？它們有點像——而不是像我們在早期
videos, they're more like sleekly, which is a more efficient way to move, of course. And the other thing that they can see is a very like particular walking style. The footprints actually
影片中看到的那樣笨拙地移動，它們更流暢，這當然是更有效的移動方式。他們能看到的另一件事是一種非常特別的行走方式。腳印實際上
are dropped down in front of the handprints. So what that tells us is that when the animal is walking, they have to move both sets of limbs on one
落在手印前面。所以這告訴我們當動物行走時，它們必須同時移動身體一側的兩組肢體，
side of the body at a time and then nor do the other ones. You've seen this before in giraffes and camels. It helps them avoid tripping over themselves.
然後再移動另一側。你以前在長頸鹿和駱駝身上見過這個。這幫助它們避免被自己絆倒。
So, all signs point to giant as darks hunting on land and being surprisingly comfortable walking, which makes you wonder how much were these guys actually flying. For that, I reached out to
所以，所有跡象都指向巨型阿茲達奇類在陸地上捕獵並且出人意料地舒適地行走，這讓你想知道這些傢伙實際上飛行多少。為此，我聯繫了
Michael Khabib, who has spent a bunch of time modeling terasaur flight with software. Is there any debate about whether these largest terasaurs could fly? There is not much serious debate, I
Michael Khabib，他花了很多時間用軟體模擬翼龍飛行。關於這些最大的翼龍是否能飛有任何爭論嗎？沒有太多嚴肅的爭論，我
would say. He told me that when birds become flightless, that tends to change the skeleton in obvious ways. One of the things you would expect to have to
會說。他告訴我，當鳥類變得不會飛時，這往往會以明顯的方式改變骨架。你會預期必須發生的事情之一是繼續讓骨頭更強壯。
happen would be to continue to get your bones stronger.
你會開始加厚骨壁。
All right? You would start to thicken up the bone walls. What the big terasaur are doing is the opposite of that.
對吧？你會開始加厚骨壁。大型翼龍做的是相反的事。
They're making the diameters mega huge and the bone walls very, very thin. In order to get into the air, he says that they would have needed to use their
它們讓直徑巨大而骨壁非常非常薄。為了飛上天空，他說它們需要用飛行肌肉起飛，這意味著用前肢四足跳躍起飛。
flying muscles for takeoff, which meant a quadripedal vault off the forlims.
起飛後發生的事更像是個謎。它們可能靠熱氣流柱長距離翱翔。或者它們可能是爆發式飛行者，只飛夠遠逃離危險。我們
What happened after launch is more of a mystery. They might have soared long distances on columns of hot air. Or maybe they were burst flyers who just traveled far enough to escape danger. We
不知道它是不是翱翔專家。我們不知道因為我們不知道翅膀的形狀。我們沒有任何一塊巨型阿茲達奇類的翼膜被保存下來。
don't know if it was a soaring specialist or not. We do not know cuz we do not know the wing shape. We have not a single wing membrane preserved for a
我們甚至沒有大型阿茲達奇類的翼膜保存下來，更別說真正大的了。
giant azarid. We don't even have a wing membrane preserved for a big azar kid, much less a really big one.
這只是他們不知道的開始。他們不知道它們飛行時怎麼握腿，或者它們是否會一起工作。他們不知道它們的顏色。他們不知道它們的
That's just the start of what they don't know. They don't know how they held their legs during flight or whether they would have worked together. They don't know their colors. They don't know their
聲音或它們如何試圖吸引配偶。
sounds or how they tried to impress their mates.
但他們知道巨大的飛行爬行動物在7000多萬年前生活在幾乎每個大陸。他們可以看到它們的大致形狀、它們如何移動，以及
But they know that giant flying reptiles lived on almost every continent more than 70 million years ago. They can see their general shape, how they moved, and
它們吃什麼。他們知道幾乎肯定還有更多化石等待被發現。
what they ate. and they know that there are almost certainly more fossils to be found.
