Cheetah, designed to run - Reuters

To be the fastest mammals on Earth, the cheetahs run surprisingly little.

Certainly

can reach 100 kilometers per hour. But in most sprints are content to go at half speed between 40 km / h and 50 km / h. When they reach their maximum speed, not kept for more than one or two seconds. And in any case, does not base upon their speed displays. According to the most comprehensive investigation of how stalk their prey in the wild, cheetahs made an average of 1.3 runs per day. Some days can make two or three. Other days, no.

The research, presented in the journal Nature, breaks with the classical idea that extreme speed is what makes the cheetah on a prodigious hunter. More than its peak velocity, is an ability to record acceleration and deceleration which gives advantage over gazelles and impalas during a chase.

new Cheetah picture that emerges is that of a feline version of Usain Bolt, unbeatable in a straight line. It is rather that of a formula one designed for the savannah, able to close the gap on the straights, but especially take curves with maximum grip and minimum loss of time with non-retractable claws, a tail that stabilizes as a rear spoiler and a muscle car portentous able to reduce 15 km / h in a stride and re-earn 10 km / h in the next stride.

“To capture agile prey fleeing changing direction, a cheetah must run just a little faster than she” because it can make tight turns when going at full speed, said by email Alan Wilson, researcher University of London and first author of the study.

According to calculations by Wilson and his team launched a cheetah at 90 km / h can only rotate curving very open-namely a circular curve of radius 50 meters, roughly equivalent to the outside lane of a track Olympic athletics. A 60 km / h, must draw yet circular curve with a radius of 20 meters. But if you reduce the speed to 15 km / h in three quick steps, is able to make sudden changes of direction, as it will just draw a circular curve of 1.20 meters in diameter.

To achieve this acceleration and unmatched braking, the cheetah muscles used for running is more powerful than any other land animal. Researchers have calculated that this musculature provides a race power over 100 watts per kilo of weight. Beside, the Usain Bolt, with its 25 watts per kilo of weight, is scrawny.

data illustrates the importance of this muscle for Cheetah: more than half the body weight is made up of wild cheetah locomotor muscles,

The authors of the research, from the University of London and the Predator Conservation Foundation Botswana, have used similar technology for space missions to study the behavior of the cheetah: SUVs are exploring Mars instructions via radio, acting autonomously and then transmit the data they have obtained the ground control center, the same way, the devices created for tracking the cheetahs are reprogrammed remotely by radio waves, are equipped with a small computer that gives them autonomy and then send the data to the scientists also radio.

These devices are sophisticated necklaces scientists placed three females and two adult males in the region of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana, after shooting a dart to immobilize anesthetic. “We’ve been working on this necklace and improving it for more than ten years,” says Wilson.

also like the SUV of Mars, the collars are equipped with a solar-powered battery, which is complemented by a second auxiliary battery is not rechargeable. And like space telescopes like Hubble, have a device with gyroscopes and accelerometers to determine its trajectory and orientation in space. Complemented with a GPS module, this technology allows to know at all times the position of cheetahs with a margin of error of 20 centimeters, and in what direction and how fast they move. All with a total weight of 340 grams per necklace.

Joining

telecommunications engineering field biology, “open new opportunities to make measurements that were not able to in the past,” said Wilson. In the case of the cheetah, most of the previous studies had been conducted speed with captive animals pursuing lures straight. With regard to research on their behavior in the wild, have been based on analysis of films and direct OBSERVATIONS, which has limited the data to open habitats and the daylight hours.

radio tracking collar who designed Wilson and his team has allowed cheetahs collect data from both day and night and both open savanna and in areas with more vegetation. The results demonstrate that cheetahs hunt both day and night, although it is 6:00 to 9:00 when they are most active. And, the better you can hide in bushes, most likely get hunt prey.

Thus, only 20% of the races held in terrreno cheetahs open throughout the study ended in a sack. In areas with dense vegetation, however, the success rate increased to 31% as from the analysis of 367 registered races throughout the investigation. These results “demonstrate that cheetahs can hunt successfully in all fields,” the researchers write in Nature.

recorded data extended break with the idea that the cheetah is a sprinter bottomless, unable to keep up more than a few tens of meters. The average distance of the races recorded in the study was 173 meters, although all specimens were placed the necklaces came running distances greater than 400 meters, with a maximum of 559 meters.

Beyond

cheetahs, researchers hope that using radio tracking collars to enhance understanding of how they behave in nature other large predators. “We are working with lions, leopards and wild dogs,” says Wilson, who wants to study the speed, agility, strength and locomotor physiology of these species.

also adds the researcher, these data will help to better protect endangered species, as clarified where to move, and what areas and natural corridors is more important to protect.

