# Tyrannosaurus rex walked surprisingly slowly, new study finds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2021, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450 "2021-04-21T12:16:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450/1 "2021-04-21T12:17:00Z")
Well, of course. He’s over 66 million years old. You can’t expect him to keep up with lighter whippersnappers like those damned Allosaurs that are always walking all over his lawn. > [@](#): > > Tyrannosaurus rex was a fearsome predator, but it sure wasn’t a particularly fast mover. In fact, most humans could easily keep up with the dinosaur without breaking a sweat. > > T. rex would have covered just under 3 miles in an hour – a speed similar to that of humans and many other animals – at its preferred walking speed, according to new calculations by Dutch paleontologists. However, this pace is slower than other estimates of the tyrant lizard king’s walking speed. [https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/20/world/t-rex-walked-slowly-study-scn/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/20/world/t-rex-walked-slowly-study-scn/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450/2 "2021-04-21T12:43:07Z")
He also couldn’t do pull ups worth a damn. [![](https://6dollarshirts.com/image/cache//data/designs/t-rex-also-hates-pullups/trexalsohatespullups-t-shirt-kellygreen-750x750.jpg) ](https://6dollarshirts.com/image/cache//data/designs/t-rex-also-hates-pullups/trexalsohatespullups-t-shirt-kellygreen-750x750.jpg) So how did he get a rep as an apex predator? ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450/3 "2021-04-21T12:45:29Z")
That’s _walking_ speed. > T. rex walking speed … was similar to that of a diverse range of animals alive today. > > “Humans, ostriches, horses, elephants, giraffes, gnus and gazelles all have a remarkably close distribution in preferred speeds (about 2.2 - 3.1 mph). So this includes both two- and four-legged animals, and also both relatively small and large animals,” he said via email. Running speed, however… > Other studies have investigated the dinosaur’s running abilities and suggested it could have a top speed of between 12 miles per hour (20 kilometers per hour) and 18 miles per hour (29 kilometers per hour) That’s 4x - 6x faster than its walking speed. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450/4 "2021-04-21T12:49:37Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > That’s 4x - 6x faster than its walking speed. Well, heck, so is mine! ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450/5 "2021-04-21T12:54:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Well, heck, so is mine! I bet you’d run faster than that if you were being chased by a Tyrannosaur! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450/6 "2021-04-21T13:05:37Z")
Just gotta observe, those teeny forelimbs look ridiculous in that animation. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450/7 "2021-04-21T13:19:01Z")
Don’t be guilty of _brachiumirrisio_ (forearm shaming). It’s insensitive and would hurt the T. rex if it heard you. It can’t help the size and shape of forearms shaped by evolution. Besides, it might eat you. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VMzfrod7hcE/hqdefault.jpg "T Rex Eats Lawyer on Toilet- Jurassic Park") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMzfrod7hcE) ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-walked-surprisingly-slowly-new-study-finds/940450/8 "2021-04-21T18:25:37Z")
Anyone who plays ARK knows this. You don’t outrun a Rex.