Whose hand is this? For 50 years, paleontologists searched for an answer to this question.（这只巨手究竟属于谁？50年来，古生物学家一直在苦苦探寻这个谜团的答案。） In 1965, paleontologists discovered a pair of giant arms in Ömnögovi, an area in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert.（1965年，古生物学家在蒙古戈壁沙漠的南戈壁地区发掘出一对巨大的恐龙手臂化石。） The length of each arm was 2.4 meters. The claws were over 25 centimeters long.（每条手臂长达2.4米，巨爪长度超过25厘米。） Paleontologists called the animal Deinocheirus (meaning “terrible hand”).（古生物学家将这种神秘动物命名为恐手龙（Deinocheirus，意为“可怕的巨手”）。）

What did the body of this animal look like? Paleontologists had different opinions, but no one knew for sure.（这种动物的躯体究竟长成什么模样？古生物学家众说纷纭，却无人知晓真相。） They examined the area many times, but found only a few other fossils of the dinosaur.（他们曾多次勘察该区域，却只找到了该恐龙零星的少数化石残片。） So scientists used Deinocheirus’s arms to estimate its body size.（因此科学家只能通过恐手龙的巨大手臂来推断估算其体型大小。） Recently, however, a team of paleontologists dug up many more bones that tell us a lot about Deinocheirus’s appearance.（然而不久前，一支古生物学家团队发掘出了更多的骨骼化石，极大揭示了恐手龙的真实外貌。）

Deinocheirus was one of the ornithomimosaurs—a type of dinosaur that looked like a modern-day ostrich.（恐手龙属于似鸟龙类——一种外形神似现代鸵鸟的恐龙家族。） It was 11 meters long and weighed 6,000 kilograms—almost as big as a T. rex!（它体长11米，重达6,000公斤——几乎和霸王龙一般庞大！） Deinocheirus was clearly very big, but it was not a predator.（恐手龙虽然身躯极其庞大，但绝非凶猛的肉食性掠食者。） It couldn’t move quickly, and, in fact, it had no teeth.（它步履迟缓，而且事实上，它的嘴里连一颗牙齿都没有。） Its head looked similar to a horse’s head, and it had a long tail, perhaps with feathers at the end.（它的头部颇似马头，拖着一条长尾巴，尾端可能还长有羽毛。） Most surprisingly, though, Deinocheirus had a rounded hump or “sail” on its back.（然而最令人惊叹的是，恐手龙的背部生有一个高耸圆润的驼峰或“帆状隆起”。） This dinosaur probably ate fish, small animals, and soft plants.（这种恐龙可能以鱼类、小型动物和柔嫩植物为食。） Why did it need such long limbs? Paleontologists now believe that its long arms were used simply to dig for food or to pull down high branches.（那它为什么需要如此修长的一双手臂呢？古生物学家如今认为，其修长的手臂纯粹是用来挖掘食物或拉低高处的树枝。）

So the mystery of the terrible hand, it seems, has been solved.（因此，“可怕巨手”的千古之谜如今似乎终于水落石出。） It is amazing to see what Deinocheirus actually looked like and to find out more about this giant dinosaur.（能够一睹恐手龙的庐山真面目，揭秘这种巨兽的更多细节，令人叹为观止。） But Darla Zelenitsky from the University of Calgary says it’s “also sad in a way.”（但卡尔加里大学的达拉·泽列尼茨基（Darla Zelenitsky）表示，这“在某种程度上也让人略感惆怅”。） Even scientists like a bit of mystery, and “that mystery is now gone.”（因为即便是科学家，心底里也酷爱那一丝神秘感，而“那份神秘色彩如今已不复存在了”。）