Eunotosaurus was likely a burrowing creature, digging homes for itself in what's now southern Africa.

正南龟可能是穴居动物，在如今南部非洲的位置为自己挖掘栖身之所。

Odontochelys semitestacea illustrates another, later step in turtle evolution, with thick ribs like Eunotosaurus plus a belly plate for protection.

半甲齿龟则说明了乌龟进化中后来的又一步，它有和正南龟一样的厚肋骨和一块有保护作用的腹板。

In 2010, the discovery of Odontochelys led researchers to reexamine another ancient species, called Eunotosaurus.

2010 年， Odontochelys 的发现促使研究人员重新审视另一个古老的物种，称为 Eunotosaurus。

Eunotosaurus was likely a burrowing creature, digging homes for itself in what’s now southern Africa.

Eunotosaurus 可能是一种穴居生物，在现在的非洲南部为自己挖掘家园。

But Eunotosaurus seemed to have a lot of adaptations for burrowing through dirt.

但是 Eunotosaurus 似乎对在泥土中挖洞有很多适应性。

So old grandpa turtle seemed to mark a kind of transitional stage between Eunotosaurus, with its wider ribs, and Odontochelys, with its full plastron.

这么老的龟爷爷似乎标志着一种过渡阶段，介于具有更宽肋骨的真诺龙和具有完整腹甲的齿甲龟之间。

Well, in 2016, paleontologists again took a closer look at Eunotosaurus -- which is now considered the oldest of the turtle ancestors -- and noticed something funny about it.

嗯，在 2016 年，古生物学家再次仔细研究了 Eunotosaurus——它现在被认为是最古老的海龟祖先——并注意到了一些有趣的事情。

The oldest known turtle ancestor, a creature called Eunotosaurus africanus, lived 260 million years ago and looked almost nothing like a modern turtle, but it had a set of broad, flat ribs that anchored the muscles of its powerful forearms.

已知的最古老的龟祖先，是一种叫做非洲正南龟的生物，它生活在 2.6 亿年前，看上去几乎不像现代龟，但它有一组固定其强大前臂肌肉的宽而扁平的肋骨。