Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Estimates of speeds of dinosaurs

Nature volume 261, pages 129–130 (1976)Cite this article

Abstract

THE faster an animal walks or runs the longer, in general, are its strides. Many dinosaur tracks have been found from which stride lengths can be measured1 .I have now obtained a relationship between speed, stride length and body size from observations of living animals and applied this to dinosaurs to achieve estimates of their speeds. The estimated speeds are rather low—between 1.0 and 3.6 m s−1.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ostrom, J. H., Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 11, 287–301 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Duncan, W. J., Physical Similarity and Dimensional Analysis (Arnold, London,1953).

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Gray, J., Animal Locomotion (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Alexander, R. McN., in Scale Effects in Animal Locomotion (edit. by Pedley, T. J.) (Academic, London, in the press).

  5. Kurtén, B., The Age of Dinosaurs (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Müller, A. H., Lehrbuch der Paläozoologie, 3(2) (Fischer, Jena, 1968).

  7. Bird, R. T., Nat. Hist., N. Y., 53, 60–67 (1944).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bakker, R. T. Discovery, Peabody Mus., 3, 11–22 (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Galton, P. M., J. Palaeont., 44, 464–473 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cavagna, G. A., Margaria, R., and Arcelli, E., Research Film, 5, 309–319 (1965).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Zarrugh, M. Y., Todd, F. N., and Ralston, H. J., Eur. J. appl. Physiol., 33, 293–306 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Muybridge, E., Animals in Motion (edit. by Brown, L. S.) (Dover Books, New York, 1957).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Albritton, C. C., Fld Lab., 10, 161–181 (1942).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Charig, A. J., and Newman, B. H., New Scientist, 14, 234–235 (1962).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pure and Applied Zoology, The University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    R. McN. ALEXANDER

Authors
  1. R. McN. ALEXANDER
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

ALEXANDER, R. Estimates of speeds of dinosaurs. Nature 261, 129–130 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/261129a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/261129a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing