The cheetah is undisputed king of
speed, holding natures's land speed record for 10 million consecutive
years. It reaches top speeds of 75 miles per hour. But its accelation
is what's truely impressive. It leaves most of the world's fastest
super cars in its dust. The Ferrari , Lamborghini, or Mclaren is no
match. 0-60 in 3 seconds or just 3 strides. Aerodynamics and light
weight frame enable this astonishing accelaration. Weighing in only
125 lbs, its muscles don't have to carry much weight, translating
into its accelaraton instead. And the small head, flatened rib cage
and slender legs minimize air resistance.
Once it reaches top speed, unique
design features sustain the speed. The cheetah has extremely flexible
spine as well as pivoting hips and shoulder blades that are not
attached to the collar bone. This allows the front and rear legs to
stretch further apart when fully extended and move closer together
when the feet come under its body increasing the cheetah's stride
length to an amazing 25 feet. The cheetah moves so quickly that its
feet spend more time in the air than on the ground, twice during each
stride having all 4 feet off the ground at the same time. In a high
speed chase, the long muscular tail works as a stabilizing rodder.
Even its feet are modified for speed. Unlike other cats, cheetahs'
foot pads are hard and flat like tire treads and their short blunt
claws do not retract completely like lions and lepoards. They are
designed for grip like the cleats on the track field. These
modifications provide cheetah with increased traction, fast sharp
turns.
