Why Four-Legged Animals are Better Sprinters
Published:28 Jul.2021 Source:University of Cologne
Many four-legged mammals can reach considerably higher running speeds than two-legged humans. Animals perfectly adapted to sprinting, such as cheetahs or antelopes, are characterized by a slender body shape, long legs, and a particularly mobile spine to achieve very high speeds when running.
An interdisciplinary team including researchers at the University of Cologne's Institute of Zoology has now developed a model that takes these characteristics into account and can calculate the maximum running speeds for animals of any size. The results of their research have been published in the article 'Rules of nature's Formula Run: Muscle mechanics during late stance is the key to explaining maximum running speed' in the Journal of Theoretical Biology.