洞穴顶部的脚印显示恐龙“蹲伏行走”穿过一个泥泞的湖泊

洞穴顶部的脚印显示恐龙“蹲伏行走”穿过一个泥泞的湖泊

Footprints embedded in the roof of the Mount Morgan caves in Queensland reveal the dinosaur that made them was crouching as it walked. Rather than stalking prey, it seems the ancient beast was just trying to stay upright in tricky conditions.

昆士兰摩根山洞穴的屋顶上嵌有脚印，这表明恐龙在走路的时候是蹲着的。这头远古的猛兽并不是在跟踪猎物，而是试图在复杂的环境中保持直立。

The roofs of at least nine caves around Mount Morgan have preserved dinosaur footprints made in what was once a muddy lake, including the most diverse set of tracks in eastern Australia. To palaeontologists' frustration, the caves have been shut for a decade, not only to the public but to researchers as well.

摩根山周围至少有9个洞穴的屋顶上保存着曾经是一个泥泞湖的恐龙脚印，包括澳大利亚东部最多样化的脚印。令古生物学家沮丧的是，这些洞穴已经关闭了10年，不仅是对公众，对研究人员也是如此。

Stephen Luntz

Dr Anthony Romilio of the University of Queensland made a breakthrough in understanding these tracks through a chance meeting with the daughter of Ross Staines, who documented them before the closure. Using detailed records that had sat for decades in a family cupboard Romilio recently resolved a long-standing mystery about one set of prints. Publicity about that announcement yielded a second discovery when the Mount Morgan Historical Museum informed Romilio they had photographs taken in a different part of the cave system before it was shut.

昆士兰大学的Anthony Romilio博士通过与Ross Staines的女儿的一次偶然会面，在了解这些足迹方面取得了突破。罗米里奥使用了家族橱柜中保存了几十年的详细记录，最近解决了一组指纹的长期谜团。当摩根山历史博物馆通知罗密里奥，在关闭之前，他们已经在洞穴系统的另一个部分拍了照片，关于这个公告的宣传产生了第二个发现。

Now, Romilio has analyzed the tracks in these photographs, publishing his findings in Historical Biology.

现在，Romilio分析了这些照片中的轨迹，并将他的发现发表在《历史生物学》杂志上。

These footprints show the dinosaur that made them was putting its weight on its whole feet, not just its toes, indicating it was crouching. Mount Morgan Historical Museum

Dinosaurs like the ones that made these prints usually walked on their toes, Romilio told IFLScience, but the prints maker's whole feet were in contact with the ground. By watching surviving dinosaurs such as emus and storks, as well as evidence from footprints elsewhere, scientists have concluded a flat-footed stance equates to holding a crouching position.

Romilio告诉IFLScience，制造这些脚印的恐龙通常是用脚趾走路的，但脚印制造者的整只脚都是与地面接触的。通过观察现存的恐龙，如鸸鹋和鹳，以及其他地方的脚印，科学家们得出结论，扁平足的姿势等同于蹲着。

When this has been seen elsewhere it was usually from apparently stationary animals, possibly guarding their eggs. Some dinosaurs may have crouched like tigers to pounce on prey, but Romilio said in a statement, “You can rule out predatory stalking behavior, as this set of tracks was made by a two-legged plant eater called an ornithopod.”

当这种情况在其他地方出现时，它通常来自于明显静止不动的动物，可能是为了保护它们的蛋。有些恐龙可能会像老虎一样蹲着扑向猎物，但罗米里奥在一份声明中说，“你可以排除食肉性跟踪行为，因为这一系列的足迹是由一种叫做鸟脚亚目食肉恐龙的两腿食草动物留下的。”

Nor was the maker ducking beneath trees. Instead, Romilio thinks the most likely explanation is the ornithopod was keeping its center of mass low for maximum stability on a slippery mud plain. “Interestingly, this crouching dinosaur was taking bigger steps than other ‘normal’ walking dinosaurs,” he added.

造物主也没有躲到树下。相反，罗米里奥认为最可能的解释是，为了在湿滑的泥地平原上获得最大的稳定性，鸟脚亚目恐龙一直保持着较低的重心。“有趣的是，这种蹲伏的恐龙比其他‘正常’行走的恐龙迈出了更大的一步，”他补充道。

The track-maker was probably the same species, and perhaps even the same individual, as the one responsible for the larger tracks from Romilio's previous discovery. Romilio told IFLScience the maker of the prints has been given the name Anomoepus, but has not been matched to a specific species known from bones or teeth. Similar, if usually slightly smaller, prints are widespread across Queensland and beyond, indicating Anomoepus was once reasonably common and survived much of the Jurassic.

这个轨迹制造者很可能是同一物种，甚至可能是同一个体，与之前罗米尼奥发现的更大轨迹的制造者是同一物种，甚至可能是同一个体。罗密里奥告诉《科学》杂志，这些脚印的制造者被命名为“反常兽”，但还没有与骨骼或牙齿上已知的特定物种相匹配。类似的，尽管通常稍小一些，但在昆士兰州及其它地区分布广泛，这表明异常动物曾经相当普遍，并在侏罗纪时期存活了下来。

Romilio hopes to one day study the caves directly, or at least send in a drone. As long as they remain closed, however, he'd love to hear from anyone with further mislaid records.

罗米里奥希望有一天能直接研究这些洞穴，或者至少送一架无人机过去。不过，只要他们不对外开放，他很乐意听到任何有更多遗失记录的人的消息。