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American Museum of Natural History
Course: American Museum of Natural History > Unit 1
Lesson 2: How do scientists study dinosaurs?- Where in the world did dinosaurs live?
- Where in the world did dinosaurs live?
- Did dinosaurs travel in herds or packs?
- Did dinosaurs travel in herds or packs?
- How fast were dinosaurs?
- Were dinosaurs warm-blooded?
- Were dinosaurs warm-blooded?
- How fast did dinosaurs grow, and how long did they live?
- How fast did dinosaurs grow, and how long did they live?
- What was dinosaur skin like?
- What color were extinct dinosaurs?
- What color were extinct dinosaurs?
- What were the biggest and smallest dinosaurs?
- Did dinosaurs fight?
- How did dinosaurs reproduce?
- How intelligent were dinosaurs?
- New research points to dinosaurs' colorful past
- New dinosaur research: Microraptor's feather color revealed
- Quiz: How do scientists study dinosaurs?
- Exploration Questions: How do scientists study dinosaurs?
- Answers to Exploration Questions: How do scientists study dinosaurs?
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How fast were dinosaurs?
Trying to estimate the speed of animals dead for more than 65 million years is difficult, but some generalizations are rather clear from the shape and size of dinosaur skeletons. For example, immense sauropods, such as Apatosaurus and Diplodocus with their massive bodies and columnar leg structure, were probably not fast runners other than in short bursts. Conversely, lighter and relatively long-limbed theropods, such as Velociraptor and ornithomimids (or "ostrich-mimic dinosaurs) were probably capable of running at high, sustained speeds. Explore the relative speed of dinosaurs.. Created by American Museum of Natural History.
Want to join the conversation?
- So... which kind of dinosaur was the champion of the ancient world? Could Usain Bolt win against that one?(12 votes)
- it could be the Gallimimus, which could run as fast as 70 miles per hour, definitely faster then Usain Bolt. the t-rex could only run about 15 mph, but since its huge size, it still could eat you(11 votes)
- Who would win?Carcharodontosaurus,Tyrannosaurus Rex ,Spinosaurus,Giganotosaurus,Sinraptor,Allosaurus, or Saurophaganax?(2 votes)
- I think it would be between Carcharodonasaurus, T. rex and Giganotosaurus, maybe Saurophagnax too. T. rex is the main unique one, the others are allosaurs and giganotosaurs, and mostly similar, although Carchar and Giga are bigger then the other two. Spino isn't built for hunting dinosaurs, its a fisher, so it has no chance, Allosaurus and Sinraptor are likely too small to last very long, although they might be agile enough to win but its doubtful.(2 votes)
- If a dinosaur's bone was fractured, what would most likely happen to it? Would the bone heal, or would it have to spend it's life hobbling around?(0 votes)
- The area around the bone would have been swollen, but it would most likely heal. This kind of happened to the allosaurus "Big Al"(1 vote)
Video transcript
When you say how fast dinosaurs
were it depends on which dinosaur you're talking about. Just like, you know,
mammals today go all the way from you know something like an armadillo or a sloth which, you know, we can outrun on a bad day to animals like cheetahs which can run in excess of a hundred kilometers an hour. Some of the most complete studies
have been based on biomechanical models which people can actually construct
models of these things using engineering programs and then run them in computers. And it's a lot of work to do this, so there
haven't been a lot of animals which have been done, one animal which has been done is Tyrannosaurus Rex, and people have been able calculate from it that
Tyrannosaurus Rex could run at a top speed of about eighteen miles an hour.