[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6935\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EModels of dinosaur movement could help us build stronger robots and buildings\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.rvc.ac.uk\/about\/our-people\/john-hutchinson\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EJohn Hutchinson\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of evolutionary biomechanics from the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire, UK, and his colleagues are investigating the locomotion of the earliest, small dinosaurs, as part of the five-year-long \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/rcn\/204881_en.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EDawndinos project\u003C\/a\u003E which began in 2016.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018These dinosaurs have been hugely neglected,\u2019 Prof. Hutchinson said. \u2018People \u2013 including me \u2013 have mostly been studying the celebrity dinosaurs like \u003Cem\u003ET. rex\u003C\/em\u003E.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbout 225 million years ago, during the late Triassic period, these small dinosaurs were in the minority, whereas the bigger crocodile-like animals that lived alongside them were more numerous and diverse. Dinosaurs somehow went on to thrive while most other animals from that period became extinct.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECompared to their quadrupedal, heavy-built contemporaries, what stands out about these early dinosaurs is that they had an erect posture and could, at least intermittently, walk on two limbs. One theory is that their style of locomotion gave them a survival edge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The idea of this project is to test that idea,\u2019 Prof. Hutchinson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team has started to develop computer simulations to estimate how 11 different species of extinct archosaurs \u2013 the group of animals that includes crocodiles, birds, their relatives and dinosaurs \u2013 might have moved. They will focus on five different types of motion: walking, running, turning, jumping and standing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u0026#039;It wasn\u2019t until we put the bones together in a 3D environment and tried playing with their movements that it became clear to us that this wasn\u2019t an animal with very mobile arms and hands.\u0026#039;\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EJohn Hutchinson, the Royal Veterinary College, Hertfordshire, UK\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESimulations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo test whether their simulations are accurate, the researchers plan to give the same treatment to their living relatives \u2013 crocodiles and birds \u2013 as well. They will then compare the results to actual measurements of motion to determine how good their computer models of extinct animals are.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It will be the first time we ground-truth (test with empirical evidence) these methods very rigorously with the best possible data we can get,\u2019 Prof. Hutchinson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, they\u2019ve \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/peerj.com\/articles\/3976\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Emodelled the movement of a \u003Cem\u003EMussaurus\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 an early cousin of giant plant-eating sauropod dinosaurs such as \u003Cem\u003EBrontosaurus\u003C\/em\u003E.\u0026nbsp;The \u003Cem\u003EMussaurus\u003C\/em\u003E was much smaller and researchers wanted to see whether it moved on four legs like its larger relatives. The first reconstructions of the animal had it on four legs because it had quite big arms, said Prof. Hutchinson.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing scans of well-preserved fossils from Argentina, they were able to produce new models of its movement. Prof. Hutchinson and his team found that it was in fact bipedal. It couldn\u2019t have walked on four legs since the palms of its front limbs faced inwards and the forearm joints weren\u2019t capable of rotating downwards. Therefore, it wouldn\u2019t have been able to plant its front legs on the ground.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It wasn\u2019t until we put the bones together in a 3D environment and tried playing with their movements that it became clear to us that this wasn\u2019t an animal with very mobile arms and hands,\u2019 Prof. Hutchinson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe src=\u0022https:\/\/europa.eu\/webtools\/crs\/iframe\/?oriurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2F62kvEhC7WDk?rel=0\u0026amp;showinfo=0\u0022 width=\u0022560\u0022 height=\u0022315\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022 allowfullscreen=\u0022allowfullscreen\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAfter modelling the large forearm of the Mussaurus, the Dawndinos team realised that it could not be used for walking. Video courtesy: John Hutchinson\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERobotics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe simulations produced during the project could be useful for zoologists. But they could have less obvious applications too, for example, helping to improve how robots move, according to Prof. Hutchinson.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccurate models are needed to replicate the motion of animals, which robotics researchers often take inspiration from. Mimicking a crocodile, for example, could be of interest to create a robot that can both swim and walk on land.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Hutchinson also regularly gets contacted by film and documentary makers who are interested in using his simulations to create realistic animations. \u2018It\u2019s hard to make bigger, or unusual, animals move correctly if the physics isn\u2019t right,\u2019 Prof. Hutchinson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding the locomotion of the very largest dinosaurs is the aim of a project being undertaken by paleobiology researcher \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mecadev.cnrs.fr\/index.php?post\/Houssaye-Alexandra\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EAlexandra Houssaye\u003C\/a\u003E and her colleagues from France\u2019s National Centre for Scientific Research and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Through their \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/rcn\/207861_en.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EGravibone project,\u003C\/a\u003E which began last year, they want to pin down the limb bone adaptations that allow large animals to carry a heavy skeleton.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We really want to understand what (bone features) are linked to being massive,\u2019 Dr Houssaye said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMassive\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, research has shown that the long bones in the limbs of bigger animals are more robust than those of smaller animals. But this general trend has only been superficially observed. The outer and inner bone structures have adapted over time to help support animals\u0027 weight. For example, whereas smaller terrestrial animals have hollow limb bones, massive ones like elephants, rhinos and hippos have connective tissue in the middle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the largest animals and their ancestors there are also other differences. The limb bones of modern rhinos, for example, are short and heavy. But their prehistoric relatives called \u003Cem\u003EIndricotherium\u003C\/em\u003E, the largest land mammal that ever lived, had a less stocky skeleton. \u2018It\u2019s interesting to see that the biggest didn\u2019t have the most massive (frame),\u2019 Dr Houssaye said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team is studying both living and extinct animals, focussing on elephants, rhinos, hippos, prehistoric mammals and dinosaurs such as sauropods \u2013 a group that includes the biggest terrestrial animals of all time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, they have compared the ankle bones of horses, tapirs, rhinos and fossils of rhinos\u2019 ancestors. They found that for animals of the same mass there were differences depending on if they were short and stout or had longer limbs. In less stocky animals, the two ankle bones tended to be more distinct whereas they were more strongly connected in those that were massively built, probably to reinforce the articulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s not only the mass (of the animal) but how the mass is distributed on the body,\u2019 said Dr Houssaye. \u2018For us that was interesting.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E3D modelling\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir next step will be to scan different limb bones and analyse their inner structure. They will also use 3D modelling to figure out how much weight different parts of the bones can handle in different spots, for example.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe results from the project could help make more efficient prosthetics for people and animals, Dr Houssaye said. Designers will be able to better understand how different features of limb bones, such as thickness and orientation, relate to their strength, enabling them to create materials that are lighter but more resistant.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESimilarly, Dr Houssaye has also had interest from the construction industry which is looking for new types of materials and more effective building techniques. Pillars supporting heavy buildings, for example, could be made using less material by improving their inner structure instead.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018How a skeleton adapts (to heavy weight) has implications for construction,\u2019 Dr Houssaye said. \u2018(Architects) are trying to create structures that are able to support heavy weight.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research in this article was funded by the European Research Council. 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