（Art by Frank Ippolito© American Museum of Natural History）
 

我们通常认为恐龙是体型巨大且力大无穷的动物。

We usually think of dinosaurs as big, powerful animals.

然而，科学家在马达加斯加发现了一些化石。

However, scientists discovered some fossils in Madagascar （马达加斯加）.

这些化石显示恐龙起初的体型比较小。这种动物存活于 2 亿 3 千 7 百万年前，而且身长只有 10 公分高。

These fossils suggest dinosaurs were smaller at first. The animal lived about 237 million years ago, and was only ten centimeters tall.

科学家们将之命名为「Kongonaphon kely」。

The scientists named it Kongonaphon kely.

牠以昆虫为食，并且赖以为生。

It ate insects, and this helped it survive.

同时期的其他动物则食肉且争夺食物，这个以昆虫为主食的动物便有了更多的食物可以选择。

Other animals at the time ate meat and competed for food. This bug-eater had more food to choose from.

另一则关于 Kongonaphon kely 的有趣事实──牠有毛发。

There's another interesting thing about Kongonaphon kely: it had hair.

科学家认为牠的身上有短毛或者羽毛，这可以帮助牠们保暖。

Scientists think it had short hairs or feathers on its body. They helped it stay warm.

科学家们也相信牠并不只是早期的恐龙，牠有可能也是翼龙的祖先。

Scientists also believe it's not just an early dinosaur. It might also be the ancestor of pterosaurs.

我们并未掌握关于 Kongonaphon kely 详细的资讯。

We don’t know much about Kongonaphon kely yet.

借由更深入地了解 Kongonaphon kely，我们可以知道恐龙进化的过程。

Learning more about it could tell us about how dinosaurs evolved.