Amateur Fossil Hunters Make Rare Find in U.K.

 

業餘化石獵人在英國有了罕見發現

【摘要2021.8.1.自由】◎黃靖媗

Millions of years before the Cotswolds, in western England, became a popular vacation destination, it was a shallow, warm sea, home to a Jurassic marine ecosystem.

在英格蘭西部科茲窩成為熱門度假勝地的數百萬年前，它是一片淺而溫暖的海域，也是侏羅紀海洋生態系的家鄉。

Over 167 million years later, two amateur paleontologists, Neville and Sally Hollingworth, uncovered fossils in a limestone quarry there, the largest find of Jurassic starfish and their relatives ever to be made in Britain.

在1.67億年後，兩名業餘古生物學家內維爾與莎莉．霍林沃斯，在石灰採石場中挖掘出化石，這是在英國發現的最大一批侏羅紀海星及其親屬。

More than 1,000 scientifically significant specimens were unearthed at an undisclosed location during a three-day excavation in June, London’s Natural History Museum said.

倫敦自然歷史博物館表示，在6月的3天挖掘中，於一處未公開地點，出土了超過1000件具有科學意義的標本。

The find by the Hollingworths, a husband-and-wife team, includes three new species and an entire ecosystem of echinoderms. Fossils of such animals are extremely rare because they have fragile skeletons that are not often preserved.

霍林沃斯夫婦團隊發現3個新物種與1個完整的棘皮動物生態系統。這類動物的化石極為罕見，因為牠們具有脆弱的骨骼，很少被保存下來。

新聞辭典

amateur：形容詞，業餘的、非職業的。例句：The amateur cyclist wins gold at Tokyo Olympics.（這名業餘自行車選手在東京奧運贏得了金牌。）

uncover：動詞，挖掘出、發現。例句：Some scientists uncovered the seasonality of COVID-19.（一些科學家發現了武漢肺炎的季節性。）

quarry：名詞，採石場、（知識、資料的）泉源。