双语播客《长毛象—冰河巨兽》

Stood about 4 m tall and weighed around 6 tons, woolly mammoths were closely related to modern Asian elephants. But unlike their modern cousins, woolly mammoths had large, curved tusks, which may have been used as weapons as well as digging tools for food from under the snow.

长毛象高约4米，重约6吨，和现今亚洲象的亲缘关系最近。但和现代表亲不同的是，长毛象的象牙巨大且弯曲，除了可以用作武器之外还可以用来挖掘埋藏在积雪下的食物。

To withstand the cold temperatures, woolly mammoths had a thick coat of hair covering their bodies, the longest of which could be up to 1m long. Their ears were tiny, further reducing heat loss. Humps over their shoulders served as fat reserves for harsh times. Like today’s Arctic animals, their blood was better adapted to work in cold climates.

为了御寒，长毛象体表覆盖着厚厚的长毛，其中最长的将近1米。它们的耳朵很小，进一步减少了热量的散失。肩膀上方的驼峰可以用来储存脂肪以备不时之需。和现今生活在极地的动物一样，长毛象的血液系统更加适应寒冷的气候。

As with most of the large animals of the Ice Age, woolly mammoths were thought to have become extinct through a combination of hunting from early humans and climate change. Even though scientists have been able to extract DNA from their frozen carcasses, there’s still a long way to go in bringing these giants back to life.

类似于多数冰河时期的大型动物，长毛象的灭绝被认为是史前人类的猎杀和气候变化共同作用的结果。虽然科学家已经从冰冻保存的长毛象干尸上提取到了它们的DNA，但要成功复活这些巨兽还有很长的路要走。

So, that’s it. I wanna thank you guys as always for listening. Please stay tuned for more, cuz Fantastic Wildlife shall return!

好了，就到这里，感谢收听。更多内容尽在下期《神奇野生动物》！

Key Vocabulary

重点词汇

woolly mammoth /ˈwʊli ˈmæməθ/ n.

长毛象，学名真猛犸象

（Mammuthus primigenius）

Eurasia /juə'reiʃə/ n.

欧亚大陆

tusk /tʌsk/ n.

（大象等的）长牙

hump /hʌmp/ n.

驼峰；圆形隆起物

carcass /ˈkɑːrkəs/ n.

（人或动物的）尸体

图片来源： 改自iceagemovie.com

改自252mya.com

thoughtco.com

改自businessinsider.com

撰文：李峰

音频制作：李峰返回搜狐，查看更多