A fossil discovered in China suggests that mammals may have hunted down dinosaurs several times their size for dinner.
 　The fossil, first stumbled upon by a farmer in 2012, was uncovered at a site known as “China’s Pompeii” in the country’s northeast.
 　Scientific Reports, the journal that published the study, said the fossil showed two creatures — a mammal and a dinosaur — from around 125 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.
 　Researcher Jordan Mallon thought the mammal, though much smaller, was fiercely attacking the dinosaur when a volcanic eruption took place and buried them.
 　He said the mammal in the combat is the meateating Repenomamus robustus, which is about the size of a house cat. The dinosaur, called Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis, was about as big as a medium-sized dog.
 　The new find suggests mammals may have preyed on dinosaurs much larger than their size, instead of just scavenging ones that were already dead. The study’s authors acknowledge fossil forgeries have previously occurred in China, but they are confident this one is genuine.

　一塊在中國出土的化石顯示，哺乳類動物可能獵殺比自己大好幾倍的恐龍為食。
　這塊化石在2012年被一位農民偶然發現，出土地是在中國東北部一個被稱為「中國龐貝古城」的地區。
　發表於《科學報告》期刊的研究結果指出，這塊化石顯示出兩種生物，一隻是哺乳類動物，另一隻是恐龍；時間可追溯到大約1.25 億年前的白堊紀時期。
　研究人員喬登馬倫認為，這隻哺乳動物的體型雖然比恐龍小得多，卻狠狠攻擊恐龍；在攻擊的瞬間，被火山爆發的泥流吞沒。
　馬倫表示，纏鬥中的哺乳動物是食肉爬獸屬，體型約為現代家貓大小；恐龍是陸家屯鸚鵡嘴龍，體型約為現代中型犬大小。
　這項新發現顯示，哺乳動物可能會捕食比牠們體型大得多的恐龍，而不僅僅是食用恐龍屍體。該研究的作者坦承，中國以前的確發生過化石偽造事件，但他們相信這次出土的化石是真的。