非常感謝Lexi McQueen作為我們的菲爾德博物館通訊員並在Patreon上支持HowTtown。今天的會員將獲得我與Mark Witton訪談的一些額外材料，
Huge thanks to Lexi McQueen for being our Field Museum correspondent and for supporting HowTtown on Patreon. Today members will get a little bonus material from my interview with Mark Whitten
他會告訴我們他對侏羅紀公園電影的看法。最深的感謝給Alfred P. Sloan基金會和獨立媒體倡議，他們幫助Howtown起步。
where he tells us what he thinks about the Jurassic Park movies. And our deepest thanks to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Independent Media Initiative who helped Howtown get up and
Sloan基金會正在提升公眾對現代科學和技術的理解。
running. The Sloan Foundation is enhancing public understanding of science and technology in the modern era.
好的，這就是今天的內容。
點擊句子跳轉到對應位置
Before we started this channel, Adam and I did some googling to find out what people were searching for after How do they know? That's how I found this post
在我們開始這個頻道之前，Adam和我做了一些Google搜尋，想知道人們在「他們是怎麼知道的？」這個問題後在搜尋什麼。這就是我如何找到這篇貼文的。
on Reddit. It was talking about Prehistoric Planet, the BBC series that uses CGI to give dinosaurs the planet Earth treatment. This is Prehistoric Planet. The poster just really wanted to
它在Reddit上。在討論《史前星球》，BBC的那個用CGI給恐龍做地球脈動式處理的系列。這就是《史前星球》。發文者只是真的很想
know how they know these things. So, I got comfy, turned on the show, and in episode three, I fell in love. A giant terasaur, Helaxus.
知道他們是怎麼知道這些事情的。所以，我舒服地坐下來，打開節目，在第三集，我愛上了一種巨大的翼龍。
Look at that majestic, bizarre creature. Terasaurs are technically not dinosaurs, but they lived at the same time, and this was one of the biggest. There aren't any humans
看看那個雄偉、奇異的生物。翼龍技術上不是恐龍，但它們生活在同一時期，而這是最大的之一。《史前星球》裡沒有任何人類
for scale in prehistoric planets, so I called in a favor.
做比例參考，所以我找了個朋友幫忙。
Okay, first impressions. It is really hard to get me and this thing in the same frame. That's Lexi, one of our Patreon members and a friend of the
好的，第一印象。要把我和這東西放在同一個畫面裡真的很難。那是Lexi，我們的Patreon成員之一，也是節目的朋友，
show, standing 5'8 in tall next to the scale model of Kessle Kawatlas at the Field Museum in Chicago. I mean, it's really giraffeike in its height and then
身高5呎8吋，站在芝加哥菲爾德博物館的風神翼龍等比例模型旁邊。我是說，它的高度真的很像長頸鹿，然後
it has this huge head on top. But the evidence that Kettzelquatas really existed in all of its glory. H the only thing that it left behind is this pile
頂部還有這麼大的頭。但證明風神翼龍真正存在過的所有輝煌證據，它留下的唯一東西就是這堆
of bones from its left wing. Okay. So, we don't even have any part of the head here. No part of the head. So, how do they know what it looked like or how it
來自左翼的骨頭。好的。所以，我們這裡連頭部的任何部分都沒有。沒有頭部的部分。那麼，他們是怎麼知道它長什麼樣子或它是怎麼
moved? I called up a bunch of paleontologists to find out how they reconstruct these animals and which parts are basically made up for TV. But before we get to that, I want to quickly
移動的？我聯繫了一群古生物學家，想了解他們如何重建這些動物，以及哪些部分基本上是為電視編造的。但在我們談到那個之前，我想快速
thank the sponsor of today's video, which is Story Blocks. It's a stock library, but they don't just have video.
感謝今天影片的贊助商，Story Blocks。這是一個素材庫，但他們不只有影片。
They have sound effects, music, they have still images, they have After Effects templates, which I think is really handy, and it's all one subscription, right? It's all one price.
他們有音效、音樂、他們有靜態圖片、他們有After Effects模板，我覺得這真的很方便，而且全部都是一個訂閱，對吧？全部一個價格。
So, you don't have to pay peace meal for each asset that you download. So, to get started with unlimited stock media downloads at one set price, go to storyblocks.com/howtown.
