Nizar Ibrahim: How we unearthed the Spinosaurus
ニザール・イブラヒム: スピノサウルスを発掘するまで
Nizar Ibrahim scours Northern Africa for clues to what things were like there in the Cretaceous period. A 2015 TED Fellow, he has spearheaded the recent search for the semi-aquatic dinosaur Spinosaurus. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
are incredible creatures.
本当にすごい ―
we know about them.
わかっていないんだ」
through my head
my first dinosaur book.
そんな思いがよぎりました
to combine my love for animals
私は 動物への愛情と
far-flung corners of the world.
願いを同時に実現できました
I've led several expeditions
発掘調査を指揮して
on this planet, the Sahara.
サハラ砂漠に何度か出かけています
I've been on a quest
ある恐竜の新たな標本を
a bizarre, giant predatory dinosaur
それはとても奇妙で巨大な肉食恐竜 ―
have been found
エジプトの砂漠で
by a German paleontologist.
約100年前の記録があります
were destroyed in World War II.
第二次世界大戦中にすべて破壊されました
a few drawings and notes.
数点のスケッチとメモだけです
about 100 million years ago,
この恐竜は
forming a magnificent sail,
立派な帆になっていたことです
a bit like a crocodile,
to catch slippery prey, like fish.
捕えていたのかも知れません
all we knew
わかることは ほぼそれだけでした
between Morocco and Algeria,
モロッコとアルジェリアの国境地帯の
and snakes and scorpions,
対処しなくてはならない上に
good fossils there.
in this part of the Sahara.
predatory dinosaurs,
of crocodile-like hunters.
7〜8種類の捕食動物も発見しました
in a river system.
川底の跡に堆積していました
to a giant, car-sized coelacanth,
自動車サイズのシーラカンスや
were filled with pterosaurs,
to travel to if you had a time machine.
行こうとは思わないでしょう
incredible fossils of animals
共に生きた様々な生物の
to be very elusive.
とても大変でした
a partial skeleton at some point.
発見したいと願っていました
several bones of Spinosaurus.
発掘場所を突き止めたのです
we collected more bones.
さらに骨を発掘しました
had another partial skeleton
とうとう この奇妙な生物の
Spinosaurus had a head
predatory dinosaurs,
came from the rest of the skeleton.
骨格の他の部分にありました
足の骨も見つかっています
dinosaur has feet like this --
こんな足の恐竜は他にいません
used to walk on soft sediment,
microstructure of the bone,
very dense and compact.
コンパクトなことがわかりました
that spend a lot of time in the water,
よく見られる特徴で
control in the water.
役立ちます
and built a digital Spinosaurus skeleton.
スピノサウルスの骨格をデジタル化しました
at the digital skeleton,
違うことに気づきました
a dinosaur unlike any other.
written all over it,
物語っています
"water-loving" written all over it --
水中に適していたことは明白です
and the hind limbs are reduced in size,
小さな後ろ脚 ―
we see in animals
of time in the water.
and wrapping our dinosaur in skin --
皮膚で覆っていくにつれて
with a river monster,
まさに川の怪物だとわかってきました
I showed you earlier on.
捕食していたことがわかったのです
an incredible discovery.
this is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.
「これは一生に一度の大発見だ
to discover in the world."
それほど多くないだろう」
further from the truth.
かけ離れていると思います
still full of treasures,
no places left to explore,
言う人には 有名な恐竜ハンター
Roy Chapman Andrews,
言葉を贈ります
an adventure just around the corner --
すぐ近くに冒険があるし
まだ無数にある」
wrote these lines.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nizar Ibrahim - PaleontologistNizar Ibrahim scours Northern Africa for clues to what things were like there in the Cretaceous period. A 2015 TED Fellow, he has spearheaded the recent search for the semi-aquatic dinosaur Spinosaurus.
Why you should listen
Paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim, a postdoc at the University of Chicago, wanted to uncover the mystery of the Spinosaurus, a gigantic predatory dinosaur whose only known remains were lost during World War II. After identifying a new skeleton at a dig in North Africa, Ibrahim made the landmark conclusion that the Spinosaurus may have been the largest carnivorous dinosaur to ever live. Its crocodile-like head, dense bones, short legs, and wide, paddle feet suggest it was a water dweller unlike any other. “The entire skeleton has water-loving river monster written all over it,” he says.
Ibrahim is a TED Fellow and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer.
Nizar Ibrahim | Speaker | TED.com