“第一只巨兽”现身

Meet The “First Giant”

Some dinosaurs1 were as long as three school buses！ These dinosaurs， called sauropods （蜥脚类恐龙）， had very long necks. They were the biggest animals ever to live on land. Now scientists have found a new kind of dinosaur that lived before the biggest sauropods. It was smaller than they were， but it was still really big. The scientists named it “First Giant”.

How did “First Giant” get so big？ The scientists found it had extra2 air in its body. This air helped it breathe and stay cool. The biggest sauropods had extra air too， but “First Giant” had something they did not. There were times in its life when it grew very quickly. Dinosaurs had many ways to become big！

“第一只巨獸”现身

一些恐龙的长度能够媲美三辆校车！这些巨兽属于蜥脚类恐龙，有较长的脖子，也是目前陆地上出现过的体型最大的动物。近日，科学家们发掘出一具新的恐龙化石，更新了巨型恐龙出现的最早时间。这只恐龙的体型不如家族其他成员大，科学家将其命名为“第一只巨兽”。

巨型恐龙是如何能够长到如此巨大的呢？研究人员发现，它们的身体中存在额外的气囊，可以为这种庞然大物提供更多氧气，并使其保持较低体温。目前已知的蜥脚类恐龙都有类似的构造，但“第一只巨兽”的发现还为科学家们提供了更多证据。这种恐龙的骨骼化石表明，它们会像树木一样周期性、季节性地生长，即在一段时间内快速生长，然后停止。看来，恐龙们进化体型的方式有很多。

（Coocoo / 编译）

Have you heard？

If you love dinosaurs， you are living at the right time. People are finding dinosaur bones all over the world. About once a week， people discover bones from a new kind of dinosaur.

研究小背景

如果你是恐龙爱好者，那可真是生对了时代。如今世界各地都在不停出土新的恐龙骨骼化石，频率几乎高达每周一次。