By Roxanne Reid
With a flexible spine and feet that grip like BF Goodrich tyres, the cheetah is built for speed and amazing acceleration. Ferrari, eat your heart out. No wonder you can't outrun a cheetah. But what physical adaptations make it so fast?
With a flexible spine and feet that grip like BF Goodrich tyres, the cheetah is built for speed and amazing acceleration. Ferrari, eat your heart out. No wonder you can't outrun a cheetah. But what physical adaptations make it so fast?
According to Dr Luke Hunter in his book Cheetah, the cheetah's lightly-built legs are the longest of any large cat, giving it a longer stride. But there's an even more amazing adaptation: their spine is the longest and most flexible of any large cat. To see this flexion in action, watch this video.
Hunter says, 'A biologist with a fascination for the slightly morbid once calculated that a legless cheetah could reach a speed of 15 km/h just by the bunching and uncoiling action of the spine. Combining legs and spine, the effect in the cheetah is a stride that measures just under ten meters at top speed. For more than half of every stride, the cheetah is completely airborne.'
The result for a cheetah running at a speed of 93 km/h is an astonishing three and a half strides every second. Yup, every second.
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without written permission from roxannereid.co.za (I do not hold copyright of the video)
Hunter says, 'A biologist with a fascination for the slightly morbid once calculated that a legless cheetah could reach a speed of 15 km/h just by the bunching and uncoiling action of the spine. Combining legs and spine, the effect in the cheetah is a stride that measures just under ten meters at top speed. For more than half of every stride, the cheetah is completely airborne.'
The result for a cheetah running at a speed of 93 km/h is an astonishing three and a half strides every second. Yup, every second.
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without written permission from roxannereid.co.za (I do not hold copyright of the video)
