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Forty-six million years ago, northwest Montana was a tropical forest of giant ferns, conifers and ginkgos.
距今4600萬年前,蒙大拿西北是一片生長著巨大蕨類植物、裸子植物及銀杏的熱帶森林。
Tiny primates lived there, as did rhinos and horses and crocs.
小的靈長類動物在這里生活,還有犀牛和馬及鱷魚。
Along with some less charismatic creatures: mosquitoes.
而且還有一些并不具魅力的生物:蚊子。
One of those millions of mosquitoes was then blown onto the surface of an ancient lake.
就是這數以百萬計蚊子的其中一只被吹到一種古老湖泊的表面。
Unable to lift off, it eventually sank to the bottom.
由于不能再次振翅而飛,它最終沉入了海底。
And became a fossil.
之后逐漸演變成為化石。
The fossil mosquito was recently found.
而最近這塊蚊子化石被發現。
And analyzed.
經過分析。
Scientists found that its belly contained iron, bound up in a molecule called heme—the compound in blood that carries oxygen.
科學家在其腹部發現含有鐵,組成了一種被稱為亞鐵血紅素的分子，這是一種在血液中攜帶氧氣的化合物。
So it appears this sucker died and fossilized with a bellyful of blood—the only known specimen.
如此看來這家伙是帶著一肚子的血液死后變成化石的—這是唯一已知的標本。
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
該發現已經刊登在《美國國家科學院院刊》上。
Now I know what you're thinking.
現在我知道你正在想什么。
"This fossilized tree sap waited for millions of years, with the mosquito inside.
“這塊里面有只蚊子的化石樹液等待數百萬年。
Until Jurassic Park scientists came along."
直到侏羅紀公園科學家們出現。”
Well, not quite.
嗯,并不完全如此。
DNA breaks down too quickly.
DNA分解非常迅速。
And this skeeter lived 20 million years after dinos went extinct.
而且這蚊子在恐龍滅絕之后又活了2000萬年。
Though researchers say it may have dined on birds--which are, in some sense, blood relatives.
雖然研究人員認為這一物種可能被在某種意義上具有血親關系的鳥當作正餐。
