In Common with T-Rex

We probably think we don't have anything at all in common with the big predatory dinosaurs, including the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex. Think again!

A new study shows that "non-avian theropods" (which means bipeds that have hips like lizards, not birds), including T. rex, were not built for speed as we always assumed.

They were built for an incredibly efficient walk over long periods. This means that T. rex was probably what we call a persistence hunter. They would just keep walking...and walking...and walking...until their poor prey got tired and had to stop.

If you want to see the most successful persistence hunter of all time, just look in a mirror.

Which says something else, too.

If both humans and theropods are highly successful persistence hunters and both are bipeds, that says that our bipedal gait, rather than being about tool use and carrying things, may in fact be the most efficient way to be a persistence hunter.

And tool use and all that followed was a side effect.

(Does this mean persistence hunters have an advantage in terms of evolving into high tech beings like us?)