Four T. rex footprints hint at how fast it traveled
Though poorly preserved, the prints suggest the dino ambled at 1.6 meters per second, roughly the speed of a human walking briskly.
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Four fossilized footprints are helping scientists step into a dinosaur’s shoes. The prints form the first known set of tracks likely left by an adult Tyrannosaurus rex.
A trackway is three or more consecutive footprints left by some animal. The one for this T. rex spans 7 meters (10 feet). The track spacing suggests the ancient predator had been ambling along at about 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) per second, which would be a quick walking pace for us.
A few single adult T. rex footprints have been recorded. So have trackways from what might be T. rex juveniles or another related species, says Peter Falkingham. He’s a paleontologist at Liverpool John Moores University in England.
“Finding an adult trackway is cool,” he says. “It’s unique. It brings something new.”
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