T. Rex ran on its tiptoes “Like an eight-ton chicken”
New findings from a study led by COA’s Adrian Boeye ’26 about the anatomy of the dinosaur age’s fiercest predator suggest it chased prey “like an oversized bird.”
By Jack Tamisiea | New York Times
In recent years, scientists have given Tyrannosaurus rex a makeover. Some have suggested that the dinosaur’s toothy maw was covered by fleshy lips. Others have reconstructed the beast with a fluffy coat of feathers.
Even the dinosaur’s earthshaking footsteps are being re-examined. An analysis of fossilized tracks and Tyrannosaurus rex’s lower leg anatomy are prompting a reconstruction of the dinosaur’s gait. The findings, published on Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science, reveal that the top of the dinosaur food chain walked on tippy toes, not unlike modern birds.
Adrian Boeye, an undergraduate student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine who studies biomechanics, led the project. He was interested in how Tyrannosaurus rex, an animal capable of weighing more than 10 tons, was able to move through its environment and chase down prey.
According to Mr. Boeye, previous efforts to reconstruct T. rex movements often simplified the dinosaur’s feet. “The feet were treated as these rigid blocks,” he said, that would simply stomp on the ground heel-first.