所以，你不需要為你下載的每個素材單獨付費。所以，要開始使用一個固定價格的無限素材下載，請前往storyblocks.com/howtown。
or you can just click the link in the description. One of the things that they do is that they recommend music to pair with some of the clips on their site.
或者你可以直接點擊描述中的連結。他們做的事情之一是推薦音樂來搭配他們網站上的一些片段。
And so I've got this cool super zoom clip of Big Bend National Park. And that's where our story begins. Oh, a spectacular discovery being reported by fossil hunters digging in the barren
所以我有這個很酷的大彎國家公園超級變焦片段。這就是我們故事開始的地方。噢，一個驚人的發現正在被報導，化石獵人正在德克薩斯州大彎地區的
flinty soil of the Big Bend region of Texas. And it was so big I thought it was a dinosaur, but the texture of the bone of these terasaurs is different.
堅硬火石土壤中挖掘。它太大了，我以為它是恐龍，但這些翼龍骨頭的質地不同。
That's Douglas Lawson. He found the fossils of the largest flying creature presently known when he was a master student at the University of Texas and he named it Ketzel Katalus Northropai
那是Douglas Lawson。他在德克薩斯大學讀碩士時發現了目前已知最大飛行生物的化石，他把它命名為Quetzalcoatlus Northropai，
after an Aztec god and a designer of military planes. That was early 1970s. I was not born yet, but uh growing up in Texas and in paleontology, it uh kettle
以阿茲特克神和一位軍用飛機設計師的名字命名。那是1970年代初。我那時還沒出生，但在德克薩斯州長大並從事古生物學，風神翼龍
looms large. You must be Mr. Ketzel Colotlas. Yep. Always a pleasure to meet a fellow terasaur.
影響很大。你一定是風神翼龍先生。是的。很高興認識一位同行翼龍。
A team at the Smithsonian was even inspired to build a half-scale model that could actually fly for a 1986 IMAX film.
史密森尼的一個團隊甚至受到啟發，為1986年的IMAX電影製作了一個真正能飛的半比例模型。
But despite the media attention, Lawson ended up leaving paleontology and nobody published a full write up of the fossils until 2021.
但儘管有媒體關注，Lawson最終離開了古生物學，直到2021年才有人發表了化石的完整研究報告。
Brian Andre was part of the team that finally got it done. He's a lifelong terasaur enthusiast. I've tried to see as many terasaurs as I can. In fact, um
Brian Andre是最終完成這項工作的團隊成員。他是一個終身翼龍愛好者。我試圖看盡可能多的翼龍。事實上，
on our honeymoon, my wife suggested going to um Iceland because it they definitely didn't have any terasaurs there that I could go and take a look at. Um his 150 page report described two
在我們的蜜月旅行中，我太太建議去冰島，因為那裡肯定沒有任何我可以去看的翼龍。他的150頁報告描述了兩種
kettzlequatus species. The big one known from these wing bones from two individuals plus some other fragments that are suspected to belong to the species and a smaller one kettle loani
風神翼龍物種。大的那種只從這些翼骨中得知，來自兩個個體，加上一些其他被懷疑屬於這個物種的碎片，還有一種較小的Quetzalcoatlus Lawsoni，
which was compiled from a much larger number of specimens found 40 km away from the giant. And he mapped out their place in the terasaur family tree. This
是從離巨型那種40公里外發現的更大數量的標本中匯編的。他還繪製了它們在翼龍家族樹中的位置。這條
line is the meteorite that wiped them all out. And right up to the end there's Ketzel Katlas part of a group called the Ashdarkids.
線是滅絕它們的隕石。而就在末期，有風神翼龍，屬於一個叫做阿茲達奇類的群體。
Where does that come from? It feels sort of Tolkenesque or something. I believe it is Persian in its roots. Persian.
