Some of the fastest dinosaur species of Earth lived in the territory that the Rioja community occupies today and could run 45 kilometers per hour, according to a study.
The researcher at the University of La Rioja (UR) Pablo Navarro (Zaragoza, 1988) has detailed that according to his study, published by the journal Scientific Reports, which belongs to the Nature group, some species of theopods (two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs) They could run 45 kilometers / hour, which represents one of the fastest speeds calculated to date for these animals from the analysis of their traces.
The fossil traces analyzed are located in two deposits located in Igea (La Rioja), dating from the lower cretaceous period, between 145 and 100 million years ago.
One of the traces - the tower 6A - contains five footprints and the other -The tower 6b- seven, all of them three fingers and longer than wide.
According to Navarro, it is "very unusual" finding traces of career so fast because, although there are many footprints worldwide, those of this type are "very rare".
The atmosphere in which the traces occurred, a muttered floor, "Surely it was not the most suitable to run," he said.
"Although it is not possible to determine the species that left them, we believe that they were made by medium-sized carnivorous dinosaurs, about 2 meters high and between 4 and 5 meters long, possibly from the family of the spinny or carcharodontosauridos" , it has specified Navarro.
With the analysis of angles and distances between the traces, researchers have calculated that one of the dinosaurs ran at a speed of between 23.4 and 37.1 kilometers per hour and the other, even, faster, between 31.7 and 44.6.
This last figure is among the three maximum speeds estimated for theopods around the world, has added.
In addition to high speed, this research has made it possible to confirm the agility of these dinosaurs, since one of the traces shows a smooth and constant increase in speed, while in the other there is a sudden change of direction in the race, what That the authors interpret as a proof that the animal maneuvered as it ran.
These data corroborate the studies carried out in recent decades through the analysis of bone remains and the use of biomechanics, after the realization of field photographs to which three-dimensional models were applied, added.
In this research they have collaborated scientists from the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of the Basque Country, the National University of Río Negro (Argentina) and the Paleontological Interpretation Center of La Rioja.
Date Of Update: 10 December 2021, 15:12
