To find such living fossils from as far back as the Cretaceous is extraordinary.

能发现白垩纪的活化石是非同了不起的。

Another example is the dawn red wood, metasequoia, which was described as a fossil in 1941.

另外一个例子是黎明红木，水杉，在1941年的时候称为活化石。

Some people call the fish a “living fossil.”

有人称这种鱼为“活化石”。

It was the largest shark that ever existed. A living fossil. Thought to have been extinct for over two million years.

这是有史以最大的鲨鱼。活化石啊。它应该在两百万年前就已经灭绝了。

And ... we'd be living fossils, too!

而且… … 我们也会成为活化石！

Because of its ancient pedigree, the tuatara is often called a " living fossil" Oh man I'm a living fossil!

由于其古老的血统，大蜥蜴通常称为“活化石”哦，伙计，我是活化石！

Today, the term " living fossil" is sometimes taken to mean that some organisms evolve, while others don't.

今天，“活化石” 一词有时表示某些生物会进化，而另一些则不会。

Instead of finding a " living fossil" identical to an ancient beast, they have found a real fossil identical to a modern one.

他们不是找到了一个与古兽相同的" 活化石" ，而是找到了一个跟现代兽类相同的真正化石。

So, as a descriptive term, " living fossil" doesn't seem very useful, at least on smaller geologic time scales.

因此，作为一个描述性术语， “活化石” 似乎并不是很有，至少在较小的质时间尺度上是这样。

Just take a look at one of the most famous so-called living fossils -- the crocodylians, like alligators, crocodiles, and gharials.

看看最著名的所谓活化石之一——鳄鱼，如短吻鳄、鳄鱼和食肉动物。

But once in a while you come across this kind of living fossil - some stubborn device that just stuck around long past its expiration date.

但偶尔你会遇到这种活化石——一些顽固的设备，在过期很久之后仍然存在。

If the definition of a living fossil is an organism that's basically unchanged over long periods of time, then we got a whole world of living fossils around us!

如果活化石的定义是长时间基本不变的生物体，那么我们身边就有了一个活化石的世界！

People call them " living fossils." But, at the risk of being " that guy, " the idea of a " living fossil" is kind of problematic.

人们称它们为“活化石” 。但是，冒着成为“那个人” 的风险，“活化石” 的想法有点问题。

Species and groups of species which are called aberrant, and which may fancifully be called living fossils, will aid us in forming a picture of the ancient forms of life.

称为畸变的物种和物种群， 可以幻想称为活化石， 将帮助我们形成一幅古代生命形式的图画。

But just one of the problems with the idea of " living fossils" is that there are actually many plants and animals that look a lot like their distant ancestors.

但“活化石”这一概念的问题之一是，实际上有许多植物和动物看起很像它们的远祖。

These anomalous forms may be called living fossils; they have endured to the present day, from having inhabited a confined area, and from having been exposed to less varied, and therefore less severe, competition.

这些异常形式可以称为活化石；他们一直忍受到今天， 因为他们居住在一个狭窄的区域，并且接触到的竞争较少， 因此竞争也不那么激烈。