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Scientists have discovered one of the largest turtles on record.
科学家发现了有史以来最大的海龟之一。
The turtle, about the size of a small car, lived in Europe 83 million years ago.
这种海龟生活在8300万年前的欧洲，大约有一辆小汽车那么大。
Researchers recently described remains discovered in northeastern Spain.
研究人员最近描述了在西班牙东北部发现的海龟遗骸。
The remains belonged to a turtle named Leviathanochelys aenigmatica.
这些遗骸属于一种神秘的利维坦巨龟。
It was about 3.7 meters long.
它大约有3.7米长。
It lived during the Cretaceous Period - the final time in the age of the dinosaurs.
它生活在白垩纪——恐龙时代的最后一纪。
It is Europe's biggest-known turtle.
它是欧洲已知的最大的海龟。
The ancient turtle was much larger than today's largest turtle - the leatherback, which can reach 2 meters long.
这种古代海龟比当今最大的海龟——棱皮龟要大得多，棱皮龟体长可达2米。
Leviathanochelys nearly matched the largest turtle on record - Archelon, which lived roughly 70 million years ago and reached about 4.6 meters long.
利维坦巨龟几乎与有史以来最大的海龟——古海龟不相上下，古海龟生活在大约7000万年前，长约4.6米。
"Leviathanochelys was as long as a Mini Cooper while Archelon was the same size as a Toyota Corolla," said study co-writer Albert Sellés of the Institut Català de Paleontologia (ICP).
该研究的合著者、古生物研究所的阿尔伯特·塞莱斯说：“利维坦巨龟和迷你库珀一样长，而古海龟和丰田卡罗拉一样大”。
Leviathanochelys swam in dangerous waters.
利维坦巨龟在危险的水域中游泳。
Its predators include mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, large water creatures up to 15 meters in length.
它的捕食者包括沧龙和蛇颈龙，都是身长可达15米的大型水生动物。
Other nearby predators were sharks and rays.
附近的其他捕食者是鲨鱼和鳐鱼。
"Attacking an animal of the size of Leviathanochelys possibly only could have been done by large predators in the marine context.
“在海洋环境中，只有大型捕食者才可能攻击像利维坦巨龟这样大小的动物。
At that time, the large marine predators in the European zone were mainly sharks and mosasaurs," said Oscar Castillo, a student at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and lead writer of the study that was published in Scientific Reports.
当时，欧洲地区的大型海洋捕食者主要是鲨鱼和沧龙，”巴塞罗那自治大学的学生奥斯卡·卡斯蒂略说，他是这项研究的主要作者，该研究发表在《科学报告》上。
Castillo said during the Creataceous, marine turtles had increased body sizes.
卡斯蒂略说，在白垩纪时期，海龟的体型变大了。
Leviathanochelys and Archelon could have been the biggest examples in this process.
利维坦巨龟和古海龟可能是这一时期最大的例子。
"The reason for this increase in body size" might have been "predatory pressures," Castillo said.
卡斯蒂略说，“体型增大的原因”可能是“捕食压力”。
But, he added, there might have been other causes at work.
但他还说，可能还有其他原因在起作用。
Other large turtles from Earth's past include Protostega and Stupendemys, both reaching about 4 meters long.
其他来自地球过去的大型海龟包括原盖龟和地纹骇龟，它们都可以长到大约4米长。
Protostega was a Cretaceous sea turtle that lived about 85 million years ago near modern North America.
原盖龟是一种白垩纪的海龟，大约8500万年前生活在现代的北美附近。
Stupendemys lived about 7-13 million years ago during the Miocene Epoch near modern South America.
在大约700-1300万年前的中新世时期，地纹骇龟生活在现代的南美洲附近。
Scientists found the Leviathanochelys remains near the village of Coll de Nargó in Catalonia's Alt Urgell area.
科学家在加泰罗尼亚阿尔特厄格尔地区的Coll de Nargó村附近发现了利维坦巨龟的遗骸。
A hiker in the Southern Pyrenees mountains saw the bones partially covered by the ground.
一名在比利牛斯山南部徒步的旅行者看到了部分被土壤覆盖的骨头。
To date, researchers have found parts of the back of the shell, and most of the pelvic area, but no skull, tail or limbs.
到目前为止，研究人员已经发现了部分龟背和大部分骨盆区域，但没有发现头骨、尾巴和四肢。
The bones suggest the creature had a smooth shell similar to leatherback turtles, with the shell itself about 2.35 meters long and 2.2 meters wide.
这些骨骼表明，这种生物的壳很光滑，类似于棱皮龟，壳本身长约2.35米，宽约2.2米。
Leviathanochelys appears built for the open ocean, returning to land only rarely - for instance to lay eggs.
利维坦巨龟似乎是为远洋而生的，它们很少返回陆地——例如产卵。
The presence of a couple of bony areas on the front side of the pelvis differs from any other known sea turtle, suggesting that Leviathanochelys represents a newly discovered lineage – a scientific term meaning series of organisms connected by a continuous line of descent.
骨盆前侧有几个多骨区，这与其他已知的海龟都不同，这表明利维坦巨龟代表了一个新发现的谱系——这是一个科学术语，意思是一系列由连续的血统联系在一起的生物。
The findings suggest large sizes in marine turtles developed independently in separate Cretaceous lineages in North America and Europe.
研究结果表明，在北美和欧洲不同的白垩纪谱系中，独立发育的海龟体型较大。
Leviathanochelys aenigmatica means "enigmatic leviathan turtle" owing to its large size and the curious shape of its pelvis that the researchers suspect was related to its breathing system.
由于利维坦巨龟体型巨大，骨盆形状奇特，研究人员怀疑这与它的呼吸系统有关，因此Leviathanochelys aenigmatica的意思是“神秘的利维坦巨龟”。
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
