跟优习背精美短文,英语听力.docVIP

跟优习背精美短文,英语听力 1：A Rare Fossil Record The preservation of embryos and juveniles is a rate ourrence in the fossil record. The tiny, delicateskeletons areusuallyscatteredbyscavengersordestroyedbyweatheringbeforethey canbe fossilized. Ichthyosaurs had a higher chanceof being preservedthandid terrestrial creatures because, as marine animals, they tended to live in environments less subject to erosion. Still,theirfossilizationrequiredasuiteoffactors: aslowrateofdecay ofsofttissues,little scavenging by other animals, a lack of swift currents and waves to jumble and carry away small bones,and fairly rapid burial. Given these factors, some areas have bee a treasury of well-preservedichthyosaur fossils. The deposits at Holzmaden, Germany, present an interesting case for analysis. The ichthyosaur remains are found in black, bituminous marine shales deposited about 190 million years ago. Over the years, thousands of specimens ofmarine reptiles, fish and invertebrates have been recovered from these rocks. The quality of preservation is outstanding, but what is even more impressiveis the numberofichthyosaur fossils containing preservedembryos. Ichthyosaurs with embryos have been reported from 6 different levels of the shale in a small area aroundHolzmaden,suggestingthataspecificsitewasusedbylargenumbersofichthyosaurs repeatedlyovertime.Theembryosare quiteadvancedintheirphysicaldevelopment;their paddles, for example, are already well formed. One specimen is even preserved in the birth canal. In addition, the shale contains the remains of many newborns that are between 20 and 30 inches long. Whyaretheresomanypregnantfemalesand youngatHolzmadenwhentheyaresorare elsewhere?Thequalityof preservationisalmostunmatchedandquarryoperationshavebeen carriedoutcarefullywithanawarenessofthe valueofthefossils.Butthesefactorsdonot aount for the interesting question of how there came to be such a concentration of pregnant ichthyosaurs in a particular place very