Racing T-Rex? You'll Need a Head Start

Computer projection shows 6-ton carnivore was fleet of foot

By Heather McPherson, Newser User

Posted Aug 22, 2007 6:47 AM CDT

(Newser) – If a professional soccer player raced a T-Rex, chances are the athlete would wind up a dino snack, according to a new computer model projection. The simulation, which is the first to rely mainly on data from fossils rather than modern descendants of prehistoric beasts, showed the 6-ton carnivore steaming to a top speed of 18mph, the BBC reports.

The winner of the computer scientists' 200-meter dash was Compsognathus, a bipedal carnivore not much bigger than a chicken. It managed 40mph, close to the speed of the ostrich, today's fastest animal on two legs. The next step is to move into 3D projections, which could reveal much more about how dinosaurs moved.

[Images (6)]

[Videos (1)]

T-rex ((c) grendelkhan)

Lorenzo Hernandez from Billings Productions in McKinney, Tex., works on a robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex during installation at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Thursday, May 10, 2007. (Associated Press)

Workmen move a Torosaurus past the larger Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Thursday, May 10, 2007. Zoo workers and workmen from Billings Productions, Inc. of McKinney Tex., installed... (Associated Press)

Children watch an automated Tyrannosaurus Rex. (Getty Images (by Event))

Amy Hingerty, age five, looks into the jaws of an automated Tyrannosaurus Rex. (Getty Images)

Exhibit Displays Newest Dinosaur Fossils (Getty Images)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Compsognathus attack from The Lost World: Jurassic Park. (PierrotTheWolf (YouTube))

View larger videos >>

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Sea Once Filled With 'Dino Fish'

Giant fish prowled oceans in dinosaur age

(NEWSER) - Scientists have discovered a "missing link" in evolutionary history: evidence that prehistoric seas were filled with enormous, plankton-eating fish. The dino-sized fish existed between 66 and 172 million years ago, dying out around the the same time as the dinosaurs. It was only after they vanished that mammals and cartilaginous fish— like the manta ray and whale shark—adapted to fill their ecological niche. More»

Pint-Size T-Rex Surprises Scientists

'Raptorex' was 1/100th the weight of its descendant

(NEWSER) - Paleontologists have unearthed a miniature predecessor of Tyrannosaurus Rex, a finding that may rewrite the origins of the most iconic of dinosaurs. “Raptorex,” discovered in China, has all the distinctive features of a Tyrannosaurus—large head and jaws, long legs, and small arms—but it weighed only 150 pounds. The diminutive beast lived 125 million years ago, 35 million years before the more familiar T. Rex. More»

Long-Necked Dinosaur Grazed Like a Cow

Study finds plant-eater munched on ferns

(NEWSER) - The long-necked plant-eating dinosaur Nigersaurus ate its meals off the ground rather than reaching into trees, National Geographic reports. Fossils of the 30-foot-long creature reveal that the animal probably nibbled on plants such as ferns and horsetails. “We have seen nothing like this dinosaur,” said a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. More»

Giant Penguin Fossils Found in Peruvian Desert

Spearfishing birds waddled the earth 36 million years ago

(NEWSER) - Penguins haven't always lived on ice, scientists have concluded after unearthing fossils of giant penguins in Peru's Atacama desert. The penguins, nearly human-sized at 4.5 feet tall, had extraordinarily long beaks apparently used for spearfishing, and waddled the earth some 36 million years ago, the National Geographic News reports. More»

Fossil Shows Meteor Wiped Out Dinosaurs

How a single horn could cement a theory

(NEWSER) - It’s just one horn, not quite a foot and a half long, but scientists say a newly discovered fossil could clinch the theory that a falling asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Skeptics of the scenario have always pointed out that we’ve found no dinosaur fossils dated within the 3 million years before the meteor hit, the Telegraph explains. Until now, that is. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Racing T-Rex? You'll Need a Head Start