The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods
Estimating the maximum speed capability (athletic capability) of very large fossil animals is challenging. While large animals have limbs favoring longer stride lengths and higher speeds, their body mass imposes limitations on bones, joints, available forces, and physiology, resulting in the fastest...
| Authors: | ; ; ; ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Publication date: | 2025 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| Repository: | Docta Complutense |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/131056 |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131056 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | 567/569 Paleontología 2416.05 Paleontología de Los Vertebrados |
| _version_ | 1878739909585403904 |
|---|---|
| author | Ruiz Pérez, Javier |
| author2 | Romilio, Anthony Saarinen, Juha Torices Hernández, Angélica Jiménez Arenas, Juan Manuel |
| author2_role | author author author author |
| author_browse | Jiménez Arenas, Juan Manuel Romilio, Anthony Ruiz Pérez, Javier Saarinen, Juha Torices Hernández, Angélica |
| author_facet | Ruiz Pérez, Javier Romilio, Anthony Saarinen, Juha Torices Hernández, Angélica Jiménez Arenas, Juan Manuel |
| author_role | author |
| collection | Docta Complutense |
| description | Estimating the maximum speed capability (athletic capability) of very large fossil animals is challenging. While large animals have limbs favoring longer stride lengths and higher speeds, their body mass imposes limitations on bones, joints, available forces, and physiology, resulting in the fastest animals not being the largest. Here we use the well-known relationship between body mass and potential maximum speed to calculate upper limits for the athletic capability of fossil giant proboscideans and sauropods. First, we assess the reliability of two different fits to maximum speed data for mammals. Subsequently, we analyze masses and speeds of live proboscideans, finding they consistently move below the lower bounds predicted by model fits. Finally, we propose maximum speed for representative fossil proboscideans and sauropods. Although calculated maximum speeds for larger proboscideans are comparatively lower, there is substantial overlap with those observed in live proboscideans. For the largest sauropods approaching or exceeding 50 Tn our calculated maximum speeds are around 10 km/h or lower. These findings suggest that immense body size and graviportal structure of sauropods were key factors likely restricting their locomotion to a single, steady gait, consistent with fossil trackway evidence. |
| eu_rights_str_mv | openAccess |
| format | article |
| id | ES_ca3e5fc5ec83dfa56c5bca18a89ec3dd |
| institution | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| instname_str | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| language | eng |
| network_acronym_str | ES |
| network_name_str | España |
| oai_identifier_str | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/131056 |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing |
| publisherStr | Nature Publishing |
| reponame_str | Docta Complutense |
| spelling | The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods Ruiz Pérez, Javier Romilio, Anthony Saarinen, Juha Torices Hernández, Angélica Jiménez Arenas, Juan Manuel 567/569 Paleontología 2416.05 Paleontología de Los Vertebrados Estimating the maximum speed capability (athletic capability) of very large fossil animals is challenging. While large animals have limbs favoring longer stride lengths and higher speeds, their body mass imposes limitations on bones, joints, available forces, and physiology, resulting in the fastest animals not being the largest. Here we use the well-known relationship between body mass and potential maximum speed to calculate upper limits for the athletic capability of fossil giant proboscideans and sauropods. First, we assess the reliability of two different fits to maximum speed data for mammals. Subsequently, we analyze masses and speeds of live proboscideans, finding they consistently move below the lower bounds predicted by model fits. Finally, we propose maximum speed for representative fossil proboscideans and sauropods. Although calculated maximum speeds for larger proboscideans are comparatively lower, there is substantial overlap with those observed in live proboscideans. For the largest sauropods approaching or exceeding 50 Tn our calculated maximum speeds are around 10 km/h or lower. These findings suggest that immense body size and graviportal structure of sauropods were key factors likely restricting their locomotion to a single, steady gait, consistent with fossil trackway evidence. Nature Publishing https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131056 |
| spellingShingle | The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods Ruiz Pérez, Javier 567/569 Paleontología 2416.05 Paleontología de Los Vertebrados |
| title | The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods |
| title_full | The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods |
| title_fullStr | The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods |
| title_full_unstemmed | The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods |
| title_short | The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods |
| title_sort | The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods |
| topic | 567/569 Paleontología 2416.05 Paleontología de Los Vertebrados |
| topic_facet | 567/569 Paleontología 2416.05 Paleontología de Los Vertebrados |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131056 |