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Biped carnivorous dinosaurs ran as fast as Usain Bolt

A theropod could run as fast as the fastest human being in the world.

This species of carnivorous dinosaur ran on two legs. Its feet had three toes with sharp claws, similar to some dinosaurs, like the velociraptor, so familiar from science fiction movies.

Using fossilized footprints left on earth in La Rioja, Spain, the researchers were able to identify the running speed of two different dinosaurs, according to research published on Thursday (9) in Scientific Reports.

The theropod called La Torre 6A-14, which made the largest pair of footprints, was running between 23.3 and 37.2 kilometers per hour, one of the fastest theropod running speeds ever calculated, according to the study.

The owner of the smaller footprints, called La Torre 6B-1, outpaced the other theropod at speeds between 31.7 and 44.6 kilometers per hour.

Jamaican Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest human, ran up to 43.9 kilometers per hour during a 100-meter race in 2011, just below the prehistoric beast.

Footprints captured in lake mud

The researchers had five footprints to analyze from La Torre 6A-14 and seven from La Torre 6B-1. Dinosaur footprints are difficult to find at high speed, said one of the study’s authors, Pablo Navarro-Lorbés, a doctoral candidate at the University of La Rioja in Spain.

Theropods probably lived during the Early Cretaceous period, said Navarro-Lorbés, which was 145 to 100.5 million years ago. During that time, there was a system of lakes in the area that changed the water level, he added.

“During changes in the water level, dinosaurs could walk and run over these lakes, imprinting their steps in the mud,” explained Navarro-Lorbés via email.

Scientists used a formula to determine how fast the theropods were running.

The researchers used the ratio between the animal’s jump height, which was found by measuring the length of the footprint, and the stride length, which was the distance between two successive footprints made by the same paw, he said.

mysterious species of theropods

It is not known what species these theropods were, said Navarro-Lorbés. The research team hypothesized that they came from the spinosaurid or carcharodontosaurid families.

Based on the characteristics of the footprints, it is likely that they were made by theropods of the same species, although one was likely smaller than the other, he said.

A typical theropod is between 4 and 5 meters long, according to Navarro-Lorbés. They hunted other animals for food, including other dinosaurs, he added.

The findings help the scientific community understand more about the habits of dinosaurs and the speed at which certain animals ran during this period, said Navarro-Lorbés, which shows in more detail how these creatures lived.

Reference: CNN Brasil

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