New species dominate fossil news.
新物种主导化石新闻。
A new dinosaur is named about every two weeks, for example, and that’s to say nothing of the millions and millions years filled with organisms that we are just getting to know.
例如，大约每两周就会有一只新的恐龙被命名，更不用说我们刚刚认识的充满了数百万年生物体的新恐龙。
But anatomical novelty is only part of the story.
但解剖学上的新奇只是故事的一部分。
Each newly-discovered species becomes another thread in the history of life, interwoven with many others.
每一个新发现的物种都成为生命史上的另一条线，与许多其他物种交织在一起。
Where a species existed in space and time can be just as important as what it looks like or what it’s related to.
一个物种在空间和时间中存在的位置可能与它的外观或与之相关的东西一样重要。
Consider a fossil marine reptile found in Alaska.
考虑在阿拉斯加发现的一种海洋爬行动物化石。
Thalattosaurs don’t enjoy the same press as Mesozoic celebrities like ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.
地中海龙不像鱼龙和蛇颈龙这样的中生代名人享有相同的媒体。
These creatures make up just one of many unusual reptile lineages that took to the seas during the Triassic, between 251 and 200 million years ago, but didn’t survive past the end of the period.
这些生物只是三叠纪期间进入海洋的许多不寻常的爬行动物谱系之一，三叠纪期间，也就是251到2亿年前，但这些爬行动物并没有在这一时期结束后幸存下来。
And even though it’s not clear who their closest relatives are, thalattosaurs looked something like pointy-snouted lizards that paddled around relatively warm waters near the shore.
尽管目前还不清楚它们的近亲是谁，但地中海龙看起来有点像尖吻蜥蜴，它们在海岸附近相对温暖的水域里划桨。
Gunakadeit joseeae, named by paleontologist Patrick Druckenmiller and colleagues, kept similar habits, and was one of the last of its kind.
古生物学家帕特里克·德鲁肯米勒(Patrick Druckenmiller)及其同事命名的Gunakadeit joseeae保持着类似的习惯，是同类中最后的一种。
Gunakadeit - a Tlingit word for sea monster - stands out partly because of how much of the first individual’s skeleton made it into the fossil record.
Gunakadeit(海怪的一个Tlingit词)脱颖而出，部分原因是第一个人的骨骼有多少进入了化石记录。
This particular species is “the first articulated and substantially complete thalattosaur fossil from North America,” the researchers write, consisting of a skull and most of the rest of the body.
研究人员写道，这个特殊的物种是“第一个来自北美的有关节的和基本完整的地中海恐龙化石”，由头骨和身体的大部分组成。
Parts of the tail and the ends of the limbs are missing, but, even with these lost pieces, the thalattosaur is exceptional.
部分尾巴和四肢末端丢失了，但是，即使有这些丢失的部分，地中海恐龙也是例外。
The fossil is even articulated, the bones more or less in place after burial.
化石甚至被连接起来，骨头在埋葬后或多或少地就位了。
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