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Titanoboa, which measured up to 45 feet long, was the world"s longest ever snake. This gigantic boa constrictor- like snake lived 60 million years ago in what is now northern Colombia. Based on a fossil find reported this week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, University of Florida researchers now think its prey included a 6 to 7-foot-long distant relative of crocodiles.泰坦莽体长可达45英尺，是目前已知的世界上最长的蛇。6千万年前，这种类似于莽的巨蛇生活在现在的哥伦比亚北部。根据本周发表在《脊椎动物古生物学期刊》的一篇关化石研究报告，弗洛里达大学的研究人员们认为，泰坦莽的猎物（甚至）包括一种身长为6到7英尺的鳄鱼类的远亲。 Remains of the croc-like animal were found close to the imposing snake. It"s the first ever crocodyliform to be identified from the site, the Cerrejon Formation.
在巨蛇的化石旁边，研究人员还发现了一种和鳄鱼类似的生物的化石。这是首次从塞雷洪地层发现鳄形目的生物。 “We’re starting to flesh out the fauna that we have from there,” said lead author Alex Hastings, a graduate student at the Florida Museum and UF’s department of geological sciences.
该报告的主要撰写人叫亚历克黑斯廷斯，他是一名地质学超滤专业的学生，目前在佛罗里达州博物馆工作。他说，“我们正试着（根据化石）还原我们在那里发现那里的生物。” Hastings thinks the newly identified species, named Cerrejonisuchus improcerus, would"ve been easy pickings for Titanoboa.
哈斯汀认为，这种新发现的、命名为“Cerrejonisuchus improcerus"的生物，是不会被泰坦莽轻而易举捕食的。 Although Cerrejonisuchus is not directly linked to modern crocodiles, it was an important member of South American rainforest ecosystems, according to Jonathan Bloch, a Florida Museum vertebrate paleontologist and associate curator.佛罗里达州博物馆的古脊椎动物和副馆长布洛赫说，虽然它与现在的鳄鱼没有什么直接的联系，但却是南美热带雨林生态系统中的重要成员。 “Clearly this new fossil would have been part of the food-chain, both as predator and prey,” said Bloch, who co-led the fossil-hunting expeditions to Cerrejon with Smithsonian paleobotanist Carlos Jaramillo. “Giant snakes today are known to eat crocodylians, and it is not much of a reach to say Cerrejonisuchus would have been a frequent meal for Titanoboa. Fossils of the two are often found side-by-side.”布洛赫曾与古植物学家斯史密森、卡洛哈拉米略共同到塞雷琼寻找化石。“显然，如果能活到现在的话，无论是从作为捕食者还是被捕食者的角度来看，这种生物肯定是食物链中的一环。”他说，“如今，我们知道，大型的蛇类会以鳄鱼类为食。而泰坦莽和这种新发现的生物的化石经常是在一起被发现的，（因此）判断泰坦莽把它当成家常便饭是顺理成章的。” Today"s anacondas, for example, are known to gulp down caimans in the Amazon. Titanoboa could"ve swallowed such toothy prey as though it were an appetizer.比如，据说在亚马逊河一带，水莽会一口吞下一只凯门鳄。但泰坦莽不可能把它这样牙齿发达的生物当作开胃菜一口吞下。 Cerrejonisuchus improcerus had a fairly short snout, especially for the Dyrosauridae, a family of now-extinct crocodyliforms to which it belonged. Based on its anatomy, the scientists suspect it ate frogs, lizards, small snakes and possibly certain mammals.
这种新发现的生物的鼻子稍短，特别是相对于它所属的、现在濒临灭绝的鳄形目生物来说。根据对它的解剖分析，科学家们认为它可能以青蛙、蜥蜴、蛇为食，很可能也吃一些哺乳动物。
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