Maine Student Says T. Rex Ran Like an 8-Ton Chicken

Turns out, the Tyrannosaurus rex may not have stomped around like a Hollywood monster after all.

According to the KJ, a 21-year-old student at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor just helped flip the script on one of the most famous dinosaurs of all time. Instead of lumbering around heel-first like we’ve seen in movies for decades, new research suggests the T. rex actually ran on its tiptoes. Yes, tiptoes. Like an eight-ton bird.

Adrian Boeye used biomechanical modeling to study how the 40-foot predator moved, comparing fossilized tracks and skeletal data to modern birds like ostriches. What he found? A toe-first stride would have made the T. rex faster, more stable, and way more agile than we’ve imagined.

Instead of taking giant slow steps, the T. rex likely moved with rapid, almost blur-like strides, swinging its massive legs quickly to stay balanced. Adult T. rexes may have topped out around 20 feet per second, but lanky teenagers could hit 37 feet per second. That speed gap suggests younger dinos chased smaller prey while the big adults relied more on power than pace, the KJ reported.

The study, published in Royal Society Open Science, is already getting attention from scientists worldwide. And the wild part? This level of research is usually done by Ph.D. candidates, not undergrads.

The KJ explained that Boeye chose the tiny Bar Harbor college for its hands-on, interdisciplinary vibe. Now he’s heading toward doctoral programs with a discovery that could reshape how we picture one of history’s most iconic predators.

So next time you picture a T. rex, maybe imagine less “earth-shaking stomp” and more “giant, terrifying chicken.”