Birds and crocodiles are direct descendants of dinosaurs: it is no coincidence that paleontological research often examines these two types of animals to understand how did the large reptiles move who lived on our planet tens of millions of years ago.
Today we wondered how we managed to confirm the speed (or rather, the slowness) of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, despite the 66 million years that separate us from its stay on Earth. THE fossilsin this type of reconstructions, they are indispensable sources, it is thanks to them that we can understand if the dinosaur moves on four legs or only on the rear ones.
Even the fossil footprints they do their job: the spacing between tracks can tell us how fast a large reptile walked or ran. Next, a basic mathematical formula derived from observing the motion of modern animals is applied.
And if these sources weren’t enough, know that the computer assisted tomography (CAT) has its say: it is with its help that we are able to create accurate digital reconstructions of dinosaurs, being able to add meat, muscles and other soft tissues and then compare everything with modern animals. This type of work allowed us to conclude that the T. Rex was too big and cumbersome to run at a speed exceeding 16 km/h.
