Never mind outrunning a T. rex – you could probably outwalk it

  • Clickbait title. It's about walking speed which does not tell us about the running speed.

    The article itself cites researchers saying: "the study authors want to incorporate their flexible tail into models of a running T. rex, van Bijlert said. Maximum running speed for a T. rex is thought to be in the range of 10 to 25 mph (16 to 40 km/h), according to Hutchinson."

  • You could outwalk it if does not run, because this here was about walking speed.

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    As for T. rex's next steps, the study authors want to incorporate their flexible tail into models of a running T. rex, van Bijlert said. Maximum running speed for a T. rex is thought to be in the range of 10 to 25 mph (16 to 40 km/h), according to Hutchinson. Biomechanics researchers have long proposed that T. rex's maximum running speed would be limited by the strength of its bones, because the animal was so heavy. However, a flexible tail could change that by acting as a shock damper during running, "allowing it to run faster without breaking its bones," van Bijlert said.

  • Maybe you could outrun a fully-grown T. rex. But what about a juvenile?

    This is a great zoom talk by Dr. Thomas Holtz about the role played by sub-adult tyrannosaurids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwxaEsLcU_w

    Holtz looks at the hypothesis that juveniles and sub-adults filled the niches that medium-size predators occupied in ecosystems with no tyrannosaurids. If so they'd have needed to have been fast enough to catch smaller prey.

  • The most surprising part of the article, for me, is the population estimate of T. Rex to be in the billions.