Re: Lack of Running Giant Theropod Tracks

[Erik Boehm <erikboehm07@yahoo.com>]

 It certainly is plausible that adult forms were considerably more bulky than 
the juveniles, and thus slower, and this would be more likely if they relied on 
size and not speed to survive as adults.

There are also scaling laws.
Something on the size order of a cockroach or mouse, is not going to get going 
60 mph, but I doubt anything (alive, with just muscles, ligaments, and bones 
for locomotion) that weighs 60 tons could get going that fast either.

I suspect there is an optimal size for speed when it comes to animals, and 
given the great sizes of the adult dinosaurs, it seems reasonable that the 
young could have been outright faster.


but as to this comparison of adult humans and toddlers....

Some how I don't think that preschoolers could run a marathon, at least not 
anywhere near as fast as adults who devote a considerable amount of their time 
training for it (especially those Kenyans!).

Comparing preschoolers who run around all day playing hide and 
seek/tag/whatever, to an adult with a desk job, to a 150 kg linebacker who 
trains mainly to block and only be active for 30 seconds tops before a break in 
play.... is not very useful.
Especially when comparing children to adults in a country where obesity is 
epidemic, and adults are sedentary.

Take a kid along on a long hike, and get ready for whining

They also fall asleep much faster/easier than adults it seems. Suppose you play 
with a kid where equal distances of running are involved, afterwards you relax 
on the couch and watch something on TV, the toddler sleeps.
The toddler then wakes up ready to go, while you were just getting ready to nod 
off.

I get the impression that it is a matter of faster recovery, rather than 
greater endurance, and they certainly do not have greater speed.


--- On Tue, 11/30/10, Scott <hmwh@comcast.net> wrote:

> From: Scott <hmwh@comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: Lack of Running Giant Theropod Tracks
> To: dannj@alphalink.com.au, dinosaur@usc.edu
> Date: Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 7:23 AM
> I remember some report 35 years ago
> that
to keep up with preschoolers for a Saturday
> morning. They couldn't do it.
> Scott Perry
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dann Pigdon" <dannj@alphalink.com.au>
> To: <dinosaur@usc.edu>
> Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 5:32 PM
> Subject: Re: Lack of Running Giant Theropod Tracks
> 
> 
> > 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).
> > 
> > --
> _____________________________________________________________
> > 
> > Dann Pigdon
> > Spatial Data Analyst         
>      Australian Dinosaurs
> > Melbourne, Australia         
>      http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
> >
> _____________________________________________________________
> > 
> 
>