In a discovery that reshapes our understanding of the locomotion of prehistoric megafauna, a team of Spanish researchers has shown that some of the largest dinosaurs and ancient mammoths moved far more slowly than previously believed. Published in Scientific Reports and led by scientists from the University of Granada and the Complutense University of Madrid, this study challenges long-held assumptions about how these colossal creatures interacted with their environments.
A New Look at Prehistoric Movement
For decades, paleontologists estimated speeds for large
extinct animals like sauropods and mammoths using methods that treated all land
animals similarly. These older approaches often applied formulas developed for
a wide range of species — from dogs to ostriches — without fully accounting for
how an animal’s body mass and limb structure affect maximum speed. The
new research argues that this caused systematic overestimation of movement
speeds.
Instead, the Spanish team built models specifically tailored
to graviportal animals — species with thick, column-like legs
designed to support heavy bodies. By using modern elephants as living
analogues for extinct giants, the researchers were able to derive more
realistic speed limits for mammoths and massive dinosaurs.
How Slow Were These Giants?
The results reveal that, despite their enormous size and
long legs, these prehistoric giants were not fleet-footed sprinters:
- Woolly
mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) may have reached a maximum of just
over ~20 km/h — a pace closer to a fast human run than to a racing animal.
- Larger
proboscideans like Mammut borsoni likely did not exceed ~15 km/h
even with their massive 16-ton body weights.
- Some
enormous sauropods, such as Argentinosaurus, appear to have been
limited to speeds near ~10 km/h.
- Other
species such as Turiasaurus riodevensis, though lighter, probably
topped out at around ~11–12 km/h.
These revised limits are much lower than earlier
estimates suggested, transforming the classic image of fast-moving
prehistoric giants into a more realistic picture of slow but powerful walkers.
Why Size Slows Down Speed
The key factor limiting speed in extremely large animals is biomechanics.
As body mass increases, the stresses placed on bones and joints grow
disproportionately. Big animals require greater muscle force to support and
accelerate their massive limbs, which also increases energy demands and limits
how rapidly they can safely stride without risking injury or structural
failure.
Graviportal limb structures — thick, column-like bones that
support heavy body weight — are excellent for bearing mass but not optimized
for fast locomotion. This means that, contrary to popular depictions, many
dinosaurs and mammoths were likely capable of steady movement over long
distances but not high-speed running.
Rewriting Paleoecology and Behavior
The implications of these results extend beyond speed
estimates. Understanding more accurate locomotion patterns helps scientists
reconstruct how these animals foraged, migrated, and interacted with
predators or early humans. It also reshapes models of ancient ecosystems by
suggesting that giants like mammoths and huge sauropods relied on endurance
and size rather than sprinting ability.
This research also highlights the importance of adapting
analytical methods in paleontology to account for body-size–specific
biomechanics, rather than applying one-size-fits-all equations across
species of vastly different sizes and shapes.
Conclusion
Thanks to advances in modeling, empirical data from living
animals, and collaboration among international research groups, scientists are
gaining a more nuanced, accurate understanding of how prehistoric giants
actually moved. Far from the rapid sprinters often portrayed in media and early
scientific reconstructions, these giants were majestic but methodical wanderers
— powerful in form but bound by the physical laws that govern all large
terrestrial life.
Sources
- “Prehistoric
giants were slower than previously thought: a study redefines the speed of
dinosaurs and mammoths,” Noticias Ambientales, reporting on
research published in Scientific Reports.
- “Spanish
researchers show mammoths and dinosaurs were slower than we thought,”
faculty.world summary of the study by University of Granada and
Complutense University of Madrid researchers.
- Biomechanics
research explaining how body mass affects speed in giant animals.
