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Archaeopteryx
始祖鳥
Scientists have determined that Archaeopteryx,the earliest known bird,was definitely birdbrained,meaning no disrespect.
科學家已經確定，已知最古老的鳥類始祖鳥的確是鳥的腦子，這么說并不是對它不敬。
Indeed, they consider the fossil's brain size decisive evidence that Archaeopteryx had what it took to fly.
確實，他們把這種化石的腦部尺寸作為有力的證據來說明始祖鳥擁有使其飛翔的東西。
The new research suggests, moreover,that birds probably started flying millions of years earlier than scientists previously thought.
而且，新的研究揭示鳥類可能比科學家先前認為的時間早幾百萬年就開始飛翔。
It is just that fossils of those first flying birds—predecessors of Archaeopteryx-have never been found.
只是那些最早的能飛行的鳥—始祖鳥的祖先—的化石尚未被發現。
The researchers, at the Natural History Museum in London,based their findings on the first X-ray examination and reconstruction of the braincase and inner ear of a 147-million-year-old Archaeopteryx specimen.
倫敦自然歷史博物館研究人員的發現是基于1.47億歲的始祖鳥標本的腦殼和內耳的首次X光檢查和重建之上的。
They found that in size, shape and volume,its brain was similar to that of the modern eagle or sparrow.
他們發現在大小，形狀和容量方面，它的腦與現代的鷹或麻雀相似。
Measurements of the semicircular canals,the mechanism for balance inside the ear,showed that Archaeopteryx had the "neurological and structural adaptations necessary for flight,"the scientists concluded.
科學家總結道，對這種鳥的耳內控制平衡的機制半規管的測量顯示，始祖鳥擁有了“為了飛翔所必需的神經的和結構的相應改造”。
Their research,involving an X-ray computed tomography scan, or C.T.,of the fossil's braincase and inner ear,is described today in the journal Nature.
他們所做的關于華碩顱骨和內耳的X光電腦斷層掃描或者叫做CT掃描的研究登在《自然》雜志上。
Previous studies of the feathered wing and tail of Archaeopteryx and its birdlike anatomy,including a pronounced wishbone,supported the prevailing view of experts that it was capable of some degree of powered flight.
之前關于始祖鳥帶羽毛的翅膀，尾巴以及它類似鳥類骨骼的研究，支持專家們公認的觀點，即它能做某種程度的動力飛行。
Archaeopteryx is considered a prime transitional species in the evolution of some reptiles,probably dinosaurs, into today's birds.
始祖鳥被認為是從某些爬行動物，也許是恐龍，到今天鳥類的演變中重要的過渡物種。
But the research team, led by Dr. Angela Milner,a paleontologist at the British museum,wrote that until their investigation of Archaeopteryx,"little was understood about the extent to which its brain and special senses were adapted for flight."
但是由大英博物館古生物學家杰拉米爾納博士領導的研究團隊寫道:直到他們研究始祖鳥，對于始祖鳥的腦和特殊感覺因應飛行而發生了何種程度的改變的認識尚知之甚少。
Dr. Milner said the new study not only established that Archaeopteryx was capable of "controlling the complex business of flying,"but also showed "how much there is still to discover about when and how bird flight began."
米爾納博士講到，新的研究不僅顯示始祖鳥能夠控制飛行這樣一種復雜的事，而且顯示出海洋多少官員鳥類何時和怎樣開始飛行的事情尚未發現。
In a statement issued by the museum,Dr. Milner said,"If flight was this advanced by the time Archaeopteryx was around,then were birds actually flying millions of years earlier than we'd previously thought?"
在博物館編寫的綜述中，米爾納博士寫到，如果出現始祖鳥的時候飛行就已經到了如此高級的階段，那么鳥類是否實際上比我們先前考慮的時間還要早數百萬年就飛行了呢？
