You mentioned Achillobator being a fast accelerator but a poor runner; what about its endurance? Also how do other dromaeosaurs compare?
Achillobator’s endurance is where its running fails it most, actually. I don’t think we’ve ever seen them run for more than a few seconds. They have large strides and probably don’t really need to. Our other dromaeosaurs are slightly faster. Velociraptor takes the cake, reaching a maximum of 40 km/h with wing assistance - close to Usain Bolt’s top speed, but nowhere near the speed of modern flightless birds. It falls neatly in line with estimates by University of Manchester researchers based on fossils.
- Rohan
















