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一提南极洲,人们就会想到它是个非常寒冷、到处是冰雪的“冻原”。这个地区因为温度非常低,照说是不应该有树木花草之类的植物存在的。可是,科学家在去年年底在距离南极圈大约400英里的地方,挖掘出树干和树枝的化石。根据研究判断,这些化石大约形成于300万年前的一片非常茂盛的森林的林木。这表明,几百万年以前的南极洲并不是目前这样严寒,而可能是非常温暖的、根据“大陆板块漂移”理论,几百万年以前的南极也不是今天的面貌。古生物学家指出,4000万年前的南极洲是衔接南美洲和澳洲的“中间站”。它们在那个时候很可能是连在一块的,或者是很接近的。原因是当时南美洲的有袋目动物和其它
When it comes to Antarctica, people think of it as a very cold, full of snow and ice “tundra.” Because of the very low temperature in the area, it is said that there should not be plants such as trees and flowers. However, scientists digged fossils of tree trunks and branches at the end of last year about 400 miles from the Antarctic Circle. According to research, these fossils formed about 30 million years ago in a very flourishing forest. This shows that Antarctica millions of years ago is not so cold now but may be very warm. According to the theory of “continental plate drift”, the Antarctic millions of years ago is not what it is today. Paleontologists point out that 40 million years ago, Antarctica was the “intermediate station” connecting South and Australia. They are likely to be connected or close at that time. The reason was that there were marsupials and others in South America at the time