Re: Athletic Performances

[jamolnar@juno.com]

On Fri, 13 Jun 1997 19:51:11 -0400 Jack Frost <frost@gowebway.com>
writes:
>Felix Landry wrote:
><And can you give me an estimation of maximum speed for the following
>dinosaurs, please?>
>
>I'll try.
>>(major snippage)
>>Coelophysis-  About 65 or 70 MPH.
>Compsognathus-  Somewhere between 40 and 50 MPH.
>Tyrannosaurus-  About thirty MPH.
>Ornithomimus-  About 45 MPH.
>Velociraptor-  About eighty MPH.
>Unenlagia-  He's too new.
>Hypsilophodon-  I think he was the best jumper, but he probably didn't 
>run all that fast.
>Triceratops-  About forty MPH.
>

Can you tell me how you can estimate that several bidpedal dinosaurs can
run as fast or faster than the current four-footed land speed champ, the
cheetah?  No two-footed animals today come even close, and the cheetah
can't keep up its speed for long.  What is it about the anatomical
dynamics of Velociraptor, Coelophysis and Compsognathus that lead to
these estimates?  Have trackways actually be found that yield these
results?

Judy Molnar
Education Associate, Virginia Living Museum
vlmed@juno.com
jamolnar@juno.com
All questions are valid; all answers are tentative.