But from those simple bits of fluff, protofeathers became more complex over time.

但是随着时间的推移，从那些简单的绒毛中，原始羽毛变得更加复杂。

And once protofeathers started branching, they were able to take on all kinds of new shapes.

一旦原始羽毛开始分枝，它们就能呈现出各种新的形状。

And then there are dinosaurs that may or may not have had any protofeathers at all.

还有一些恐龙可能有也可能根本没有任何原羽毛。

Will we be shocked by the discovery of an Apatosaurus or Ankylosaurus with protofeathers someday?

有一天我们会因为发现具有原始羽毛的雷龙或甲龙而感到震惊吗？

The top picture shows similar filaments discovered by Dr McKellar and his team, suggesting flightless dinosaurs sporting such protofeathers were still around in the late Cretaceous.

上图所示为麦凯乐博士及其研究小组发现的类似丝状的羽毛，表明长有这些原生羽毛的“非鸟”恐龙在白垩纪后期仍然存活着。

Dinos like the small tyrannosaur Dilong and the tiny carnivore Juravenator had protofeathers with a central stalk that branched off near the top.

像小型霸王龙帝龙和小型食肉动物侏罗猎龙这样的恐龙有原始羽毛，中央的茎杆在顶部附近分叉。

But since dinosaurs in different times and places had a variety of protofeather types, paleontologists are able to piece together how feathers went from basic filament structures, to ones that allowed flight.

但由于不同时代和地点的恐龙有多种原始羽毛类型，古生物学家能够拼凑出羽毛是如何从基本的丝状结构发展为可以飞行的结构的。

Even though there's no direct evidence of feathers on T. rex, there's a good chance the tyrant king was at least a little fluffy, because other tyrannosaurs have been found with protofeathers.

尽管霸王龙身上没有羽毛的直接证据，但霸王龙很有可能至少有点毛茸茸，因为其他霸王龙也被发现有原始羽毛。

But even as protofeathers started to get more complex, and came to look more like the structures on the wings of birds, they still had plenty of uses for life on the ground.

但即使原始羽毛开始变得更加复杂，看起来更像鸟类翅膀上的结构，它们在地面上的生命中仍然有很多用途。