Bolivian tracks

["John R. Hutchinson" <jrhutch@socrates.berkeley.edu>]

from the news article posted earlier:
"The tracks also show an armored ankylosaur moving at an
              estimated 7 m.p.h., an astonishing speed for an 8-ton animal
              thought to be slow and ponderous."

Umm, 7mph is about 3 meters/second.  That's hardly astonishing, and seems
like a rather low speed for an animal that is purported to be "galloping."
Elephants maintain a ("fast") walk even up to 4-4.5m/s.  I don't think
rhinos or other large quadrupeds would normally gallop at 3m/s.  Not to
mention the vagaries inherent in trackway speed estimation.

Anyway, interesting (albeit overwrought) story.

==================
John R. Hutchinson
Department of Integrative Biology               Phone:  (510) 643-2109
3060 Valley Life Sciences Bldg.                 Fax:    (510) 642-1822
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3140
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/jrh/homepage.html