It almost is not fair. Carnivorous dinosaurs were armed with menacing teeth inside muscular jaws, wielded dangerous claws on their hands and feet, and boasted keen vision and sense of smell. And, as new research confirms, some were pretty fast, too.
Two trackways of Cretaceous Period fossilized footprints from about 120 million years ago discovered in northern Spain's La Rioja region show that the medium-sized meat-eating dinosaur species that made them could run at about 28 miles per hour (45 kph), scientists said on Thursday. This roughly matches the top speed achieved by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, the world's fastest human being. Two trackways located about 65 feet (20 meters) apart were discovered, one with seven footprints and the other with five. Each track - an impression of a three-toed foot with claws - measures around 12 inches (30 cm) long. They were made on the muddy surface of a lake plain in a region also populated by long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs, bipedal plant-eating dinosaurs, flying reptiles called pterosaurs, crocodiles, and turtles. Speed only added to the arsenal of meat-eating dinosaurs like the species that left the footprints in Spain. "Their capacity to run very quickly and their maneuvering abilities surely allowed them to chase prey very efficiently. And of course I wouldn't like to be caught by this guy on a riverbank," said Pablo Navarro-Lorbes, a paleontology doctoral student at Universidad de La Rioja in Spain and lead author of the research published in the journal Scientific Reports. The footprints bore characteristics showing they were made by a theropod, a group encompassing all the meat-eating dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus rex. Theropods were bipedal, with the largest perhaps 50 feet (15 meters) long. Read more...
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