The Sahara was the most dangerous place on Earth 100 million years ago, according to scientists. A team of international researchers has found that the African desert region was once home to “ferocious predators” including flying reptiles and crocodile-like hunters living in a vast river system. The biggest review in almost 100 years of fossils from Cretaceous rock formations in south-eastern Morocco, known as the Kem Kem Group, has found that three of the largest predatory dinosaurs lived there. These included the sabre-toothed Carcharodontosaurus which was more than 8m long with enormous jaws and long, serrated teeth up to 20cm in length. Also living there was the 8m-long Deltadromeus, a member of the raptor family with long, slender hind limbs, as well as the predatory flying reptiles’ pterosaurs and crocodile-like hunters. Dr. Nizar Ibrahim, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Detroit Mercy and visiting researcher from the University of Portsmouth, said: “This was arguably the most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth, a place where a human time-traveler would not last very long.” Co-author of the report published in the journal ZooKeys, Professor David Martill, from the University of Portsmouth, explained the predators relied on an abundant supply of fish. He explained: “This place was filled with absolutely enormous fish, including giant coelacanths and lungfish. “The coelacanth, for example, is probably four or even five times large than today’s coelacanth. “There is an enormous freshwater saw shark called Onchopristis with the most fearsome of rostral teeth – they are like barbed daggers, but beautifully shiny.”
- Ferocious [/fəˈroʊ.ʃəs/]: 흉포한; 맹렬한, 격렬한 (=savage)
- Predator [pred.ə.tər] : 포식자, 포식 동물
: an animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals
- Predatory [pred.ə.tɔːr.i] : 포식성의, 포식 동물 같은
- Reptile : 파충류
: an animal that produces eggs and uses the heat of the sun to keep its blood warm
- Vast : (범위·크기·양 등이) 어마어마한 [방대한/막대한] (=huge)
- Fossils [fɑː.səl] : 화석의, 화석화된
: the shape of a bone, a shell, or a plant or animal that has been preserved in rock for a very long period
- Cretaceous [krɪˈteɪ.ʃəs] : 백악기의(공룡이 생존하던 1억 4600만 년에서 6500만 년 전의)
: from or referring to the period of time between around 144 and 65 million years ago, in which plants with flowers first appeared
- Formation : 형성, 구성, 성립
: the way something is naturally made or the way it has been arranged
- Sabre-toothed [seɪ.bə.tuːθt] : 검 모양의 송곳니가 있는
- Serrated [səˈreɪ.tɪd]: 톱니 모양의
: having a row of sharp points along the edge
- In length : 길이는, 길이에 있어서
- Raptor : 육식조, 맹금
: a bird, such as an eagle or a hawk, that kills and eats small birds and animals
- Slender : 날씬한, 호리호리한
: thin and delicate, often in a way that is attractive
- Hind limbs : 뒷다리(소,말)
- Arguably : 주장하건대, 거의 틀림없이
- Portsmouth : 영국 남부의 군항(軍港)
- Abundant : 풍부한 (=plentiful)
: more than enough
- coelacanth : 실러캔스
(주로 마다가스카르 인근 해역에서 발견되는 대형 어류. 1938년에 발견될 때까지는 멸종된 것으로 여겨졌음)
- lungfish : 폐어
폐호흡(肺呼吸)을 하는 한 무리의 경골어류(硬骨魚類)의 총칭
- Fearsome : 무시무시한
- Rostral : [동물] 부리[주둥이]의, 주둥이[부리]가 있는
- barbed : 비늘이 있는, 가시가 돋힌
- Dagger : 단도, 단검
뭐랄까 약간 이번 본문은 내가 굳이 이런 단어까지 알아야되는걸까? 라는 생각이 드는ㅋㅋㅋ 마치 동물학자들이나 알법한 전문적인 단어들이 너무 많아서 약간 현타 아닌 현타(?)가 왔지만 그래도 꾹 참고 단어를 정리해보았다. 굉장히 낯설고 생소한 단어들이라서 읽어도 읽어도 진짜 심각하게 입에 안붙음..
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