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One of the most famous cases of extinction is that of a bird known as the dodo.
最著名的灭绝案例之一是一种名为渡渡鸟的鸟类。
In fact there's even a saying in English, 'as dead as the dodo', used to refer to something which no longer exists.
事实上，英语中甚至有一句谚语，‘as dead as the dodo（失势；不再走红）’，用来指那些已不复存在的东西。
But for many centuries the dodo was alive and well, although it could only be found in one place, the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
虽然渡渡鸟只存在于一个地方——印度洋的毛里求斯岛，但是渡渡鸟也曾健康地生存了许多个世纪。
It was a very large bird, about one metre tall, and over the centuries it had lost the ability to fly, but it survived happily under the trees that covered the island.
这是一种体型非常庞大的鸟，大约一米高，几个世纪以来，它已经失去了飞行的能力，但它在长满树木的岛屿上快乐地生存了下来。
Then in the year 1507 the first Portuguese ships stopped at the island.
在1507年，第一批葡萄牙船只在该岛停靠。
The sailors were carrying spices back to Europe, and found the island a convenient stopping place where they could stock up with food and water for the rest of the voyage, but they didn't settle on Mauritius.
水手们当时正把香料运回欧洲，他们发现这个岛便于中途停留，他们可以在那里为剩下的航程储备食物和水，但他们没有在毛里求斯定居下来。
However, in 1638 the Dutch arrived and set up a colony there.
然而，在1638年，荷兰人来到岛上，并在那里建立了殖民地。
These first human inhabitants of the island found the dodo birds a convenient source of meat, although not everyone liked the taste.
这些首批在岛上定居的人发现虽然并不是每个人都喜欢渡渡鸟的味道，但它们是很易得的肉类来源。
It's hard to get an accurate description of what the dodo actually looked like.
很难准确地描述渡渡鸟到底长什么样子。
We do have some written records from sailors, and a few pictures, but we don't know how reliable these are.
我们确实有一些水手记录的笔记和绘制的画，但我们不知道这些描述的可信度。
The best-known picture is a Dutch painting in which the bird appears to be extremely fat, but this may not be accurate - an Indian painting done at the same time shows a much thinner bird.
最著名的一幅画是荷兰的一幅画，画中的鸟看起来非常胖，但这可能并不准确，因为在同一时期画的一幅印度画中的鸟就要瘦很多。
Although attempts were made to preserve the bodies of some of the birds, no complete specimen survives.
尽管有人试图保存一些渡渡鸟的尸体，但样本都不完整。
In the early 17th century four dried parts of a bird were known to exist - of these, three have disappeared, so only one example of soft tissue from the dodo survives, a dodo head.
在17世纪早期，有四块干燥的渡渡鸟碎片被保留下来，其中的三块已经消失，所以只有一块渡渡鸟头部的软组织样本被保留了下来。
Bones have also been found, but there's only one complete skeleton in existence.
人们也发现了一些渡渡鸟的骨骼，但却只有一副完整的骨骼。
This single dodo skeleton has recently been the subject of scientific research which suggests that many of the earlier beliefs about dodos may have been incorrect.
这副渡渡鸟骨架最近成为科学研究的主题，这表明许多早期关于渡渡鸟的看法可能是不正确的。
For example, early accounts of the birds mention how slow and clumsy it was, but scientists now believe the bird's strong knee joints would have made it capable of movement which was not slow, but actually quite fast.
例如，早期对这种鸟的描述提到了它行动十分缓慢和笨拙，但科学家如今认为，依靠强壮的膝关节，渡渡鸟的活动并不缓慢，相反还十分迅速。
In fact, one 17th century sailor wrote that he found the birds hard to catch.
事实上，一位17世纪的水手在笔记中写道，他发现渡渡鸟很难捕捉。
It's true that the dodo's small wings wouldn't have allowed it to leave the ground, but the scientists suggest that these were probably employed for balance while going over uneven ground.
确实，渡渡鸟的翅膀很小，不能飞离地面，但科学家认为，它们的翅膀可能是在穿越不平坦的地面时用来保持平衡的。
Another group of scientists carried out analysis of the dodo's skull.
另一组科学家对渡渡鸟的头骨进行了分析。
They found that the reports of the lack of intelligence of the dodo were not borne out by their research, which suggested the bird's brain was not small, but average in size.
他们发现，他们的研究不能证明有关渡渡鸟智力不足的报道，该研究表明渡渡鸟的大脑并不小，而是中等大小。
In fact, in relation to its body size, it was similar to that of the pigeon, which is known to be a highly intelligent bird.
事实上，就头身比例来看，渡渡鸟的比例与鸽子相似，众所周知，鸽子是一种非常聪明的鸟类。
The researchers also found that the structure of the bird's skull suggested that one sense which was particularly well-developed was that of smell.
研究人员还发现，这种鸟的头骨结构表明，其嗅觉尤其发达。
So the dodo may also have been particularly good at locating ripe fruit and other food in the island's thick vegetation.
因此，渡渡鸟也可能特别擅长在岛上茂密的植被中寻找成熟的水果和其他食物。
