THE FASTEST DINOSAUR

According to computer models that were used to estimate the running speeds of dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex would have been able to outrun a footballer. The study shows that the dinosaur could reach a top (24) ________ of 8 metres a second, which is fractionally faster than the average professional footballer. There has been a lot of controversy (25) ________ whether the Tyrannosaurus Rex was a predator or a scavenger; some believe that its highly developed sense of smell indicates that it was a scavenger, while others say that its keen eyesight shows that it was a hunter. The (26) ________ group will appreciate the recent study, as a hunter is more likely to require such speed.

The University of Manchester study used a powerful supercomputer to calculate the running speeds of five meat-eating dinosaurs and used data taken directly from dinosaur fossils, rather than referring to previous work on modern animals. The Tyrannosaurus Rex, however, was not the fastest dinosaur. A small dinosaur (27) ________ Compsognathus, which was about the size of a chicken, could run at 18 metres a second, which is faster than the ostrich, the fastest two-legged animal today. It could run 100 metres in a little over six seconds, which would beat modern Olympic (28) ________ more than a third of the track behind.

The study shows that the dinosaur could reach a top (24) ________ of 8 metres a second, which is fractionally faster than the average professional footballer.