乌干达出土古灵长类化石

时间：2011-08-03 07:23:14

（单词翻译:单击）

Researchers working in Uganda say they have unearthed¹ the well-preserved fossil skull² of an ancient primate³.

乌干达研究人员称，他们挖掘出了保存完好的古灵长类动物头骨。

The researchers say the skull belongs to a creature called Ugandapithecus major
The 20 million-year-old specimen⁴ comes from the site of an extinct volcano in Uganda's north-east Karamoja region.

The scientists say preliminary analysis showed the tree-climbing herbivore（食草动物） was roughly 10 years old when it died.

The skull is about the same size as that of a chimp⁵, but its brain was smaller.

"It is a highly important fossil and it will certainly put Uganda on the map in terms of the scientific world," Martin Pickford, a palaeontologist（古生物学家） from the College de France in Paris, told journalists in Kampala.

Dr Pickford and his colleague Brigitte Senut say the fossil skull belonged to a creature they call Ugandapithecus major.

Professor Senut, a professor at the French National Museum of Natural History said that the remains⁶ would be taken to Paris to be X-rayed and documented before being returned to Uganda.

"It will be cleaned in France, it will be prepared in France... and then in about one year's time it will be returned to the country," she said.

The remote and arid⁷ region（干旱地区） of Karamoja is one of the least developed in Uganda.

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1 unearthed
出土的（考古）
参考例句：
Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。 Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

2 skull
n.头骨；颅骨
参考例句：
The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。 He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

3 primate
n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的
参考例句：
14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。 The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

4 specimen
n.样本，标本
参考例句：
You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。 This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

5 chimp
n.黑猩猩
参考例句：
In fact,the color of gorilla and chimp are light-color.其实大猩猩和黑猩猩的肤色是较为浅的。 The chimp is the champ.猩猩是冠军。

6 remains
n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹
参考例句：
He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。 The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 arid
adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的
参考例句：
These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。 There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。