this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2024
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Comparative anatomy (slrpnk.net)
submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 78 points 2 months ago (8 children)

I'd love to see an informed response as to why we think they ran instead of hopped. Is there a difference in the skeleton or muscles that would tell us?

[–] mineralfellow 134 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 62 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Oh God imagine we'd actually found huge parallel footprints.

[–] moistclump 42 points 2 months ago

Then we’d know Jesus was carrying the t-rex the whole time

[–] IAmTheZeke 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They were all made in clay-rich sandstone, which preserved the tracks so well that they have impressions of the scales on the skin of these dinosaurs.

Oooo so we know for sure what the scale shapes are? Fascinating! Where is dino science on feathers currently? Did some dinosaurs resemble birds more than lizards? Sorry I'm late. Be wild if we had such impressions of feathers somewhere

[–] Graphy 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I think a lot of modern birds have scales on their feet.

[–] IAmTheZeke 1 points 2 months ago

That's true... I didn't know we had more than bones though. Pretty amazing that we know exactly what those scales look like.

[–] Lemming6969 50 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Likely footprint patterns

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

Good point actually.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Kangaroos hop because they can store a lot of energy in there Achilles tendon and use that to propel them forward without using much energy. It's good for covering long distances over flat terrain while using as little energy as possible , which is good for the Australian outback as they hop between small patches of vegitation separated by miles of desert. It's not that good for ambushing or quickly chasing prey in a rainforest like the t rex is probably doing.

There's also the issue of scale, a t rex's Achilles tendon would have to be stronger then steel cable and as stretchy as rubber to store and re use that much kinetic force from its weight.

[–] InverseParallax 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Was gonna say, the tendon strength simply doesn't scale like that, rexes are way too massive.

Could see it for larger raptors though, except they're probably better off just running. Predators really need maximum bursts of speed and maneuverability, hopping doesn't give them that.

[–] CitizenKong 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The probably pounced on their prey though when they were sure they would catch them.

[–] TheBat 2 points 2 months ago

We saw that in the Attenborough documentary, Jurassic Park.

[–] NegativeInf 46 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Probably something to do with strain on the body. Studies show T. rex couldn't even run. Maybe a fast walk. Additionally, the way the muscles attach to the bones probably don't support hopping.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The context of this comment is amazing.

Imagine a creature, that died over 65 million years ago (earth was at the other side of the galaxy back then) and yet we can detect how the muscles attached to the bone

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

earth was at the other side of the galaxy back then

Hoooly eff.

[–] Cypher 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Right now you’re orbiting the galactic core (well basically, its very close) at 240km/s +/- ~30km/s (Earths rotation of the Sun).

And it still took 65 million years to complete less than half an orbit of the galaxy.

[–] ChonkyOwlbear 33 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Skull weight alone would make hopping difficult. Their heads are huge.

[–] pyre 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

yep, the first thing I noticed was how tiny the kangaroo's head and upper body is compared to the legs. for the t-rex both the head and the upper body are much more massive compared to the leg's diameter.

[–] TotalFat 6 points 2 months ago

Maybe they tucked their huge heads and rolled around like rollerrats. Except huge.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Most likely the weight difference would be the biggest issue here.

Same reason why to scale bug wings wouldn't let you fly, that square cube law can lead to some very unfun conclusions where big beasties are concerned.

Or some absolutely terrifying ones in Shin Godzilla's case.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

SQUARE CUBE LAW MENTIONED

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I wonder if babies and adolescents hopped around? There's already the theory that T.rexs lived in family groups with adolescents catching lots of small prey and adults catching the occassional large prey and providing protection.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

hopping like a kangaroo is unlikely, but it would probably make sense for them to move like modern birds of the same size and whatever is the most similar ecological niche.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Chicky Hopping Baby T-Rexes Cannon!

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago

first off AFAIK they don't even have anything near the amount of muscle in the right places to try hopping, but even if they did manage it i'm pretty sure their legs would snap in half when they landed and then as the rest of the body met the ground they'd crack ribs and stuff as well.

Imagine trying to jump around while wearing a dishwasher on your back, even if you're monstrously strong in every part of your body it's gonna fucking suuuuuuuuck

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hip anatomy? Structured more like a bird hip rather than a reptile or kangaroo

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I was watching a Carrion Crow hop around just yesterday. Fast movement was a hop. Slow movement was a walk.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Well, think more grounded birds such as ratites and pheasants.