A new study reveals that humans were able to outrun the Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur, as the king of the dinosaurs only walked at a speed of 4 to 5 miles per hour (6.4 and 8 km per hour).
This conclusion came after an analysis of a 23-foot (about 7-meter) footprint trail in the Hill Creek Formation in southwest North Dakota, containing four three-toed footprints, each about 3 feet (about 1 meter) long, which were most likely left by a Tyrannosaurus rex, famously known as the Tyrant King of the Lizards or T-Rex, given their exceptional size and narrow toe shape.
Scientists from Liverpool John Moores University and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science found that the dinosaur was walking at a speed of between 3.5 and 4.5 miles per hour (approximately 5.6 to 7.2 km/h) when it left these tracks. Lead author Professor Peter Falkingham said: "The tracks show that it was walking at about two meters per second, or about 4-5 miles per hour. That's a bit faster than most people walk. You would probably have needed to jog to keep up with it when it left these tracks."
Tyler Lyson, one of the study's participants, added: "The bones tell us a lot about these creatures, but the footprints preserve a moment of their behavior. Thanks to the trail of the tracks, we can follow the dinosaur step by step as it moved, which is very rare for Tyrannosaurus rex."
For comparison, the average walking speed of a healthy person is 4 miles per hour (about 6.4 km/h), while the average running speed is about 6.7 miles per hour (about 10.8 km/h). This means that humans were able to outrun dinosaurs simply by running.
Although Tyrannosaurus Rex's ability to run has remained a point of contention among scientists, with researchers from the University of Manchester suggesting in 2017 that its enormous size and weight prevented it from moving at high speeds, while a previous study this year claimed it was capable of reaching speeds of up to 24.6 miles per hour (39.59 km/h) by running on its toes, Professor Falkingham suggests that the dinosaur may have been able to run, but admits there is no conclusive evidence.
As for the Tyrannosaurus Rex's short arms, Falkingham says they wouldn't have slowed the dinosaur down, adding: "If anything, the lack of swiveling arms was probably an advantage. Think of the emu and the cassowary; both have relatively short arms that they keep close to the body when running, and they have no problem running fast."
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