Re: Lack of Running Giant Theropod Tracks

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

On Tue, Nov 30th, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Mike Taylor <mike@indexdata.com> wrote:

> On 29 November 2010 21:55, Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au> wrote:
> >> Do we know of any extant animals in which the juveniles can run faster
> >> than the adults?  While no doubt there must be a way exceptions (sea
> >> squirts? :-)), I think they ARE exceptions.  I'm not convinced by the
> >> widespread a priori assumption that adult ceratopsians and
> >> tyrannosaurs were slower than the juveniles.
> >
> > I don't know about 'faster', but baby rhinos certainly run 'more often' 
> > than their parents.
> 
> That is also true of humans; but adults can run faster than children
> when they try.  I think that's the case with the great majority of
> animals.

Sure - but have you ever tried to keep up with a toddler all day? Chances are 
the adult will tire 
long before the toddler does. And whereas the adult might need eight hours of 
sleep to recharge, 
the toddler can usually turn the dial up to eleven again after just a brief nap.

Speed over the short-term is one thing, but overall endurance can still win the 
day (the 
old 'tortoise and hare' scenario, if I'm not mistaken).

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst               Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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