The enormous body mass of sauropods, mastodons and mammoths imposes limitations on bones, joints, available forces and physiology. According to the authors of a new study, for the largest sauropods, which weigh up to 50 tons, maximum speeds are around 10 km/h.
A new study, which reviewed estimates of the maximum speed of some of the largest land animals that ever lived, concluded that giants like dinosaurs sauropods, mastodons and mammoths they moved at significantly slower speeds than previously believed.
recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, featured the participation of archaeologist Juan Manuel Jimenez Arenasfrom the University of Granada, and from Javier Ruizprofessor of internal geodynamics at the Complutense University of Madrid, disclosed the University of Granada.
The walking speed of animals depends on multiple factorsincluding the type of locomotion and body massthe researchers explained.
Os plantigrade and graviportal animalsthose with columnar legs adapted to support large weights, are noticeably slower than digitigrade or unguligrade animals.
Furthermore, from a weight of 100 kilos, maximum speed decreases progressively as body size increases. Examples of this are the modern elephants, the heaviest land animalswhich do not exceed 25 kilometers per hour.
In paleontology, where It is not possible to observe directly the movement of extinct species, the speed estimation depends on mathematical models. Until now, these models grouped together animals with very different anatomies and modes of locomotion, leading to significant overestimations.
“Estimating the maximum speed capacity (athletic capacity) of very large fossil animals constitutes a challenge”explain the authors of the study.
Although large animals have limbs that favor longer stride lengths and higher speeds, their body mass imposes limitations to bones, joints, available forces and physiologyresulting in the fastest animals not being the largest”, they add.
“In this work we use the well-known relationship between body mass and maximum potential speed for calculate upper limits for the athletic capacity of proboscideans and giant fossil sauropods”, detail the authors of the study. “For the largest sauropods, which approach 50 tons, our calculated maximum speeds are around 10 km/h or less“.
“In truth, traditional equations exaggerated the speed real two modern elephants up to 70%a margin of error incompatible with the rigorous reconstruction of the ecological behavior of extinct species”, explain the researchers.
To correct this bias, the research team developed new calculations based exclusively on empirical data from live elephantsconsidering the best large vertebrate analoguess from the past.
Applying these models, the results show that the woolly mammothweighing around six tons, was the fastest extinct proboscidean, reaching speeds of just over 20 km/h. In contrast, the huge Mammoth bagswhich weighed up to 16 tons, It would hardly exceed 15 km/h.
The study also analyzed the speed of mammoths that inhabited the Orce Basin (Grenada), such as the Southern mammotha species contemporary with the first humans from Western Eurasia, which would travel at a maximum speed of approximately 18 km/h.
Giant dinosaurs turned out to be even slower, according to researchers, who highlighted that the Argentinosaurus hiunculensisone of the largest known land animals, weighing around 75 tons, will not have exceeded 10 km/h.
In Europe, Turiasaurus riodevensis, found in Teruel and with an estimated weight of 42 tons, reached a maximum speed of 11.8 km/h.
These values place these large extinct mammals at speeds comparable to, and even lower than, elite human athletes in walking, and much faster. far from the speeds reached by elite sprinters.
The conclusions also suggest that the immense body size and graviportic structure of sauropods were fundamental factors that probably restricted their locomotion to a single constant gaitin line with evidence from fossil clues.
