RE: New work on running biomech by Hutchinson

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> David Marjanovic
> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 9:57 AM
> To: DML
> Subject: Re: New work on running biomech by Hutchinson
>
>
> > Based on these models, the adult T. rex would not make a good
> > "fast runner" (fast running is defined in these papers as a
> Froude number
> > of ~17, which scaled to MOR 55 would mean 20 m/s).
>
> Which in turn, when multiplied with 3.6, turns out to be 72 km/h. So... if
> it doesn't catch the jeep in JP I, it isn't running _fast_ yet. :o)

Indeed. One of the ?humorous? aspects of the mass-rejection of Hutchinson &
Garcia's 2002 paper in dino-fandom was that people weren't willing to do the
math (and/or read the paper??) in order to see what they meant by "fast
running".

> > All the other specimens seem to have been
> > fairly good fast runners. Hutchinson still regards a speed of >11 m/s in
> the
> > full grown T. rex as rather unlikley, but between 5-11 m/s not
> out of the
> > realm of possibility but requiring further study. At Froude = 17, the
> > Coelophysis would be moving at 8-9 m/s, and the small
> tyrannosaur at 11-14
> > m/s (the current upper ranges of footprint-based speeds).
>
> m/s   km/h
>  5     18
>  8     28.8
>  9     32.4
> 11     39.6
> 14     50.4
>
> Beware of small tyrannosaurs then.

Damn straight!!

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796