這個名字從哪來的？聽起來有點像託爾金風格。我相信它的根源是波斯語。波斯語。
Okay. When you find a humorous of a a dark, you're like, that's an Azarid humorous. I know it like the back of my hand. Like, how do they If I saw that,
好的。當你發現一個阿茲達奇類的肱骨時，你會說「那是阿茲達奇類的肱骨。我對它瞭如指掌。」你們是怎麼知道的？如果我看到那個，
I'd be like, that could be a triceratops for all I know. You know what's I mean when you read the papers they basically describe every ratio possible on all of
我會說「就我所知那可能是三角龍的」。你知道嗎，當你讀這些論文時，他們基本上描述了所有這些骨頭上所有可能的比例，
these bones and they are looking for bumps and little features and they put this all in a big data matrix table and if it you know has enough things in
他們在尋找凸起和小特徵，他們把這些全部放進一個大數據矩陣表，如果它與其他阿茲達奇類有足夠多的共同點，
common with other ajarids they can then infer the sort of evolutionary relationships between them. As darkids are toothless with long limbs, but the strangest thing about them is their
他們就可以推斷它們之間的進化關係。阿茲達奇類是無齒的，有長肢，但它們最奇怪的是它們
stretched out neckbones. This one was found in Jordan in the 1940s. It's so long that for decades they didn't realize that it was part of a neck. That
拉長的頸骨。這個是1940年代在約旦發現的。它太長了，幾十年來他們都沒有意識到它是頸部的一部分。那
seems so weird because you you see like if you look at I think I'm thinking about other things with long necks or a whale. You know, you see whale vertebrae
看起來很奇怪，因為你看，如果你看其他有長脖子的東西或鯨魚。你知道的，你經常看到鯨魚椎骨，
all the time or at least you do on the on the West Coast and uh they're they just look like giant versions. And so they're like the little discs that just
至少在西海岸是這樣，它們看起來就像是放大版的。所以它們就像那些堆疊的小圓盤，
stack, right? And this does not look like a little disc. No, it's it's quite unusual.
對吧？而這個看起來不像小圓盤。不，它相當不尋常。
As dark giants have been found all over the world. Aaron Borgania in Jordan, Hatsyopter in Romania, Cryodracon in Canada, and Thanoos Dracon in Argentina.
阿茲達奇類巨人在世界各地都有發現。約旦的Arambourgiania，羅馬尼亞的Hatzegopteryx，加拿大的Cryodracon，還有阿根廷的Thanatodracon。
They were the largest flying animals the world has ever seen. But they're also known from just a handful of bones.
它們是世界上有史以來最大的飛行動物。但它們也只從少數骨頭中得知。
And there's a reason for that. Let me take this. This is a box. This is more or less how we would expect the terasaur bone to be, especially the wing
這是有原因的。讓我拿這個。這是一個盒子。這基本上就是我們預期翼龍骨頭的樣子，特別是翼
bones or leg bones. So they have a thin layer and sometimes the sediments because they are so heavy, they will just crush the bones. So many fossils
骨或腿骨。所以它們有一層薄薄的，有時候沉積物因為太重，就會把骨頭壓碎。所以很多化石
are very flattened. When we have a 3D preservation, we're going to see much better on the bones. The Kzel Katlas fossils are 3D, so already that's rare.
都非常扁平。當我們有3D保存時，我們能在骨頭上看到更多細節。風神翼龍的化石是3D的，所以這已經很罕見了。
But it's worth dwelling a bit more on the journey that these bones took over the past 70 million years. First, cats needed to die without being destroyed by other carnivores. You want these things
但值得多想一下這些骨頭在過去7000萬年經歷的旅程。首先，風神翼龍需要在沒有被其他食肉動物破壞的情況下死亡。你希望這些東西
to be kind of as preserved as quickly as possible, and part of that is burial.
