The first person who saw it was working overnight.
第一个看到它的人当时正在通宵工作。
The worker, a shovel operator, saw something white as he placed a large amount of dirt into the back of a truck.
这名工人是一名铲土工人，当他把大量泥土铲进一辆卡车的后斗时，他看到一个白色的东西。
The driver of the truck put the dirt in the road.
卡车司机把土卸在路上。
Another worker operating a bulldozer was ready to flatten it.
另一名操作推土机的工人正准备将其压平。
But the worker stopped for a closer look when he, too, saw a piece of white.
但当这名工人停下来更近距离观察时，他也看到了一块白色的东西。
Only then did the mining workers realize they had found something special: a 2-meter-long mammoth tusk that had been buried for thousands of years.
直到那时，矿工们才意识到自己发现了一些特别的东西：一根被埋藏了数千年的2米长猛犸象牙。
A mammoth is a kind of animal that lived in ancient times and had very long tusks.
猛犸是一种生活在古代，有着非常长的象牙的动物。
The animal went extinct, or disappeared, about 10,000 years ago in what is now the American state of North Dakota.
这种动物在1万年前大约就在如今的美国北达科他州灭绝或者说消失了。
The miners unearthed the tusk at the Freedom Mine near Beulah, North Dakota.
矿工们在北达科他州比乌拉附近的“自由矿”挖掘出了这根象牙。
The mine produces up to 14.5 metric tons of coal each year.
该矿每年生产高达14.5吨的煤炭。
"We were very fortunate, lucky to find what we found," said David Straley.
“我们非常幸运，走运地发现了这个东西，”大卫·斯特雷利说。
He is an executive of North American Coal, which owns the mine.
他是该矿的拥有者——北美煤炭公司——的一名高管。
After finding the tusk, the workers stopped digging in the area and called in experts.
在发现这根象牙后，工人们停止在该地区挖掘，并请来了专家。
The experts estimated the tusk to be anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 years old.
专家们估计，这根象牙有1万到10万年的历史。
Jeff Person is a paleontologist with the North Dakota Geologic Survey.
杰夫·珀森是北达科他州地质调查局的古生物学家。
A paleontologist is an expert on ancient remains.
古生物学家是研究古代遗骸的专家。
Person was one of the experts that examined the tusk.
珀森是检查该象牙的专家之一。
He said it was "miraculous" that the tusk had not been more damaged, considering the large equipment that miners use at the site.
他说，考虑到矿工们在现场使用的大型设备，这根象牙居然没有受到更大的破坏，这是一个“奇迹”。
Another dig at the discovery site found more bones.
在发现地点的另一次挖掘发现了更多的骨骼。
Experts found more than 20 bones.
专家们发现了20多块骨骼。
It is likely the most complete mammoth found in North Dakota, where it is more common to find one mammoth bone, tooth or piece of a tusk.
这可能是在北达科他州发现的最完整猛犸，在那里更常见的是发现一块猛犸的骨头、牙齿或象牙碎片。
Person said it is not a lot of bones compared to how many make up the animal's skeleton.
珀森说，与构成动物骨骼的数量相比，这些骨骼数量并不多。
But he said, "…it's a lot more than we've ever found of one animal together." Mammoths once were found across parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
但他说：“这比我们之前发现的全部猛犸骨骼还要多得多。”猛犸曾在非洲、亚洲、欧洲和北美的部分地区被发现。
Paul Ullmann, a University of North Dakota paleontologist, said mammoth remains have been found throughout the United States and Canada.
北达科他大学古生物学家保罗·乌尔曼说，美国和加拿大各地都发现了猛犸的遗骸。
The discovery at the mine is somewhat rare in North Dakota and in the area.
该矿的这一发现在北达科他州和该地区颇为罕见。
Many remains of the animals alive during the last Ice Age were destroyed by movements of ice sheets, Ullmann said.
乌尔曼说，许多存活于上一个冰河时代的动物的遗骸都被冰盖活动摧毁了。
Other areas have produced more mammoth remains, such as in Texas and South Dakota.
其他地区发现了更多的猛犸遗骸，比如德克萨斯州和南达科他州。
People have even found frozen mammoth bodies in Canada and Russia, Ullmann added.
乌尔曼补充说，人们甚至在加拿大和俄罗斯发现了冰冻的猛犸尸体。
The tusk weighs more than 22.6 kilograms and can break easily.
这根象牙重逾22.6公斤，很容易折断。
Experts covered the tusk in plastic in order to control how fast the tusk loses water.
为了控制这根象牙失水的速度，专家们将其用塑料包裹起来。
If it loses water too quickly, the bone could break apart, Person said.
珀森说，如果失水太快，这根骨头可能会断裂。
The experts covered the other bones in plastic and stored them.
专家们将其他骨骼用塑料包裹并保存起来。
The bones will remain in plastic for at least several months until the scientists can get the water out safely.
这些骨骼将在塑料中保存至少几个月，直到科学家们能够安全地将其中的水排出。
The paleontologists will identify what kind of mammoth the tusk came from later, Person said.
珀森表示，古生物学家稍后将确定这根象牙来自哪种猛犸。
The mining company plans to donate the bones to the state for educational purposes.
这家矿业公司计划将这些骨头捐赠给国家用于教育目的。
"Our goal is to give it to the kids," Straley said.
“我们的目标是让孩子们了解它，”斯特雷利说。
I'm Gregory Stachel.
格雷戈里·斯塔切尔为您播报。
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