Cheetah - the fastest land animal on the planet. This predator is capable of speeds over a hundred miles an hour, and then on to accelerate from 0 to 75 kilometers per hour, it is only two seconds. These indicators can boast, not every sports car. Any greyhounds, no sport horses for cheetahs can not keep up (and do not run away from the cheetahs). Therefore, so far zoologists in the conviction that it was so incredible running speed is the main advantage of cheetah on the hunt. However, strict scientific testing, especially in the wild, this hypothesis has never been. And indeed on the athletic abilities of the members of the cat family, with the exception of Sprint, scientists knew little.
High-tech collars
And now British researchers filled the gap. Alan Wilson (Alan Wilson), professor of the Royal Veterinary College in Hatfield and a group of his colleagues went to the South African Continent, in Botswana, were caught east of the delta of the Okavango five cheetahs and put them on a special high-tech collars. "These collars - the result of the development, which has taken us ten years - says Professor Wilson. - We were able to integrate them in a lot of sensors. This sensor GPS, Meters and the moment of inertia and acceleration sensors and gyroscopes, and magnetometers to track the spatial position of the body of a cheetah in real time. All these parameters we measure 300 times per second, so we know the animal and the location at any time, and its direction of motion, and speed. These parameters can be calculated, and how much power an animal develops, and what the grip of his paws the ground, and all the forces there are. "
The main thing - do not speed, and maneuverability
Researchers monitored the movements of "their" cheetahs out of the car and out of the light aircraft. Previously in these vehicles were equipped with special radios that recorded the signals sent by the miracle collars.
This observation, which lasted 17 months, allowed to know about the behavior, hunting techniques, and physical abilities of cheetahs many new, interesting and even unexpected. The results of the work were published in the journal Nature. Professor Wilson says: "To our surprise, it turned out that in the wild cheetahs hunt is not at maximum speed. Hoti sometimes they did develop speed in excess of 90 kilometers per hour, but only for very short distances, with an average length of 173 meters, only very short period of time, an average of 1-2 seconds, and only very rarely, 1-2 times a day. The average running speed of cheetahs on the hunt - a little more than 50 kilometers per hour. Obviously, much more important for them not to speed in a straight line, and Evasion, agility, the ability to instantly change direction, speed up and slow down the movement. "
Clutch claws with soil better than the tires
In fact, cheetahs are not only accelerated faster than any other land animal, but all brake sharply, exceeding twice now ranks second in polo ponies - specially trained horses to play polo. One of the tools to provide cheetahs that ability - it is their claws: they are only partially retractable, which is not typical for the cat, and ensure good contact with the ground during sudden maneuvers.
"In addition, cheetahs have very flexible spine that allows them to properly distribute the load on the body, so that even with the most unimaginable turns and bends the land concerned, all four paws - says Professor Wilson. - Clutch paws the ground in cheetahs better than any car tires. And of course, a very important role is played by muscles: muscles cheetah legs, components, by the way, 45 percent of the mass of his body, have incredible power. Fastest of "our" cheetah developed at the time of maximum acceleration power to 100 watts kilogram of body weight. For comparison, a Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt, the Olympic champion and multiple world champion on the run for a short distance, the figure is four times more modest. "
Only a quarter of the chase brings success
Another surprise revealed comparing GPS-data obtained using collars with GIS data in Google Earth. It turned out that cheetahs hunt not only in open areas, as previously thought, but in the dense bush. There's just so they do not need for the success rate, and Evasion. A sprint records - this is just one part of their hunting strategy.
However, one should not forget that success comes only cheetahs in every fourth catch their prey, that is, three times out of four predator with nothing. And this - the flip side of his sprint achievements: a top speed of over 90 kilometers per hour minimum turning radius of a cheetah, where the centrifugal force is not thrown to him with a bend is 52 meters. Even at half the speed of this radius is still unacceptably high - almost 20 meters. That's where the predator and his ability to brake sharply: in just three simple steps it can to slow down so that the turning radius is reduced to one meter. If the maximum acceleration of the cheetah, as measured by British scientists, is 5.5 meters per second squared, the maximum braking - 7.5 meters per second squared.
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