Fossils trapped in amber have been among paleontology's most fascinating finds in recent years -- globs of hardened ancient tree resin have captured tantalizing details about spiders, lizards, microscopic animals, insects, birds and even a tiny dinosaur that are often missing from fossils found in rock.
琥珀中的化石是古生物學(xué)近年來最吸引人的發(fā)現(xiàn)之一--古樹樹脂硬化的球狀化石捕捉到了蜘蛛、蜥蜴、微小動物、昆蟲、鳥類甚至是巖石化石中經(jīng)常缺失的一種微小恐龍的誘人的細(xì)節(jié)。
However, all these creatures were land lubbers that you might expect to encounter on a tree trunk or branch.
然而，所有這些生物都是陸地上的圈套，你可能會在樹干或樹枝上遇到它們。
Now, scientists have found the oldest aquatic animal preserved in amber -- and it's the most complete crab fossil ever discovered.
現(xiàn)在，科學(xué)家們在琥珀中發(fā)現(xiàn)了最古老的水生動物--這是迄今為止發(fā)現(xiàn)的最完整的螃蟹化石。
"The specimen is spectacular, it is one of a kind. It's absolutely complete and is not missing a single hair on the body, which is remarkable," said Javier Luque, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, in a news release.
哈佛大學(xué)組織與進(jìn)化生物學(xué)系博士后賈維爾·盧克在一份新聞稿中說：“這個標(biāo)本很壯觀，它是一種獨(dú)一無二的標(biāo)本。它絕對是完整的，身上一根毛發(fā)也沒有掉下來，這是非常了不起的?！?/p>
He was the lead author of the study that published Thursday in the journal Science Advances.
他是周四發(fā)表在《科學(xué)進(jìn)步》雜志上的這項(xiàng)研究的主要作者。
The Chinese, US and Canadian scientists working on the amber specimen, which originated from northern Myanmar, named the tiny crab Cretapsara athanata.
來自緬甸北部的中國、美國和加拿大科學(xué)家正在研究琥珀標(biāo)本，命名為小螃蟹Cretapsara athanata。
The name references the Cretaceous, the dinosaur-era period during which this crab lived, and Apsara, a spirit of the clouds and waters in South and Southeast Asian mythology.
這個名字指的是白堊紀(jì)，這只螃蟹生活的恐龍時代，以及南亞和東南亞神話中的一種云和水的精靈阿普薩拉。
The species name is based on "athanatos," which means immortal in Greek, referring to its lifelike preservation in amber.
這個物種的名字是以“athanatos”為基礎(chǔ)的，意思是在希臘語中是不朽的，意指它在琥珀中栩栩如生的保存。
In looks, the 100-million-year-old creature superficially resembles crabs that scuttle around shores today.
從外表上看，這只有1億年歷史的生物表面上就像螃蟹，今天在海岸附近到處都有分布。
Computerized tomography scans revealed delicate body parts like antennae, gills and fine hairs on the mouth parts.
電腦斷層掃描顯示出敏感的身體部位，如觸角、鰓和口腔部位的細(xì)毛。
The creature was only 5 millimeters long and likely a baby crab.
這個生物只有5毫米長，很可能是一只小螃蟹。
The researchers think that Cretapsara was neither a marine crab nor completely land dwelling.
研究人員認(rèn)為，Cretapsara既不是海生螃蟹，也不是陸棲蟹。
They think it would have lived in fresh water, or perhaps brackish water, on the forest floor.
他們認(rèn)為它會生活在森林地板上的淡水中，或者可能是咸水中。
It was also possible, they said, that it was migrating onto land like the famous red Christmas Island crabs that release their babies into the ocean and later swarm back onto land.
他們還說，它也有可能遷移到陸地上，就像著名的紅圣誕島螃蟹，它們把它們的寶寶放進(jìn)海洋，然后又蜂擁回到陸地上。
While the oldest crab fossils date back to the Jurassicperiod more than 200 million years ago, fossils of non-marine crabs are sparse and largely incomplete.
最古老的螃蟹化石可以追溯到兩億多年前的侏羅紀(jì)，而非海生螃蟹的化石則很稀少，而且大部分都不完整。
The researchers said that Cretapsara proves that crabs made the leap from the sea to land and fresh water during the dinosaur era, not during the mammal era, as previously thought, pushing the evolution of non-marine crabs much farther back in time.
研究人員說，克拉塔薩拉證明，螃蟹在恐龍時代就出現(xiàn)了，而不是哺乳動物時代，從海洋遷徙到了陸地和淡水，這推動了非海洋螃蟹的進(jìn)化研究。
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