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Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.
现在来听一段有关你刚刚听到的话题的演讲。
The evidence that the lines in the Sinosauropteryx fossil represent feathers is very strong.
中华龙鸟化石里的线条代表羽毛的证据非常充分。
The arguments of the critics are unconvincing.
批评者们的论据没有说服力。
First, it is unlikely that the lines are a result of the decomposition of the dinosaur's skin,
首先，线条不可能是恐龙皮肤分解的结果，
because we don't see any such decomposition in the fossils of other animals buried at the same site.
因为我们没有发现任何埋在同一地点的其他动物化石上有那样的分解。
In fact, the fossils of many other animals buried at the site show evidence that their functional skin structures have been beautifully preserved in volcanic ash.
事实上，埋在同一地点的其他动物的化石证明他们的功能皮肤结构在火山灰里完美地保存着。
The well-preserved condition of the other fossils makes it likely that the Sinosauropteryx's lines are also well-preserved functional structures,
其他化石保存完好的状态让中华龙鸟的线条也是保存良好的功能性结构成为可能，
possibly feathers, and that they are not fibers caused by decomposition.
也许是羽毛，他们不是分解所产生的纤维。
Second, the idea that the lines represent frills...well, there is an important chemical difference between feathers and frills.
第二，这些线条代表褶边的想法......好吧，在羽毛和褶边之间有一个重要的化学区别。
Feathers contain a great deal of a protein called Beta-keratin.
羽毛含义大量的叫做角蛋白的蛋白质。
Frills, on the other hand, do not contain beta-keratin.
褶边，另一方面，不含义角蛋白。
Our chemical analyses suggest that the Sinosauropteryx structures did contain beta-keratin.
我们的化学分析指出，中华龙鸟结构确实含有角蛋白。
So that indicates that the structures were feathers, not frills.
所以那表明这个结构是羽毛，而不是褶边。
Third, feathers can be used for other functions than flight and thermoregulation.
第三，羽毛除了飞行和调节体温之外还能被用于其他功能。
Think of a bird, like peacock, for example.
想象一种鸟，比如孔雀。
The peacock has long, colorful feathers in its tail.
孔雀的尾巴上有很长的、彩色的羽毛。
And it displays its tail in order to attract a mate.
它展示它的尾巴是为了吸引一个配偶。
That's a distinct function of feathers called the display function.
那是羽毛的一个独特的功能——显示功能。
Recently, we have been able to do analyses on the Sinosauropteryx structures that show us that the structures were colorful.
最近，我们能对中华龙鸟的结构进行分析，那给我们展示了其结构是多彩的。
They were orange and white.
它们是橙白相间的。
The fact that they were colorful strongly supports the idea that they were feathers that this dinosaur use for display.
它们是彩色的这一事实有力地证明了它们是被龙鸟用来展示的羽毛这一观点。
