Speed
- The hadrosaur foot has three toes, all pointing forward and each ending in a
small hoof. Instead of walking on the entire foot, the hadrosaur raised its heels clear off
the ground, so that it walked on its toes.
- This method of walking is called ditigrade and is a way of increasing
speed because it adds length to the leg.
- The front foot is much smaller than the hind one.
- The digits do not spread out, and impressions of skin that have been found show
that they were connected by a web of skin. This also gave rise to the question if they were
aquatic or not.
Figure 10:
Relative lengths of the upper and lower leg segments are
used as measures of running potentials. Left: The horse's lower leg segment to upper leg
segment ratio is 2.5:1. This suggests that the horse is a fast runner. Centre: The elephant's
leg ratio is 0.7:1 which is indicative of a slow runner. Right: The ratio for the Lambeosaurus
is 1.5:1 which suggests the ability of running fast.
Did you know...
- The speed of an animal is determined by the length and speed of its stride.
Both may be increased by increasing the length of the lower leg segment (below the knee).
- The metatarsus (sole of the foot) contributes to the length of the lower leg
because of its ditigrade stance.
- It was believed that the hadrosaurs were capable of running very fast.
