The Cheetah: Built for Speed

1170 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on cheetahs

The Cheetah: Built for Speed

What animal do you know can compete with a sports car in a race? Take a wild guess. Cheetahs! Cheetahs are the best because they’re the fastest land animal. Also, they are fascinating felions and have many special features like no other animal. The cheetah is primarily found in Africa (D’Silva). They are made for speed. “Built more like greyhounds than typical cats, cheetahs are adapted for brief but intense bursts of speed (Smithsonian). In Africa, everyone head to the lion’s cage expecting to see the lions because they are the king of Africa as the movie, “The Lion King” describes. However, because cheetahs are the fastest land animals, lions can not compete with it, and cheetahs have many features that any other animal does not have, when the people visits Africa, they should go straight to the cheetah’s cage. All of these facts are what makes the cheetah the best animal.

They have long, sharp claws that act as running shoes, to keep their prey from escaping and they also have ridged pads on feet for extra grip. The reason for the long tails that cheetahs have is to provide balance to it when it runs (Russell). Milton Hildebrand, an American Zoologist at the University of California, Davis, notes in his journal that the cheetah has sharp flexion of wrist and ankle joints as their respective girdles pass over them is described and interpreted (Hildebrand 84). All the features cheetahs have, especially speed, are used to hunt prey. “A cheetah can accelerate to a running speed of more than 60 miles per hour in just two to three seconds, sustaining that speed for up to 1,000 feet (Encarta).”

In the cheetah world, speed is the most important super power it has and it is also used for hunting prey ...

... middle of paper ...

...encarta.msn.com

Cheetah Hunting Behaviors: Cheetahs Are Very Graceful Animals. http://www.spfdbus.com/JessZoo/Cheetahbabies/info/hunting.htm

Dickman, Amy J.and Marker, Laurie L. Journal of Mammalogy:

Morphology, Pysical Condition, and Growth of the Cheetah (Acinonyx Jubatus Jubatus). American Society of Mammalogists, 2003.

D'Silva, Roy. Cheetah Facts. Published: 3/26/2007. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/cheetah-facts.html

Hildebrand, Milton. “Journal of Mammalogy: Futher Studies on Locomotion of the Cheetah.” 42.1, Feb., 1961 pp. 84-91. Web.

Russell, Michael "Cheetah - Speed Is My Life." Cheetah - Speed Is My Life. 28 Apr. 2006. EzineArticles.com. 3 May 2009 .

“Smithsonian National Zoological Park: African Savannah.” http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/AfricanSavanna/fact-cheetah.cfm

Show More
Related

  • Phylogeny and Subspecies of Giraffa Camelopardalis

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lerner, E. and Lerner, B., 2008. Giraffes and okapi. The Gale Encyclopedia of Science 4

    Read More

  • The Evolution of Whales

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    If you were to live during the tertiary period, this would be one of the things you would often see. All of the mammals that existed during that time period were terrestrial. They all were land dwelling mammals. Before J. G. M. Thewissen and colleagues’ discovery in Pakistan, many scientists believed, since the constant new discoveries twenty years ago, in what the numerous fossils from North America, Pakistan, and Egypt have revealed, “…these early cetaceans had mobile elbows and external hind limbs with articulated knees. However, they were fully aquatic, except for Ambulocetus, which was amphibious-much like sea lions” (Walking with Whales).

    Read More

  • Scavenger hunt

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...che, against predators such such as a Smilodon. The risk of injury from hunting would not be worth the reward for early hominids. The lack of physical advantages such as claws or fang not only makes for poor hunter, it most likely made the target for predators. The safest bet for these hominids to make was in scavenging.

    Read More

  • Xenomorph's Exoskeleton

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tail is twice the length of the body and made of many joints, like the vertebra in the spine, and is prehensile. Can be used as a weapon or to grasp things. The tip of the tail is very hard and comes to a point, making it easy to impale prey or enemies, is strong enough to lift an young foal or small

    Read More

  • Factors in the Evolution to Bipedalism

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bipedalism had many advantages, but it also had many disadvantages and provided dangers to early hominids. Some of these disadvantages included i...

