The largest dinosaurs walked slowly

PUBLICATION — Lee S., Słowiak J. (2025) Sauntering sauropods: the preferred walking speeds of the largest land animals that ever lived. The Physics Teacher 63 (1), 20-22. https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0187569

Figure: life reconstructions of the analysed sauropods, starting from the left: Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, Argentinosaurus. Scale: 5 m. Art by Jakub Zalewski.

How fast did the largest dinosaurs – the sauropods – walk? This may be calculated based on the length of their limb bones, using the laws of physics. Three of the most famous sauropod genera were selected for the study, including their largest representative: Argentinosaurus. The results show that the latter, as well as Brachiosaurus, walked at a similar speed to draft horses when walking (about 1.45 m/s), and the preferred walking speed of Diplodocus was similar to that of humans (1.2 m/s).

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