Tyranno-SLOW-rus rex! King of the dinosaurs enjoyed a leisurely stroll at just 3.5mph, track analysis reveals

In the movies, T.rex is often shown tearing through the forest at great speed, obliterating any prey in its path.But a new study paints a very different picture of the king of the dinosaurs. Scientists from Liverpool John Moores University and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have analysed ancient T.rex tracks to understand how the dinosaur moved. And the results suggest that humans would have stood a good chance of outrunning the huge predator (had we been alive 66.5 million years ago).According to the researchers, T.rex would have enjoyed a leisurely stroll at just 3.5 to 4.5mph when it left these tracks. Speaking to the Daily Mail, lead author, Professor Peter Falkingham, said: 'The tracks show it walking at about 2 metres per second, or about 4–5 miles an hour. 'A bit quicker than most people stroll (~3mph). You might've had to jog to keep up with it when it made these tracks.' In the movies, T.rex is often shown tearing through the forest at great speed, obliterating any prey in its path. But a new study paints a very different picture of the king of the dinosaurs Scientists from Liverpool John Moores University and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have analysed ancient T.rex tracks to understand how the dinosaur movedIn the study, the team analysed a 23ft (seven metre) trackway in the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota. This trackway contains four three–toed footprints, each measuring roughly three feet (0.9 metres) long. Based on the footprints' exceptional size and narrow toe shape, the researchers say that T.rex was the most likely trackmaker.'Bones tell us an enormous amount about these animals, but footprints capture a moment of behavior,' explained Tyler Lyson, an author of the study. 'With a trackway, we can actually follow an animal as it moved across the landscape. That is incredibly rare for T. rex.'Using 3D surface scanning, the researchers were able to examine the footprints in incredible detail, before creating physical 3D reproductions.According to their analysis, the trackway records two left and two right footprints, with a stride of approximately 13ft (four metres). This suggests the T.rex who left them was walking at a pace of around 3.5 to 4.5mph (5.6 to 7.2 km/h). In the study, the team analysed a 23ft (seven metre) trackway in the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota. This trackway contains four three–toed footprints, each measuring roughly three feet (0.9 metres) longFor reference, the average walking pace for a person with excellent fitness is 4mph, according to the British Heart Foundation. While this was T.rex's likely walking speed, whether or not the huge dinosaur could have run has been a matter of contention. In 2017, scientists from the University of Manchester suggested that the sheer size and weight of T.rex would have meant it couldn't move at high speed. However, a study earlier this year led by a team at the College of the Atlantic in Maine claimed that T.rex could reach top speeds of 24.6mph – by running on its tiptoes.Professor Falkingham suggests that T.rex could indeed run, although he admits it's 'hard to say for certain'.He explained: 'It's hard to say for certain from bones alone, and we've no sprinting trackways of T. rex.'As for T.rex's notoriously short arms, Professor Falkingham says that these would not have slowed the dinosaur down. He added: 'If anything, not having arms waving about might have been a benefit – think Emu, Cassowary etc that all have relatively short arms/wings that they keep tucked close to the body when running. They have no problem running fast!'KILLING OFF THE DINOSAURS: HOW A CITY-SIZED ASTEROID WIPED OUT 75 PER CENT OF ALL ANIMAL AND PLANT SPECIES Around 66 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world's species were obliterated.This mass extinction paved the way for the rise of mammals and the appearance of humans.The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.The asteroid slammed into a shallow sea in what is now the Gulf of Mexico.The collision released a huge dust and soot cloud that triggered global climate change, wiping out 75 per cent of all animal and plant species.Researchers claim that the soot necessary for such a global catastrophe could only have come from a direct impact on rocks in shallow water around Mexico, which are especially rich in hydrocarbons.Within 10 hours of the impact, a massive tsunami waved ripped through the Gulf coast, experts believe. Around 66 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world's species were obliterated. The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event (stock image)This caused earthquakes and landslides in areas as far as Argentina. While investigating the event researchers found small particles of rock and other debris that was shot into the air when the asteroid crashed.Called spherules, these small particles covered the planet with a thick layer of soot.Experts explain that losing the light from the sun caused a complete collapse in the aquatic system.This is because the phytoplankton base of almost all aquatic food chains would have been eliminated.It's believed that the more than 180 million years of evolution that brought the world to the Cretaceous point was destroyed in less than the lifetime of a Tyrannosaurus rex, which is about 20 to 30 years.