The team, headed by biomechanics expert Bill Sellers and palaeontologist Phil Manning, used a powerful supercomputer to calculate the running speeds of five meat-eating dinosaurs that varied in size from a 3kg Compsognathus to a six-tonne Tyrannosaurus.
The results showed that the T. rex was able to run at speeds of up to 18mph, fractionally quicker than a sportsman such as a professional footballer.
However, according to the study, the fastest of the ancient carnivores was also one of the smallest: Compsognathus, a bipedal species approximately the same size as a chicken, could run at 40 mph. That’s 5mph faster than the computer’s estimate for the fastest living animal on two legs, the ostrich. A human sprinter can reach a top speed of about 27 mph.
“Previous research has relied on data from extant bipedal
models to provide clues as to how fast dinosaurs could run,” said Dr Sellers,
who is based in
“Such calculations can accurately predict the top speed of a six-tonne chicken but dinosaurs are not built like chickens and nor do they run like them. Our research involved feeding information about the skeletal and muscular structure of the dinosaurs directly into the supercomputer so it could work out how the animals were best able to move.”
Although it has a powerful memory the supercomputer needed up to a week to learn the biomechanics of each animal – starting with the first clumsy steps and developing into a top running speed based on the optimum gait and posture.
The researchers said the model marked the first attempt to
determine the speeds of dinosaurs using only fossils, without help from modern
animals.
“Our research, which used the minimum leg-muscle mass T. rex required for movement, suggests that while not incredibly fast, this carnivore was certainly capable of running and would have little difficulty in chasing down footballer David Beckham for instance.” said collaborator Dr Manning, a lecturer in palaeontology in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences.