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The Tortoise or The T. Rex? New Study into Walking Speed


Omnomosaurus

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A new study has been released, looking into a more accurate estimate of Tyrannosaur walking speeds.

 

New modelling points to much slower speeds than previously thought; now estimated to be approx. 3mph.

 

"Must go faster"......maybe not.

 

Link:

 

Walk the dinosaur: New biomechanical model shows Tyrannosaurus rex in a swinging gait https://phys.org/news/2021-04-dinosaur-biomechanical-tyrannosaurus-rex-gait.html

Edited by Omnomosaurus
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BTW the paper explores track ways in the Wapiti Formation, Campanian in age not Trex although results were analyzed to be typical for larger Tyrannosaurids.

 

Concluded:

"After carefully considering preservation and kinematic effects, and based on the results of our morphometric analyses, we suggest that heel soft tissue breadth and probably heel surface area within our sample of tracks from the Wapiti Formation exhibit positive allometry with ontogeny. We therefore hypothesize that the feet of younger tyrannosaurids, at least for the studied taxon (probably Albertosaurus), were significantly more slender than those of larger, presumably adult individuals. As slender feet arguably more suited for running occur in conjunction with relatively longer hind limbs and smaller body mass, our results support earlier claims of size-dependent locomotor shifts in tyrannosaurids, in particular the greater agility and/or cursoriality of juveniles (Russell, 1970; Currie, 1998, 2003; Dececchi et al., 2020). Thus, if taxonomic, preservational, and kinematic uncertainties are carefully scrutinized, fossil tracks can provide important ontogenetic data for testing a wide range of locomotor and growth-related hypotheses in the terrestrial vertebrate fossil record."

 

 

 

Article 

https://theconversation.com/fat-footed-tyrannosaur-parents-couldnt-keep-up-with-their-skinnier-offspring-fossil-footprints-reveal-154188

 

Paper for those that have access

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2021.1878201

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Tidgy is pretty darned fast when you're not looking. 

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Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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