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Re: New work on running biomech by Hutchinson
On Thursday, September 9, 2004, at 10:56 AM, David Marjanovic wrote:
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)
I'm not keen on exactly what a Froude or MOR number is, so basically
what I'd like to know is why would it be multiplied by 3.6 for the
adult Tyrannosaur?
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.
Shoot, beware of Coelophysids!