第二幅图显示的羽毛形状与现代鸟类羽毛相似。
The second picture shows one similar in shape to those sported by modern birds.
年轻的鸟相似女性，但是褐色鸟类羽毛看起来有鳞。
Young birds resemble the female, but the brown plumage looks scaly.
于是他和他的同事对那些已经灭绝的鸟类羽毛的化石做了显微观察。
He and his colleagues made a microscopic inspection of fossils of feathers from extinct birds.
现代鸟类羽毛由成千上万束靠细钩聚拢在一起的纤维构成。
Modern feathers consist of thousands of fibres held together by tiny hooks.
这是一个案件有点钝的适用范围古老的格言，鸟类羽毛羊群在一起。
This is a case of a somewhat obtuse application of the old adage, Birds of a feather flock together.
在温带，通常的鸟类羽毛都是灰褐色的，而翠鸟不同于它的那些北美亲属，它美得让人眼花缭乱。
In the world's temperate zones, where drab plumage is the norm, this kingfisher, unlike its North American cousins, bedazzles.
他们发表在《科学》杂志上的研究成果，建立了曾经存在于古代鸟类羽毛中的色素的化学指纹图谱。
Their study, published in the journal Science, revealed the chemical fingerprint of pigments that once tinted the ancient bird's feathers.
BMP12是一组控制哺乳动物毛发和鸟类羽毛密度的蛋白质，它的主要作用是减缓羽毛的生长。
BMP12 is one of a group of proteins that control the density of hair in mammals and feathers in birds. In the case of BMP12, it slows down the growth of such features.
这次研究成果，不仅指出了黑色素分子是鸟类羽毛的化学组分中固有的成分，还说明这些成分可以完美地保存1亿2000万年。
This revealed, not only that the dark pigment molecules were an intrinsic part of the chemical matrix of the birds' feathers, but that they were perfectly preserved for up to 120 million years.
镶嵌在琥珀中的羽毛似乎是更具观赏性，而非功能性：同一个团队的早前研究发现，来自该样品的鸟类与今天的鸟类羽毛类似。
The encased plumage seems to be ornamental rather than functional: Previous research by the same team found that birds from this sample's era had similar feathers to those of birds today.
因为鸟类羽毛和爬行动物的鳞片都包含黑素体——这是一种微小的囊状结构，其中包含了各种各样的黑色素，于是很多古生物学家开始怀疑恐龙羽毛是否也含有黑素体。
Bird feathers and reptile scales contain melanosomes-tiny sacs holding varieties of the pigment melanin. Many paleontologists suspected that dinosaur feathers also contained melanosomes.
甲虫幼虫含有独特的化学成分，从猎食它们的鸟类的羽毛和血液中可以找到这种成分的痕迹。
The beetle larvae have a distinct chemical make-up, which can be traced through the feathers and blood of birds that eat them.
从那开始，剩下的章节都是引人入胜的自然史，以巧妙命名的章节排列：“绒毛”，羽毛如何让鸟类保持温暖而干燥。
From there on, the remaining chapters are captivating natural history, arranged in neatly named sections: "fluff", how feathers keep birds warm and dry.
随着时间的推移，羽毛变得越来越大，扑翼飞行逐渐发展，鸟类最终完全可以在空中飞行。
As feathers became larger over time, flapping flight evolved and birds finally became fully air-borne.
鸟类的第二根手指是翅膀的主要支柱，翅膀主要由羽毛组成。
In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers.
正如我们讨论过的，鸟类显然是恐龙的后代，与一些恐龙物种有许多共同之处，比如羽毛，甚至飞行，当然还有产卵。
As we've discussed, birds are apparently descendants of dinosaurs and shared many commonalities with some dinosaur species, like feathers and maybe even flight and of course egg laid.
虽然鸟类用羽毛飞行，但有些鸟类的羽毛还有其他用途。
Although birds use their feathers for flight, some of their feathers are for other purposes.
这一发现有助于巩固恐龙和鸟类之间的联系，但它也为自然界最初为什么会产生羽毛这一谜题提供了新的线索。
The find helps cement the dinosaur-bird connection, but it also casts new light on the mystery of why nature invented feathers in the first place.
更有可能的是鸟类运输：或者是通过外部途径，即种籽偶然附着在羽毛上；或者是通过内部途径，即鸟类吞食果实并随后将种籽排泄出来。
More probable is bird transport, either externally, by accidental attachment of the seeds to feathers, or internally, by the swallowing of fruit and subsequent excretion of the seeds.
在中国出土的有羽毛的恐龙化石为恐龙和鸟类之间的密切进化关系提供了迄今为止最引人注目的证据。
Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.
鸟类也可以通过眼睛和羽毛来表达感情。
红嘴山鸦东半球的一种似乌鸦的山鸦属鸟类，有黑色羽毛和红色的腿部。
A crowlike Old World bird of the genus Pyrrhocorax has black plumage and red legs.
任何一种鸫科迁徒鸟类的上部羽毛通常为褐色。
Any of migratory songbirds of the family Turdidae usually have brownish upper plumage.
始祖鸟拥有羽毛，它身上既有现代鸟类的特征，也有远古爬行动物的痕迹，例如口中有牙齿，翅膀上有爪子，还有一条硕长的骨质尾巴。
It had feathers and other traits of living birds but also vestiges of a reptilian past, such as teeth in its mouth, claws on its wings, and a long, bony tail.
游隼捕到鸟类猎物时，通常是先拔掉它们的羽毛，再把肉撕下来。
Peregrine falcons usually pluck the feathers and strip the flesh off their bird prey.
换句话说，这些鸟类是一次性褪光所有羽毛的。
奈茨博士说，事实上，这项发现使科学家最近弄清了为什么对某些鸟类，雄性羽毛似乎不如雌性鲜艳。
In fact, that finding allowed scientists to figure out recently why the males of some species of birds did not appear to have brighter plumage than the females, Dr. Neitz said.
多年以来，怀疑论者一直在提出所谓的时间悖论：即没有发现比始祖鸟更为古老的带羽毛恐龙，因此，鸟类不可能起源于恐龙。
For years, skeptics had raised the so-called temporal paradox: there were no feathered dinosaurs older than Archaeopteryx, so birds could not have arisen from dinosaurs.
这就解释了为何城市中深色羽毛的鸟类较多，因为这些地区寄生虫患病率较高。
This could also explain why there are higher populations of dark feathered birds in urban areas, where parasite prevalence is higher.
这就解释了为何城市中深色羽毛的鸟类较多，因为这些地区寄生虫患病率较高。
This could also explain why there are higher populations of dark feathered birds in urban areas, where parasite prevalence is higher.
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