A chance discovery made in southern France has revealed a rare specimen — an almost complete dinosaur skeleton found connected from its hind skull to its tail.

在法国南部的蒙图利耶，一次偶然的邂逅，让25岁的业余古生物学家Damien Boschetto在森林中遛狗时，意外发现了一具几乎完整的恐龙骨架，从后头骨到尾巴，每一部分都紧密相连，宛如时光凝固的奇迹。

The massive fossil came to light in May 2022, after now 25-year-old amateur paleontologist Damien Boschetto and his dog stumbled across something unusual while walking in a forest in Montouliers, France. Boschetto had noticed a cliff edge that had recently collapsed and decided to take a closer look, when he spotted an exposed bone sticking out of the ground, local media outlet France Bleu first reported on February 13.

那是2022年5月的一天，Boschetto在漫步时，注意到一处悬崖边近期发生的坍塌，好奇心驱使他走近查看。就是在这不经意的探寻中，他瞥见了一根裸露在地表的骨头，由此揭开了这一珍稀化石的序幕。法国媒体France Bleu于2月13日首次报道了此事。

The Archaeological and Paleontological Cultural Association at the Cruzy Museum, in collaboration with the French National Center for Scientific Research, identified the nearly 10-meter-long (32.8-foot-long) fossil as a Titanosaur skeleton upon excavation. Boschetto, who has been a member of the association for eight years, told CNN that while unearthing dinosaur remains is “always exciting and interesting for scientific research and the understanding of the ecosystems of that time,” finding the bones in their almost original anatomical position is what makes this find extraordinary.

克鲁齐博物馆考古和古生物文化协会与法国国家科学研究中心联手，经过深入挖掘，确认了这具近10米长的化石为泰坦龙骨骼。Boschetto作为该协会的成员已有八年之久，他向CNN表示，虽然恐龙遗骸的出土总是让人激动不已，但这次发现的非凡之处在于骨骼几乎保持着原始的解剖位置。

“From a museography point of view, it will make it possible to present to the general public animals almost complete in anatomical positions, which is something great,” Boschetto added via email.

Boschetto在电子邮件中进一步补充说：“从博物馆学的角度来看，这次发现将使得公众有机会亲眼目睹几乎完整解剖位置的恐龙，这无疑是一件令人振奋的事情。”

A group of history and archaeology enthusiasts created the Archaeological and Paleontological Cultural Association in 1975 to safeguard the heritage around the village of Cruzy, with several members becoming enlightened amateurs in paleontology due to the areas’ wealth of dinosaur fossils, said Jean-Marc Veyssières, a member of the group and one of the fossil preparers for this discovery. Today, the association is made up of inhabitants of the region, including a few scientists as well as students.

考古和古生物文化协会由一群历史和考古爱好者于1975年创立，旨在保护克鲁齐村周边的文化遗产。协会成员Jean-Marc Veyssières是此次恐龙化石发掘的参与者之一，他提到，由于该地区恐龙化石资源丰富，协会的一些成员逐渐成为了古生物学的热衷者。如今，协会成员包括当地居民、科学家和学生。

“The most exciting thing was to realize that we had at least one anatomically connected animal and that it was a titanosaur, a long-necked dinosaur,” said Veyssières in an email. “(Boschetto) is an enlightened enthusiast and curious about nature, he spends a lot of time surveying the region in search of new areas. … He became an expert on the Late Cretaceous fauna of our region.”

Veyssières在电子邮件中兴奋地表示：“最令人激动的是，我们发现了至少一种在解剖学上保存完好的动物，而且是一种泰坦龙，这种长颈恐龙的遗骸实属罕见。Boschetto是一位充满好奇心的古生物爱好者，他花费大量时间在这片区域进行勘探，寻找新的发现……他已然成为了恐龙专家，甚至是我们地区白垩纪晚期动物群的权威。”

The association has been excavating the site, which Boschetto referred to as a bone bed, a term used by paleontologists to describe a dense area of animal bones and other fossilized remains, for the past two years. And the newly announced find was not Boschetto’s first.

过去的两年里，该协会一直在挖掘这个遗址，Boschetto将其称为“骨床”，这是古生物学家用来描述动物骨骼和其他遗骸化石密集区域的术语。值得一提的是，这次新宣布的发现并非Boschetto的首次贡献。

The recently revealed 70% complete Titanosaur skeleton was retrieved during the excavation along with several fossils of various dinosaurs and other vertebrates, including some in anatomical connection and near complete. Other remains identified included those of a Rhabdodon — a herbivore, or plant-eater, like the Titanosaur — and fragments from skeletons of carnivores such as Theropods and crocodiles, according to Boschetto.

在挖掘过程中，除了发现那具保存了70%完整的泰坦龙骨骼外，还出土了数具各种恐龙和其他脊椎动物的化石，其中包括一些解剖结构清晰、几乎完整的化石。Boschetto透露，其他已确认的遗骸包括Rhabdodon（一种食草动物）的遗骸，以及齿龙和鳄鱼等食肉动物的骨骼碎片。

The Titanosaur skeleton currently resides in the Cruzy Museum’s laboratory, where it will be further studied, Veyssières said.

据Veyssières介绍，目前这具泰坦龙骨架正保存在克鲁齐博物馆的实验室中，接受进一步的科学研究。