An ancient fossil found by a girl and her father on a beach in England belongs to a creature that might have been among the largest animals ever on Earth.

一个女孩和她的父亲在英国的海滩上发现了一块古老的化石，它可能曾经是地球上最大的动物之一。

Researchers said in a recent study that the fossilized bone, called a surangular, was from a reptile called an ichthyosaur that lived in the sea.

研究人员在最近的一项研究中表示，这块骨骼化石来自一种名叫鱼龙的爬行动物，这种爬行动物生活在海洋中。

Based on its size, compared to the same bone in closely related ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the creature was between 22 and 26 meters long.

根据它的大小，与近亲鱼龙的同一根骨头相比，研究人员估计这种生物的长度在22到26米之间。

They named it Ichthyotitan severnensis.

他们把它命名为海龙鱼。

That would make it possibly the largest known marine reptile.

这将使它可能成为已知最大的海洋爬行动物。

Its size would be close to the largest whales alive today.

它的大小将接近今天存活的最大的鲸鱼。

The blue whale, considered the largest animal ever to have lived, can reach about 30 meters in length.

蓝鲸被认为是有史以来最大的动物，可以达到大约30米长。

Marine reptiles lived in the world's oceans at the same time that dinosaurs lived on the land.

恐龙生活在陆地上的时候，海洋爬行动物也生活在世界海洋中。

Ichthyosaurs disappeared 90 million years ago.

鱼龙在9000万年前消失了。

They came in several sizes.

它们有好几种大小。

The creatures ate fish and other sea animals.

这些生物以鱼和其他海洋动物为食。

Ichthyotitan, however, is known only from two jawbones.

然而，人们只从两块颌骨中了解到鱼龙。

The jaw forms the lower part of the mouth.

下巴形成了嘴巴的下部。

Ruby Reynolds and her father Justin Reynolds found one of the bones in 2020 at Blue Anchor in Somerset.

鲁比·雷诺兹和她的父亲贾斯汀·雷诺兹于2020年在萨默塞特郡的蓝色锚地发现了其中一块骨头。

The other bone is from a different Ichthyotitan individual found in 2016, along the Somerset coast at Lilstock.

另一块骨头来自2016年在利尔斯托克萨默塞特海岸发现的另一种鱼类·。

Dean Lomax was the lead writer of the study published recently in PLOS ONE.

迪安-洛迈斯是最近发表在《公共科学图书馆·综合》上的这项研究的主要作者。

Lomax said, "It is quite remarkable to think that gigantic, blue whale-sized ichthyosaurs were swimming in the oceans around the time that dinosaurs were walking on land in what is now the UK (Britain) during the Triassic Period."

洛马克斯说：“令人惊讶的是，在三叠纪，恐龙在陆地上行走时，蓝鲸大小的巨型鱼龙正在海洋中游泳。

The Triassic Period describes a time over 200 million years ago.

三叠纪描述的是2亿多年前的时间。

Ruby Reynolds was 11 at the time she and her father discovered the fossil surangular bone on the beach.

鲁比·雷诺兹11岁的时候，她和她的父亲在海滩上发现了这块骨骼化石。

Ruby continued to search the area and found a second piece - much larger than the first - partly buried in the ground.

鲁比继续在该地区进行搜索，发现了第二块--比第一块大得多--部分埋在地下。

They then contacted Lomax, an ichthyosaur expert, and more parts of the bone were unearthed.

然后他们联系了鱼龙专家洛马克斯，发现了更多的骨骼部分。

Ruby's part in the discovery has led to comparisons with Mary Anning.

鲁比参与了这一发现，这让人将其与玛丽·安宁相提并论。

Anning was a 19th century British fossil hunter who, among other things, discovered ichthyosaur fossils when she was 12.

安宁是一位19世纪的英国化石猎人，她在12岁时发现了鱼龙化石。

"I think Mary Anning was an incredible paleontologist, and it's amazing to be compared to her," Ruby said.

鲁比说：“我认为玛丽·安宁是一位令人难以置信的古生物学家，我很吃惊能和她相提并论。”

Justin Reynolds added, "It has been an amazing and fun experience to work with these experts, and we are proud to be part of the team and co-authors of a scientific paper which names a new species and genus."

贾斯汀·雷诺兹补充道：“这是一场令人惊叹的比赛，与这些专家一起工作是一次有趣的经历，我们很自豪能够成为团队的一员，并成为一篇科学论文的共同作者，这篇论文命名了一个新的物种和属。”

Fossil collector Paul de la Salle found the 2016 remains now identified as Ichthyotitan.

化石收集者 保罗 德拉萨尔发现了2016年的遗骸，现在被确认为鱼人。

The big marine reptile was a member of a family of giant ichthyosaurs called Shastasauridae.

这种大型海洋爬行动物是被称为沙龙科的巨型鱼龙家族的成员。

These creatures lived 13 million years later than other ichthyosaurs.

这些生物比其他鱼龙生活得晚1300万年。

They survived until a world-wide event caused many kinds of animals to disappear about 201 million years ago at the end of the Triassic Period.

它们幸存了下来，直到大约2.01亿年前的三叠纪末期，一场世界性的事件导致多种动物消失。

No other fossils from Ichthyotitan have been discovered.

到目前为止，还没有发现其他的鱼龙化石。

But the researchers have been able to guess at its appearance based on other members of its family, including Shonisaurus from British Columbia, Canada.

但是，研究人员已经能够根据其家族的其他成员，其中包括加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省的湘龙来猜测它的外形。

Study co-writer Jimmy Waldron used the term humbled – meaning to be made to feel less important or proud – to describe the discoveries.

这项研究的合著者吉米·沃尔德隆用谦卑一词来描述这些发现--意思是让人觉得自己不那么重要或不那么自豪。

Waldron said, "Discoveries like this create incredible moments where we become humbled at our size and place in the world.

沃尔德隆说：“像这样的发现创造了令人难以置信的时刻，让我们对自己的体型和在世界上的地位感到谦卑。”

I'm John Russell.

我是约翰·拉塞尔。