T. rex on the Run

Think you could outrun a hungry T. rex? New research suggests you might have a chance. Scientists once thought that this giant predator chased down prey at high speeds. But a recent study found that T. rex’s top speed was 12 miles per hour.

“It’s more of a speed walker, as opposed to a sprinter,” says Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Manning worked with computer scientists to model the dinosaur’s skeleton and muscles. Then they programmed the computer model to move like a dinosaur. “It’s literally like a baby learning how to walk and crawl and run,” says Manning. What did the researchers learn? Their model showed that if T. rex went any faster, it would likely have broken its legs!