Ever Wonder Why The T-Rex Couldn't Catch Claire In 'Jurassic World'? Science Just Explained Why

It's been over two years since Jurassic World hit theaters, and fan interest in the property is already aimed at the upcoming sequel, but certain aspects of Jurassic World are still under scrutiny by fans. The most pertinent of these is one of the final scenes of the film, which depicted Claire leading a T-rex to the last showdown with the Indominus rex.

During the final fight with the Indominus, things were looking grim until Claire figured out that another dinosaur could help even the odds since the raptors were doing poorly. Claire walked straight up to the T-rex cage, opened the gate, and let it chase her right to the Indominus rex. It might not have been the best move on Claire's part, but her decision to free the T-rex worked in the end—but at the time, the scene was criticized for how implausible it seemed to be. How on earth was Claire able to outrun a T-rex?

Going against everything established so far in the Jurassic Park franchise, seeing Claire outrun one of the most vicious and speedy dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park universe upset quite a few people. Not to mention how the scene basically put the Jeep chase scene from Jurassic Park to shame by allowing someone in high heels to outrun the T-rex that raced a Jeep. Implausible, right?

But actually, the scene was more true to the real abilities of the Tyrannosaurus rex than we ever knew.

Scientists have discovered the T-Rex isn't as fast as we thought.

Up until recently, the assumption among scientists was that dinosaurs could travel at tremendous speeds, regardless of their size. As it turns out, those assumptions were wrong. According to a new study conducted by the University of Manchester, dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex were so massive in size that trying to run faster than 12 mph would cause their legs to buckle and break under the weight of their own bodies.

It isn't walking speed, but 12 mph is a decent sprint speed for a human being, making the depiction of Claire outrunning Rexxy in Jurassic World more accurate than the Jeep chase scene from Jurassic Park—thought it's still hard to imagine how Claire ran that fast in heels.

Regardless, it's fascinating that even though it wasn't in the writers' minds when penning the story (at least, probably not), we know there was now a degree of scientific accuracy in Claire's chase scene. Hopefully, the sequel's directors look into more scientific research for a more accurate depiction of dinosaurs, or at least as accurate as possible.

Source: Earth