化石证明翼龙翼展可达7米

The fossil, which is a segment of tooth, has been at the museum since 1884 but has never been thoroughly examined before.

这块化石是牙齿的一部分。自1884年开始它就在待博物馆里了，然而以前从未被彻底检查过。

Pterosaurs are flying reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs, between 210 million and 65 million years ago

翼龙属可飞行的爬行类动物，生活在大约在2.1亿年至6500万年之前，与恐龙生活在同一时期。

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.

现如今，科学家们认为，这种已经灭绝的、可飞行的爬行类动物的翼展可达到7米长，比先前的设想要长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.

英国朴茨茅斯大学的大卫·马提尔以及英国莱斯特大学的大卫·昂温在《白垩纪研究》期刊上报道了这个发现。

“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.”

马提尔博士说：“早期翼龙相对较小，翅展比乌鸦大不了多少。这些早期翼龙嘴里都长满了牙齿，通常来说，小的牙齿长在后面，大的牙齿长在前面。”

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世纪，化石碎片才在英国剑桥被发现，著名的化石“猎人” 理查德·欧文爵士将它交予自然历史博物馆。理查德·欧文爵士帮助建造了这座博物馆，他也是发明“恐龙”这个新词的人。

“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.

马提尔博士说：“这个标本看起来很丑，但是只需要一点技巧，你就能弄懂它到底是什么。我们拥有的是上颌的尖端，这是一种叫做前颌骨的骨头；还有一个保藏在牙槽里的、破碎的牙齿。”

“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.”

“虽然牙齿顶端已经断裂，但它的直径是13毫米(0.5英寸)。这对翼龙来说非常巨大。一旦你进行计算，你就会发现手中的这个碎片是一个非常令人兴奋地发现。”