T Rex couldn’t outrun a human… let alone a Jeep!
ONE of the most terrifying scenes in Steven Spielberg’s film Jurassic Park showed a T Rex sprinting just behind a speeding Jeep.
But scientists have found that the dinosaur would not have been able to outrun a human – let alone keep up with a 4x4.
Tyrannosaurus rex was really a slowcoach – because it was too big to sprint that fast, they say. The scientists have worked out its maximum speed for the first time and found that it was only 16.5mph, which is similar to an average human’s.
The researchers, from Leipzig university in germany, studied almost 500 species, ranging from molluscs to whales, and found they only have so much time to reach maximum speed.
This is because acceleration comes from working in short bursts anaerobically – without oxygen. But this time is limited because an animal’s stores of energy are limited, so big beasts will never be able to reach their theoretical maximum speed and will never match smaller ones such as cheetahs.
The speed of dinosaurs has been debated for decades. Some scientists say T Rex, which weighed up to nine tons, could reach 45mph while others have suggested it was more like a plodding cyclist at 11mph.
Now the study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, shows T Rex would never have been able to keep up with a Jeep. However, the much smaller velociraptor could have got up to 34mph.
Zoologist Dr Myriam Hirt, of Leipzig university, used a formula that combined body mass, power and time needed for acceleration to reach her conclusions.