Re: T. rex vs Edmontosaurus speed

[Martin Baeker <martin.baeker@tu-bs.de>]

It's not quite that simple - first of all, it is not absolute muscle
mass, but muscle mass relative to body weight that is important, i.e.,
how large is the percentage of the body mass that is concentrated in
the muscles. Furthermore, there is the question of how the muscles act
- moment arms of the muscles and length of the limb segments.

If you want to see how to calculate with this kind of things, look at
the papers by John Hutchinson.

Cheers,

Martin.

> Re speed vs. musculature, let's for the moment make a loose general analogy
> with other animals, horses for example.  If musculature is directly related to
> speed, that would imply that Belgians, Percherons, and Clydesdales are faster
> than Thoroughbreds.  Is that in fact, the case?  In a similar vein, would a
> mastiff be expected to outrun a greyhound or whippet?
> JimC
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brandon Pilcher" <trex_kid@hotmail.com>
> To: <dinosaur@usc.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 7:50 AM
> Subject: T. rex vs Edmontosaurus speed
> 
> 
> >
> >including the conjecture that it could have outrun T. rex (based on
> >examination of Dakota's muscles). 
> 
> 
> 

                   Priv.-Doz. Dr. Martin BÃker
                   Institut fÃr Werkstoffe
                   Technische UniversitÃt Braunschweig
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