盡可能快地被保存，而其中一部分就是埋葬。
Rapid burial is preferred. a river needed to overflow pretty quickly, pick it up and carry it to a quiet spot where it could sink and be buried by sand. And
快速埋葬是首選。一條河需要很快氾濫，把它撿起來帶到一個安靜的地方，在那裡它可以沉下去被沙子埋住。而且
so he got um well, they got deposited by the movement of sediment through the river. It had to spend thousands of years undisturbed while the minerals in the groundwater filled up the pores in
所以它被河流的沉積物運動沉積了。它必須在地下水中的礦物質填滿骨頭孔隙並把它變成石頭的同時，不受乾擾地度過數千年。
the bone and turned it to stone. And millions of years later, tectonic shifts needed to lift up the section of rock containing the fossil. I can't tell you
數百萬年後，板塊移動需要把包含化石的那部分岩石抬升起來。我無法告訴你
how much rock was originally on top of Katzoqualis at its maximum amount. I just know that eventually it got down to zero when we took it out. The timing of
最初在風神翼龍上面有多少岩石。我只知道當我們把它取出來時，最終它變成了零。侵蝕的
that erosion needed to be just right, too slow and Ketzel Quatlas could still be buried today. But if the erosion was too fast, then the fossil would disintegrate before Doug Lawson could
時機也需要恰到好處，太慢的話風神翼龍今天可能還被埋著。但如果侵蝕太快，那化石會在Doug Lawson能
spot it or perhaps even before the evolution of a primate that could do science. And so you just need a lot of things to kind of line up. So really to
發現它之前就分解了，或者甚至在一種能做科學的靈長類進化之前。所以你只需要很多事情排列起來。所以真的要
fossilize anything, but especially to find something big in a river, it was Yeah, it was amazing that it ever happened at all.
讓任何東西變成化石，特別是在河裡找到大東西，是的，它能發生真的很神奇。
So we love the fossils. We're grateful for the fossils. But how do you get from this to this? And why are experts so sure that these older depictions are wrong?
所以我們喜愛這些化石。我們感謝這些化石。但你怎麼從這個變成這個？為什麼專家們如此確定這些舊的描繪是錯的？
First, there are some things you can say about all terasaurs. We know from fossils that they laid soft shell eggs.
首先，有些事情你可以說適用於所有翼龍。我們從化石中知道它們產軟殼蛋。
Many had fuzzy bodies, and it's reasonable to guess that as darks did, too. And all terasaurus had the same type of wing. So, here's my hand. Um, terasaurus don't have this finger.
許多有毛茸茸的身體，合理猜測阿茲達奇類也是這樣。所有翼龍都有同樣類型的翅膀。所以，這是我的手。翼龍沒有這根手指。
Forget about it. But they have four fingers. So, I have um like one bone here, two bones here, and several smaller bones here. They also they do as well.
忘了它吧。但它們有四根手指。所以，我這裡有一根骨頭，這裡兩根骨頭，這裡有幾根較小的骨頭。它們也有。
We all have this elongated bones in our palms and in their cases sometimes the elongated bones could be very very large. And then we go to the fingers themselves. So they had like three
我們的手掌裡都有這些拉長的骨頭，在它們的情況下，有時候拉長的骨頭可以非常非常大。然後我們來到手指本身。所以它們有三根
smaller fingers that look like claws and the fourth bone was very very long. So that's completely different from any other animal that has ever lived on Earth. That really long finger held up
較小的手指看起來像爪子，第四根骨頭非常非常長。所以那與地球上任何其他活過的動物完全不同。那根非常長的手指撐起
the fleshy membrane that made up their wing. all terasaurs had it. But if you don't zero in on closer relatives, you're going to get some things wrong.