Certainly

can reach 100 kilometers per hour. But in most sprints are content to go at half speed between 40 km / h and 50 km / h. When they reach their maximum speed, not kept for more than one or two seconds. And in any case, does not base upon their speed displays. According to the most comprehensive investigation of how stalk their prey in the wild, cheetahs made an average of 1.3 runs per day. Some days can make two or three. Other days do not make any.

The research, which appears today in the journal Nature, breaks with the classical idea that extreme speed is what makes the cheetah on a prodigious hunter. More than its peak velocity, is an ability to record acceleration and deceleration which gives advantage over gazelles and impalas during a chase.

new Cheetah picture that emerges is that of a feline version of Usain Bolt, unbeatable in a straight line. It is rather that of a formula one designed for the savannah, able to close the gap on the straights, but especially take curves with maximum grip and minimum loss of time with non-retractable claws and a prodigious muscles can reduce 15 km / h in a stride and re-earn 10 km / h in the next stride.

“To capture agile prey fleeing changing direction, a cheetah must run just a little faster than she” because it can make tight turns when going at full speed, said by email Alan Wilson, researcher University of London and first author of the study. According to calculations by Wilson and his team launched a cheetah at 90 km / h can only rotate curving very open-namely a circular curve of radius 50 meters, roughly equivalent to the street outside of an athletics Olympic track -. A 60 km / h, must draw yet circular curve with a radius of 20 meters. But if you reduce the speed to 15 km / h in three quick steps, is able to make sudden changes of direction, as it will just draw a circular curve of 1.20 meters in diameter.

To achieve this acceleration and unmatched braking, the cheetah muscles used for running is more powerful than any other land animal. Researchers have calculated that this musculature provides a race power over 100 watts per kilo of weight. Beside, the Usain Bolt, with its 25 watts per kilo of weight, is scrawny.

The authors of the research, from the University of London and the Predator Conservation Foundation Botswana, have used similar technology for space missions to study the behavior of cheetahs. Just as exploring Mars SUVs receive instructions via radio, acting autonomously and then transmit the data they have obtained the ground control center, equipment designed for monitoring of cheetahs are reprogrammed remotely by waves radio, are equipped with a small computer that gives them autonomy and then send the data to the scientists also radio.

These devices are sophisticated necklaces scientists placed three females and two adult males in the region of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana, after shooting a dart to immobilize anesthetic. “We’ve been working on this necklace and improving it for more than ten years,” says Wilson.

also like the SUV of Mars, the collars are equipped with a solar-powered battery, which is complemented by a second auxiliary battery is not rechargeable. And like space telescopes like Hubble, have a device with gyroscopes and accelerometers for its trajectory and orientation in space. Complemented with a GPS module, this technology allows to determine at all times the position of cheetahs with a margin of error of 20 centimeters, and in what direction and how fast they move. All with a total weight of 340 grams per necklace.

Joining

telecommunications engineering field biology, “open new opportunities to make measurements that were not able to in the past,” said Wilson. In the case of the cheetah, most of previous studies have been conducted speed with captive animals pursuing lures straight. As for the studies that have analyzed their behavior in the wild, have been based on analysis of films and direct OBSERVATIONS, which has limited the data to open habitats and the daylight hours.

radio tracking collar who designed Wilson and his team has allowed cheetahs collect data from both day and night and both open savanna and in wooded areas. The results demonstrate that cheetahs hunt both day and night, although it is 6:00 to 9:00 when they are most active. And that the better you can hide among the vegetation, most likely get hunt prey.

Thus, only 20% of the races held in terrreno cheetahs open throughout the study ended in a sack. In areas of dense vegetation, however, the success rate increased to 31% as from the analysis of 367 registered races throughout the investigation. These data “demonstrate that cheetahs can hunt successfully in all fields,” the researchers write in Nature.

On the other hand, results extended break with the idea that the cheetah is a sprinter bottomless, unable to keep up more than a few tens of meters. The average distance of the races recorded in the study stands at 173 meters, although the five specimens which were placed necklaces came running distances greater than 400 meters at times, with a maximum of 559 meters.

Top speed varied with each cheetah from a male named Qamar which never exceeded 72 km / h, possibly because it prefers to hunt in places where the vegetation is dense, until another specimen that reached 93 km / h.

These speeds are below the record of 105 km / h published in the scientific literature. Wilson attributes it to the Okavango Delta cheetahs are fed mostly impalas, so no need to set speed records. Instead, the cheetahs of the East African savannah hunting Thompson gazelles, which are more than the impalas, are forced to accelerate to the maximum.

Beyond

cheetahs, researchers hope that using radio tracking collars to enhance understanding of how they behave in nature other large predators. “We are working with lions, leopards and wild dogs,” says Wilson, who wants to study the speed, agility, strength and locomotor physiology of these species. He adds, these data will help to better protect endangered species, as clarified where to move, where to hunt and rest, and which areas and natural corridors is more important to protect.