Traces of the fastest dinosaur ever discovered in Mongolia by a team of archaeologists

A recent palaeontological discovery is fundamentally reshaping our understanding of theropods. The analysis of ancient tracks suggests that one of the fastest dinosaurs may have lived during the Cretaceous period, raising new questions about the capabilities of predatory prehistoric creatures.

A 120-million-year-old trackway discovered in Mongolia sheds new light on the locomotion of theropods. According to the fossilised footprints, these may belong to the fastest dinosaur ever identified, capable of running at astonishing speeds – roughly comparable to that of a modern professional cyclist, reports IFLScience.

How fast were dinosaurs really?

Dinosaurs are often imagined as enormous, sluggish creatures, but a new palaeontological discovery significantly nuances this image. Based on fossilised footprints dating from the Cretaceous period, researchers have identified the tracks of what is believed to be the fastest theropod known to date. The footprints are attributed to a medium-sized predatory dinosaur that may have reached speeds of around 45 kilometres per hour while running.

This pace is not only exceptional in the context of dinosaurs but is also remarkable by modern standards, roughly equivalent to the speed of a professional cyclist.

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The fastest dinosaur’s tracks found in Mongolia

The footprints were discovered in Mongolia within a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary layer, meaning the animals that left them lived approximately 120–130 million years ago. What makes the site particularly remarkable is that it contains not one but two distinct trackways.

One of these is attributed to a large-bodied theropod dinosaur, which researchers associate with the species Chapus lockleyi. This animal appears to have been moving at a calm, walking pace.