構成它們翅膀的肉質膜。所有翼龍都有。但如果你不把焦點放在更近的親戚上，你會弄錯一些事情。
So in the 70s when they found caves quiteless, they had some some big terasaurs to look at, but they um they didn't have any a darkis to scale it up
所以在70年代他們發現風神翼龍時，他們有一些大型翼龍可以參考，但他們沒有任何阿茲達奇類可以用來放大。
from. So they were assuming very very long wings because that's what other large terasaurs had at the time. It had a wing spread of 51 ft, greater than the
所以他們假設非常非常長的翅膀，因為那是其他大型翼龍當時的樣子。它的翼展有51呎，比
height of a fivetory building. When we found better a dark wing material, we realized, oh, actually the end of the wing is quite truncated. And so you suddenly bring that estimate down. Mark
五層樓建築還高。當我們發現更好的阿茲達奇類翅膀材料時，我們意識到，哦，實際上翅膀末端相當截短。所以你突然把那個估計降下來了。Mark
Witten is a paleontologist and paleo artist who consulted on prehistoric planet. Before he draws a giant terasaur, he has to build out its skeleton using clues from other Azdarids
Witton是一位古生物學家和古生物藝術家，為《史前星球》做過諮詢。在他畫一隻巨大翼龍之前，他必須用其他阿茲達奇類的線索來構建它的骨架，
like Ketzel Quatlas Loeni, the smaller terasaur from Texas for which there is a partial skull and Xi Jang Opterus, a flattened but nearly complete ajarid found in China in the 1980s. When you
比如Quetzalcoatlus Lawsoni，那個較小的德克薩斯翼龍，有部分頭骨，還有西江翼龍，一個1980年代在中國發現的扁平但幾乎完整的阿茲達奇類。當你
look at the specimen, when you look at photographs of it, the fossilization has not been kind to those bones and it's it's a little bit of a mess. Uh but it
看這個標本時，當你看它的照片時，化石化過程對那些骨頭不太友善，有點亂。但它
was very important to me as an artist looking to reconstruct terasaurs because it did give us things like the the length of the torso which wasn't it's not information we have from any other
對我作為一個想要重建翼龍的藝術家來說非常重要，因為它確實給了我們像軀幹長度這樣的東西，這是我們從任何其他
aid. Scaling up from its smaller cousins gives you a kettlequatless head that's around 2 1/2 m long. Here's Victor Wanyyama for scale.
阿茲達奇類那裡得不到的資訊。從它較小的表親放大得到的風神翼龍頭部大約2.5公尺長。這是Victor Wanyama做比例參考。
Does it make sense to just extrapolate in that way to just be like, well, the head to neck ratio is going to be the same for these two species or the head
這樣外推有意義嗎？就像說，好吧，這兩個物種的頭部和頸部比例會相同，或者頭部
to, you know, humorous ratio is going to be because I can imagine like at some point it's like a head just gets too big no matter what is attached to it. I was
和肱骨的比例會相同，因為我可以想像在某個時候一個頭就是太大了，不管它連接什麼。我也
wondering that too and there's a couple reasons why they think that this is the right ballpark. One is that there are a couple of skull bones from Hatsigopterics and they really do
在想這個問題，他們認為這是正確範圍有幾個原因。一是Hatzegopteryx有幾塊頭骨骨頭，它們確實
justify a huge head for that giant at least. The other argument they make is that terasaur body frames are generally conservative in the sense that within a family of terasaurs you don't see
證明那個巨人至少有一個巨大的頭。他們提出的另一個論點是翼龍的身體框架通常是保守的，意思是在一個翼龍家族中你不會看到
drastically different proportions from one to the next. So they had big heads.
從一個到下一個的比例有劇烈的不同。所以它們有大頭。
Exactly how big, we're not sure, but they were big. So yeah, you know, for giant terasaurs, um, as with many other giant prehistoric animals, we are having
具體多大，我們不確定，但它們很大。所以是的，你知道，對於巨型翼龍，和許多其他巨型史前動物一樣，我們正在
to to to um I wouldn't say speculate necessarily, but we are definitely extrapolating a lot. And and that that's, you know, that's if if we're being 100% honest. There's no way of
不得不——我不會說是猜測，但我們肯定在外推很多。而且那是，你知道的，如果我們100%誠實的話。沒有辦法
knowing exactly what we're doing is correct at the minute until we get more specimens. In the meantime, paleontologists are really resourceful.
知道我們做的是否正確，直到我們得到更多標本。同時，古生物學家真的很有創造力。
We didn't kill the alligator just for our purposes. It's very important to say that all those animals we studied, they were already going to be euthanized.
