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The ancient bones of a distant ancestor of the modern giraffe are offering scientists evidence about why the animal's long neck developed.
现代长颈鹿远祖的古老骨骼为科学家提供了长颈鹿长脖子进化的证据。
Scientists say these fossils, which were discovered in China, suggest a long neck was helpful for competitions between males.
科学家表示，这些在中国发现的化石表明，长脖子有助于雄性长颈鹿之间的竞争。
Researchers recently described the fossils including a thick skull, or bones of the head, and strong neck bones.
研究人员最近描述了这些化石，包括厚实的头骨（即头部的骨骼）以及强壮的颈骨。
They belonged to an early member of the giraffe family called Discokeryx xiezhi.
它们属于长颈鹿家族的早期成员，名叫獬豸盘角鹿。
The creature lived about 17 million years ago in the Xinjiang area in northwestern China.
这种生物大约在1700万年前生活在中国西北部的新疆维吾尔自治区。
Discokeryx's solidly-built skull and strong neck bones were well adapted to high-speed head-to-head crashes.
獬豸盘角鹿坚固的头骨和结实的颈骨很好地适应了高速头对头相撞的竞争。
They were like competitions seen among males of some mammal species for female mates, the researchers said.
研究人员表示，这就像某些哺乳动物雄性之间为了争夺雌性配偶而竞争一样。
They explained that Discokeryx had the most complex neck bones of any mammal.
他们解释说，在所有哺乳动物中，獬豸盘角鹿拥有最复杂的胫骨。
This was the case for joints between the head and neck as well as between the individual neck bones.
头部和颈部之间的关节以及各个颈骨之间的关节也是如此。
Discokeryx means "disc-horn," while xiezhi is a single-horned creature in traditional Chinese stories.
Discokeryx的意思是“圆盘角”，而獬豸在中国传统故事中是一种独角生物。
Discokeryx's skull had a large round-shaped and thick bone structure known as ossicone.
獬豸盘角鹿的头骨有一个巨大的圆形的厚骨结构，被称为长颈鹿角。
That is the name for the horn-like objects on the top of giraffe's heads.
这是长颈鹿头顶上的角状物体的名字。
Shi-Qi Wang Wang, lead writer of the study published in Science, said, "Ossicones, like horns and antlers, usually serve as weapons for males fighting for mates."
这项发表在《科学》杂志上的研究的主要作者王世骐说：“长颈鹿角就像鹿角一样，通常是雄性为争夺配偶的武器。”
Study co-writer Jin Meng said the traditional idea about why modern giraffes have such long necks is that long necks are useful for eating tree leaves.
该研究的合著者孟津说，关于现代长颈鹿为什么有这么长的脖子的传统观点是，长脖子对吃树叶很有用。
"Discokeryx most likely ate grasses," Meng explained.
孟津解释说：“獬豸盘角鹿很可能吃草”。
Meng added, "This new finding shows that, in the giraffe family, members do different things in their early evolution.
孟津还说：“这一新发现表明，在长颈鹿家族中，各个成员在其早期进化过程中会做不同的事情。
The new species represents an extreme example in which the neck ... becomes very thick to absorb the power and impact from powerful head-butting."
这个新物种代表了一个极端的例子，在这个例子中，脖子变得非常厚，以吸收激烈的头部碰撞产生的力量和冲击力。
Another idea about giraffe neck evolution--one supported by Discokeryx's bone structure--is that neck lengthening was driven by behavior shown in competition for mates like the "necking" seen in giraffes today.
关于长颈鹿脖子进化的另一种观点——这一观点由獬豸盘角鹿的骨骼结构得以论证——进化成和如今的长颈鹿一样长的脖子是由争夺配偶的行为驱动的。
In such competitions, males violently strike each other with their necks.
在这样的竞争中，雄性长颈鹿会用脖子猛烈地撞击对方。
Longer-necked males often win these fights.
脖子较长的雄性长颈鹿通常会赢得这些战斗。
"If a male giraffe has a shorter neck, then the female may refuse the mating request of the male," Wang said.
王世骐说：“如果雄性长颈鹿的脖子较短，那么雌性长颈鹿可能会拒绝雄性长颈鹿的交配请求。”
Neck lengthening, or elongation, independently evolved among several animal groups hundreds of millions of years ago.
脖子变长是数亿年前在一些动物群体中独立进化出来的。
Discokeryx, the researchers said, may offer information about the early developments of giraffe neck lengthening that took place over millions of years.
研究人员表示，獬豸盘角鹿可能提供了数百万年来长颈鹿脖子变长的早期进化信息。
Discokeryx, however, took a different evolutionary path specialized for head-butting.
然而，獬豸盘角鹿却走了一条不同的进化道路，专门用于头部碰撞。
It is not considered a direct ancestor of today's giraffe, but rather a side development of the giraffe family.
人们认为它不是现代长颈鹿的直系祖先，而是长颈鹿家族的旁系。
The modern giraffe, found in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, is the world's tallest living land animal.
在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲发现的现代长颈鹿是世界上现存的最高的陆地动物。
Males can grow up to 5.5 meters tall and females up to 4.3 meters tall.
雄性长颈鹿可以长到5.5米高，雌性长颈鹿可以长到4.3米高。
A giraffe's neck, stretching about 1.8 meters, has just seven neck bones like other mammals.
长颈鹿的脖子长约1.8米，和其他哺乳动物一样只有7块颈骨。
Discokeryx lived in open grasslands with small groups of trees during a time known as the Miocene period.
在第三纪中新世时期，獬豸盘角鹿生活在开阔的长有小片树木的草原上。
It lived alongside ancient elephants, rhinos, pigs, deer, and horses.
它与古代的大象、犀牛、猪、鹿和马生活在一起。
Predators at the time included saber-toothed cats, hyenas and a member of a mammalian group called "dog bears"--a creature as big as a modern polar bear.
当时的掠食者包括剑齿虎、鬣狗和一种名为狗熊的哺乳动物——一种与现代北极熊一样大的生物。
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！
