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  • Using step width to compare locomotor biomechanics between extinct, non-avian theropod dinosaurs and modern obligate bipeds

    Author(s)
    Bishop, PJ
    Clemente, CJ
    Weems, RE
    Graham, DF
    Lamas, LP
    Hutchinson, JR
    Rubenson, J
    Wilson, RS
    Hocknull, SA
    Barrett, RS
    Lloyd, DG
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Barrett, Rod
    Lloyd, David
    Year published
    2017
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    How extinct, non-avian theropod dinosaurs locomoted is a subject of considerable interest, as is the manner in which it evolved on the line leading to birds. Fossil footprints provide the most direct evidence for answering these questions. In this study, step width—the mediolateral (transverse) distance between successive footfalls—was investigated with respect to speed (stride length) in non-avian theropod trackways of Late Triassic age. Comparable kinematic data were also collected for humans and 11 species of ground-dwelling birds. Permutation tests of the slope on a plot of step width against stride length showed that ...
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    How extinct, non-avian theropod dinosaurs locomoted is a subject of considerable interest, as is the manner in which it evolved on the line leading to birds. Fossil footprints provide the most direct evidence for answering these questions. In this study, step width—the mediolateral (transverse) distance between successive footfalls—was investigated with respect to speed (stride length) in non-avian theropod trackways of Late Triassic age. Comparable kinematic data were also collected for humans and 11 species of ground-dwelling birds. Permutation tests of the slope on a plot of step width against stride length showed that step width decreased continuously with increasing speed in the extinct theropods (p < 0.001), as well as the five tallest bird species studied (p < 0.01). Humans, by contrast, showed an abrupt decrease in step width at the walk–run transition. In the modern bipeds, these patterns reflect the use of either a discontinuous locomotor repertoire, characterized by distinct gaits (humans), or a continuous locomotor repertoire, where walking smoothly transitions into running (birds). The non-avian theropods are consequently inferred to have had a continuous locomotor repertoire, possibly including grounded running. Thus, features that characterize avian terrestrial locomotion had begun to evolve early in theropod history.
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    Journal Title
    Journal of The Royal Society Interface
    Volume
    14
    Issue
    132
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2017.0276
    Subject
    Biomechanics
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/351660
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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