媒體英語會帶大家一起學(xué)習(xí) BBC 撰稿人在報(bào)道世界大事時(shí)常用到的單詞和短語。

在俄羅斯西伯利亞地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)的一組最新的恐龍化石表明恐龍羽化現(xiàn)象可能比原來科學(xué)家們想象中更早而且更普遍。這項(xiàng)研究已在《科學(xué)》雜志中發(fā)表。 請聽 BBC 記者 Pallab Ghosh 發(fā)回的報(bào)道。

The creature was about a metre long with a short snout, long hind legs, short arms and five strong fingers. Until now, fossilised evidence of feathery dinosaurs has come from China, and from a meat-eating group called theropods.

The latest discovery – in Russia – is from a completely separate group of plant-eating dinosaurs called ornithischians.

The new find takes the origin of feathers millions of years further back in time than had previously been thought. And, according to the researchers, completely changed ideas about how dinosaurs evolved.

Instead of thinking of them as dry, scary scaly creatures, a lot of species, especially when very young, actually had a fluffy, downy covering like feathers on a chick, they say. And did so when dinosaurs first emerged.