我們不是為了我們的目的殺死鱷魚的。非常重要的是要說，我們研究的所有那些動物，它們本來就要被安樂死了。
It's a method called phoggenetic bracketing. Birds and crocodilians are the only surviving arcosaurs and they share their common ancestor with terasaurs. So, if there are soft tissues that both birds and alligators have,
這是一種叫做種系發生支架法的方法。鳥類和鱷類是唯一倖存的主龍類，它們與翼龍共享共同祖先。所以，如果有鳥類和鱷魚都有的軟組織，
it's likely that terasaur had them, too. When Tissa and her colleague dissected birds, they saw this rough patch on a certain part of their neckbones. They found it in the alligator, too. It's
翼龍很可能也有。當Tissa和她的同事解剖鳥類時，他們在頸骨某個部位看到這個粗糙的區域。他們在鱷魚身上也發現了。這是
where this ligament connects the vertebrae, like an elastic band. When they looked at Anes Darkid's neckbones, they found those same rough patches at the top of the neck and toward the
韌帶連接椎骨的地方，像彈力帶。當他們看阿茲達奇類的頸骨時，他們在頸部頂端和底部發現了同樣的粗糙區域，
bottom, but not in the middle. That's a hint that its neck was stiff in the middle, not bendy like this older documentary suggested.
但中間沒有。這暗示它的頸部中間是僵硬的，不像這個舊紀錄片暗示的那樣可以彎曲。
A lot of birds kind of curl up to sleep.
很多鳥類睡覺時會蜷縮起來。
How how would it how would it as dark would they just be like on the ground just like ah well yeah why not right why not that neck wasn't well suited for
那阿茲達奇類怎麼會——它們會不會就躺在地上像是啊好吧為什麼不呢對吧為什麼不那個頸部不太適合
fishing while flying instead when the researchers modeled the rest of the dark's neck muscles by looking for those rough patches on the bones and then checking them against the birds and the
飛行時捕魚，相反當研究人員通過尋找骨頭上的粗糙區域然後與鳥類和
alligator they see a neck that was built for craning down by bending here grabbing prey off the ground and springing back up to swallow it So their study focused on a smaller
鱷魚對比來模擬阿茲達奇類的其他頸部肌肉時，他們看到一個專為向下伸展、在這裡彎曲、從地面抓住獵物然後彈回吞下的頸部，所以他們的研究專注於一個較小的
ardid. But there's another big clue that tells us about the lifestyle of the giants.
阿茲達奇類。但還有另一個重要線索告訴我們關於巨人們的生活方式。
Are those footprints? They're footprints. Exciting. The way that they know that these are as dark footprints.
那些是腳印嗎？是腳印。興奮。他們知道這些是阿茲達奇類腳印的方式。
I don't even want to say that they know that. The reason they think that is that they don't know of anything else big enough to have made them. And they
我甚至不想說他們知道那個。他們這麼認為的原因是他們不知道還有什麼東西大到能留下這些。而且它們
correlate in time with the period that as darkets were active. And the dotted line you see right here is kind of the midline. And what this showed was that
在時間上與阿茲達奇類活躍的時期吻合。你在這裡看到的虛線是中線。這表明
they were really had their legs and arms underneath them. So they're quite upright, right? They're sort of like as opposed to like Yes. sort of clmping around like we saw in those early
它們的腿和手臂真的在身體下方。所以它們相當直立，對吧？它們有點像——而不是像我們在早期
videos, they're more like sleekly, which is a more efficient way to move, of course. And the other thing that they can see is a very like particular walking style. The footprints actually
影片中看到的那樣笨拙地移動，它們更流暢，這當然是更有效的移動方式。他們能看到的另一件事是一種非常特別的行走方式。腳印實際上
are dropped down in front of the handprints. So what that tells us is that when the animal is walking, they have to move both sets of limbs on one
落在手印前面。所以這告訴我們當動物行走時，它們必須同時移動身體一側的兩組肢體，
side of the body at a time and then nor do the other ones. You've seen this before in giraffes and camels. It helps them avoid tripping over themselves.
