Technical Japanese

From National Geographic:

http://www.nationalgeographic.co.jp/news/news_article.php?file_id=20101001001&expand#title

古代の巨大ペンギン、白黒ではなかった

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古代 – こだい – ancient times
巨大 – きょだい – giant
ペンギン – ぺんぎん – penguin
白黒 – しろくろ – black and white

I like the phrase “古代の巨大”. The similarity of the sounds is a nice combination of alliteration and rhyme.

The basic properties of the bird are disclosed in the second sentence:

人間の背丈と変わらぬ体長で、赤茶と灰色の羽を見にまとっていたという。

人間 – にんげん – human being
背丈 – せたけ – height
変わらぬ – かわらぬ – constant/same
体長        - たいちょう – length

So the first part of the sentence says the bird was equal in length to human height.

赤茶 – あかちゃ – reddish-brown
灰色 – はいいろ – gray
ç¾½ – はね – feathers
身にまとう – みにまとう – be dressed in, covered in

So the bird was the height of a human and covered in reddish brown and gray feathers.

The 「という」at the end indicates that this is what the researchers are saying, making it somewhat clear that this is not certain but is speculation, although based on research and evidence.

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My translation of the title:
古代の巨大ペンギン、白黒ではなかった
Ancient giant penguin was not black and white

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