Despite using various methods such as studying footprints and creating computer models, experts still find it challenging to accurately determine the speed of dinosaurs.
Humans have learned quite a bit about dinosaurs, the extinct creatures that roamed the Earth 60 million years ago. To understand their behavior, scientists often have to combine multiple methods since their activities are rarely preserved in fossils. For instance, studying footprints is one way to infer their behavior. So, how fast could they run, and which dinosaur is considered the fastest?
Simulation of the Velociraptor dinosaur. (Photo: Alamy).
While scientists are not absolutely certain about which dinosaur holds the title for the fastest, there are several potential “candidates.” A strong contender is the Ornithomimosauria, a group of dinosaurs that resemble modern-day ostriches. Today, ostriches are the fastest flightless birds on the planet. With their lightweight bodies, unique posture, and impressive height of up to 2.8 meters, they can reach speeds of 55 – 70 km/h.
An anatomical feature that may reflect an animal’s speed is the length of the thigh and lower leg. This characteristic can be incorporated into models to estimate the speed of dinosaurs. According to Dr. David Button, a dinosaur researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, such estimates suggest that the Velociraptor could achieve speeds of around 40 km/h, at least during short sprints.
“By dinosaur standards, this is quite fast but still not the fastest. That title belongs to Ornithomimosauria, a group of dinosaurs with very long lower legs believed to be able to run as fast as ostriches—creatures that share similar features,” Button stated.
With the nickname “the bird mimickers,” Ornithomimosauria is often regarded as the leading candidate for the fastest dinosaur group. According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, their estimated speed could reach up to 48 km/h, but this record is challenging to verify. This is partly due to the evidence that experts must rely on when determining dinosaur speeds. It is possible that some dinosaur species ran very quickly, but distinguishing their footprints is quite difficult.
Simulation of the Ornithomimosauria dinosaur. (Photo: Masato Hattori).
Studying footprints is one method to investigate the movement speed of dinosaurs. By examining the sequence of footprints left by an individual, experts can make preliminary estimates based on stride length and foot size. According to the Paleontology Museum at the University of California, the fastest dinosaur speed estimated from footprints is 43.5 km/h, comparable to the famous sprinter Usain Bolt.
However, scientists cannot definitively determine which dinosaur species this speed belongs to. Many dinosaur footprints look similar, making species identification based solely on footprints quite challenging. Another issue is that the best-preserved footprints are often found in soft ground, an environment not ideal for running fast. Therefore, they provide limited information about dinosaur speeds.
Instead of relying on footprints, a study by a team of experts at the University of Manchester published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B modeled dinosaur running speeds based on anatomical information. They created computer models of the musculoskeletal system to predict the speed of three existing bipedal species (the Emu, Struthio ostrich, and humans) and five extinct species (the Compsognathus, Velociraptor, Dilophosaurus, Allosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus). Among these, the fastest dinosaur group is Compsognathus.