然後再移動另一側。你以前在長頸鹿和駱駝身上見過這個。這幫助它們避免被自己絆倒。
So, all signs point to giant as darks hunting on land and being surprisingly comfortable walking, which makes you wonder how much were these guys actually flying. For that, I reached out to
所以，所有跡象都指向巨型阿茲達奇類在陸地上捕獵並且出人意料地舒適地行走，這讓你想知道這些傢伙實際上飛行多少。為此，我聯繫了
Michael Khabib, who has spent a bunch of time modeling terasaur flight with software. Is there any debate about whether these largest terasaurs could fly? There is not much serious debate, I
Michael Khabib，他花了很多時間用軟體模擬翼龍飛行。關於這些最大的翼龍是否能飛有任何爭論嗎？沒有太多嚴肅的爭論，我
would say. He told me that when birds become flightless, that tends to change the skeleton in obvious ways. One of the things you would expect to have to
會說。他告訴我，當鳥類變得不會飛時，這往往會以明顯的方式改變骨架。你會預期必須發生的事情之一是繼續讓骨頭更強壯。
happen would be to continue to get your bones stronger.
你會開始加厚骨壁。
All right? You would start to thicken up the bone walls. What the big terasaur are doing is the opposite of that.
對吧？你會開始加厚骨壁。大型翼龍做的是相反的事。
They're making the diameters mega huge and the bone walls very, very thin. In order to get into the air, he says that they would have needed to use their
它們讓直徑巨大而骨壁非常非常薄。為了飛上天空，他說它們需要用飛行肌肉起飛，這意味著用前肢四足跳躍起飛。
flying muscles for takeoff, which meant a quadripedal vault off the forlims.
起飛後發生的事更像是個謎。它們可能靠熱氣流柱長距離翱翔。或者它們可能是爆發式飛行者，只飛夠遠逃離危險。我們
What happened after launch is more of a mystery. They might have soared long distances on columns of hot air. Or maybe they were burst flyers who just traveled far enough to escape danger. We
不知道它是不是翱翔專家。我們不知道因為我們不知道翅膀的形狀。我們沒有任何一塊巨型阿茲達奇類的翼膜被保存下來。
don't know if it was a soaring specialist or not. We do not know cuz we do not know the wing shape. We have not a single wing membrane preserved for a
我們甚至沒有大型阿茲達奇類的翼膜保存下來，更別說真正大的了。
giant azarid. We don't even have a wing membrane preserved for a big azar kid, much less a really big one.
這只是他們不知道的開始。他們不知道它們飛行時怎麼握腿，或者它們是否會一起工作。他們不知道它們的顏色。他們不知道它們的
That's just the start of what they don't know. They don't know how they held their legs during flight or whether they would have worked together. They don't know their colors. They don't know their
聲音或它們如何試圖吸引配偶。
sounds or how they tried to impress their mates.
但他們知道巨大的飛行爬行動物在7000多萬年前生活在幾乎每個大陸。他們可以看到它們的大致形狀、它們如何移動，以及
But they know that giant flying reptiles lived on almost every continent more than 70 million years ago. They can see their general shape, how they moved, and
它們吃什麼。他們知道幾乎肯定還有更多化石等待被發現。
what they ate. and they know that there are almost certainly more fossils to be found.
非常感謝Lexi McQueen作為我們的菲爾德博物館通訊員並在Patreon上支持HowTtown。今天的會員將獲得我與Mark Witton訪談的一些額外材料，
Huge thanks to Lexi McQueen for being our Field Museum correspondent and for supporting HowTtown on Patreon. Today members will get a little bonus material from my interview with Mark Whitten
他會告訴我們他對侏羅紀公園電影的看法。最深的感謝給Alfred P. Sloan基金會和獨立媒體倡議，他們幫助Howtown起步。
where he tells us what he thinks about the Jurassic Park movies. And our deepest thanks to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Independent Media Initiative who helped Howtown get up and
Sloan基金會正在提升公眾對現代科學和技術的理解。
running. The Sloan Foundation is enhancing public understanding of science and technology in the modern era.
好的，這就是今天的內容。