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[-] gibmiser@lemmy.world 116 points 2 months ago
[-] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 113 points 2 months ago
[-] FatTony@lemmy.world 43 points 2 months ago

Stop that, stop that! Go on, clear off! Go on, go away! And you, clear off! Bloody weather.

[-] leftzero@lemmynsfw.com 13 points 2 months ago

Bloody weather...

[-] unreachable@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago
[-] angrystego@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Circles in the glass of water intensify.

[-] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 81 points 2 months ago

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@lemmy.world 134 points 2 months ago
[-] Hupf@feddit.org 62 points 2 months ago

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

[-] moistclump@lemmy.world 42 points 2 months ago

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

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[-] Lemming6969@lemmy.world 51 points 2 months ago
[-] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 12 points 2 months ago

Good point actually.

[-] Not_mikey@slrpnk.net 49 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

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

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[-] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 46 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] BudgetBandit@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 months ago

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

[-] rooroo@feddit.org 6 points 2 months ago

earth was at the other side of the galaxy back then

Hoooly eff.

[-] Cypher@lemmy.world 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.

[-] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 34 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] turnipjs@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 months ago

SQUARE CUBE LAW MENTIONED

[-] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 2 months ago

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.

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[-] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago

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

[-] pyre@lemmy.world 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@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

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

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 17 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

[-] xx3rawr@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 months ago

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

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[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 74 points 2 months ago

I've seen a lot of little birds hop around. Not only are birds dinosaurs, but the particular birds I've seen hopping are very similar in shape to a T Rex.

My chickens run around very similar to the run we see of T-Rex/raptors in movies. They lean forward and low and run surprisingly fast for an animal with wings that they just tuck.

[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Yeah, that seems more likely from what I know about dinosaurs. Just saying, we already have birds who hop to compare to. The kangaroo idea just strikes me as silly

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[-] hakunawazo@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Or like a pigeon with its head motion while walking.

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[-] s_s@lemm.ee 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Have you ever seen a real roadrunner?

[-] Driftel@discuss.online 9 points 2 months ago

Seen one? I've caught one.

[-] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 10 points 2 months ago

I heard it takes a super genius to do that.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Seems unlikely. Which Acme products did you use?

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

I’ve watched scrub jays running around on my lawn, eating bugs, looking exactly like little dinosaurs.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 38 points 2 months ago
[-] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 35 points 2 months ago

And what if they skipped daintily while holding giant lollipops?

[-] GraniteM@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

"Nurse said that if I were a good lad that I should receive a lolly!"

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

I think I saw that anime.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

T Rex only known organism to lick its way to the center of a Tootsie pop

[-] TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee 20 points 2 months ago

The math maths

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Imagining a TRex with enormous bunny-shaped ears

[-] darki@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

Does the penguin fly? Mass/per/volume is a thing...

[-] geogle@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Mass per volume is density, and I suspect the Trex and kangaroo are similar (~1000 kg/m^3) so yes they'd both bounce in that case. I think what you're looking for is surface area to volume, which decreases rapidly as an object gets larger while maintaining geometry.

[-] leftzero@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 2 months ago

It's worth noting that most extinct dinosaurs were probably more similar to surviving ones (i.e., birds) than to mammals and reptiles when it comes to bones and respiratory systems, and, by extension, density.

That is to say, they probably could get that big because they were quite literally full of air.
Some of them (especially sauropods, but maybe also other big species like tyrannosaurs) probably had even more complex and efficient air sac systems than modern birds...

[-] ace_garp@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

+1 Terrifying

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this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2024
701 points (99.2% liked)

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