化石證明翼龍翼展可達7米
The fossil, which is a segment of tooth, has been at the museum since 1884 but has never been thoroughly examined before.
這塊化石是牙齒的一部分。自1884年開始它就在待博物館裏了，然而以前從未被徹底檢查過。
Pterosaurs are flying reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs, between 210 million and 65 million years ago
翼龍屬可飛行的爬行類動物，生活在大約在2.1億年至6500萬年之前，與恐龍生活在同一時期。
It now has scientists thinking the extinct flying reptile had a wingspan of up to seven metres, two or three metres bigger than previously thought.
現如今，科學家們認爲，這種已經滅絕的、可飛行的爬行類動物的翼展可達到7米長，比先前的設想要長2米或者3米。
David Martill from the University of Portsmouth and David Unwin from the University of Leicester reported the discovery in the journal Cretaceous Research.
英國朴茨茅斯大學的大衛·馬提爾以及英國萊斯特大學的大衛·昂溫在《白堊紀研究》期刊上報道了這個發現。
“Early pterosaurs were relatively small, with wing-spans not much bigger than a crow,”said Dr Martill. “These early pterosaurs all had a mouth full of teeth, usually small at the back and larger at the front.”
馬提爾博士說：“早期翼龍相對較小，翅展比烏鴉大不了多少。這些早期翼龍嘴裏都長滿了牙齒，通常來說，小的牙齒長在後面，大的牙齒長在前面。”
The fossil fragment was uncovered during the 19th Century in Cambridge, and was given to the Natural History Museum by renowned fossil hunter Sir Richard Owen who helped found the museum and coined the word “dinosaur”.
直到19世紀，化石碎片纔在英國劍橋被發現，著名的化石“獵人” 理查德·歐文爵士將它交予自然歷史博物館。理查德·歐文爵士幫助建造了這座博物館，他也是發明“恐龍”這個新詞的人。
“It's an ugly-looking specimen, but with a bit of skill, you can work out just exactly what it was. All we have is the tip of the upper jaws —bones called the premaxillae, and a broken tooth preserved in one socket,”said Dr Martill.
馬提爾博士說：“這個標本看起來很醜，但是隻需要一點技巧，你就能弄懂它到底是什麼。我們擁有的是上頜的尖端，這是一種叫做前頜骨的骨頭；還有一個保藏在牙槽裏的、破碎的牙齒。”
“Although the crown of the tooth has broken off, its diameter is 13 millimeters (0.5 inches). This is huge for a pterosaur. Once you do the calculations, you realise that the scrap in your hand is a very exciting discovery.”
“雖然牙齒頂端已經斷裂，但它的直徑是13毫米(0.5英寸)。這對翼龍來說非常巨大。一旦你進行計算，你就會發現手中的這個碎片是一個非常令人興奮地發現。”