    Read More

  • Decreasing Population of Snow Leopards

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    High mountains in asia, which runs through 12 countries Most snow leopards actually will run away unless you attack or threat them. But if they have cubs they will be more vicious.

    Read More

  • What Makes a Predator?

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are some animals that just have strong muscles that help them carry out their daily lives. The big cat family is one family of predators that knows how to use these...

    Read More

  • Lions

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lions are one of the world’s most famous predators. Their preys ranges from insects to giraffes; but they prefer large animals such as zebras and wildebeast. The lion will cautiously stalk its prey until it is within close range and it will sprint reaching speeds about 50 to 60 km/h. The lion will usually take its prey down by the neck using its huge jaws and razor sharp claws. The female is the hunter and will have the first meat, soon after the male comes to share the meat.

    Read More

  • Physics of a Car

    1540 Words  | 4 Pages

    In order to have a fast and efficient car all these things I have discussed need to be taken into consideration. A fast car should be designed with aerodynamic surfaces for a balance of maximum production of downforce and minimum drag creating surfaces. It should have as small an engine as possible to reduce mass and reduce the necessary size of the frontal area, but a large enough engine to be able to produce enough horsepower to be able to create more force than the resistance the car faces to accelerate and enough to balance with those forces at high speeds. The tires should be wide enough for fast acceleration and good cornering but not so wide it creates large amounts of rolling resistance. Your overall best example of such a car would be formula one races or Indy cars because they have to have good handling, fast acceleration and reach and maintain high speeds.

    Read More

  • Siberian Tigers

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    This cat is a powerful jumper and climber, also capable of running at high speeds. The paws of the Siberian tiger are equipped with long, sharp, dagger-like retractable claws.

    Read More

  • Essay On Martial Fighting Styles

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Leopard is one of the five basic fighting styles. The Leopard is strong against the Dragon fighting style. It is weak against the Snake fighting style. The leopard is an offensive animal, so it is based off an offensive attacking style. The Leopard uses fast unceasing attacks and a nonstop rapid-fire barrage. The Leopard uses multiple hits at one time to defeat an opponent rather the one big hit so if the attacker misses one hit it is not important to the outcome. It uses the sum of multiple hits to beat an opponent rather than a few powerful hits.

    Read More

  • Gait Speed

    313 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gait speed is a timed assessment of a person walking a pre-determined distance at her usual pace. It has often been called the sixth vital sign in geriatrics. This is because it is both a sensitive and specific measure of physical mobility63,64. It is easy to measure and requires no special equipment. Slower gait speed has been shown to independently predict disability in the general geriatric population65,66. In elderly cancer patients improved gait speed is associated with improved survival67.

    Read More

  • Animal Welfare

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sikes, Roberts. and William L. Gannon. "Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research." Journal of Mammalogy 92.1 (Feb. 2011): 235-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

    Read More

  • Essay On Giraffe

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Giraffe is one of the most interesting creatures on earth, it is the tallest land animal on the planet and it has the tallest neck among all creatures. It is originated in Africa and it inhabits the savannahs, grass lands and woodlands. Although it has thin legs, it has a very strong kick that can lead to fatal injuries to any animal that tries to prey on it, especially lions which are more likely to target giraffes than any other animals. The giraffe would fight with other giraffes using its neck rather than its legs because legs can be fatal and dominance in the giraffe family is only shown by using the neck. The giraffe’s appearances are similar to camels in terms of features such as hooves, tall legs and long tongues, and its body movements are also similar because both animals have 4 long legs.

    Read More

  • Description Of The Amur Leopard

    2104 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Amur Leopard has many adaptations. One of them is its speed. The Amur Leopard has the ability to run up to 35 mph per hour. This allows the Amur Leopard to travel places much faster. Amur Leopards also are some of the best hunters in the world, due to their color changing fur. The fur they have allows them to blends in with their surroundings. The Amur Leopard can use this form of camouflage to take its prey by surprise. The fur changes colors depending on the season. in the winter, the leopards have white

    Read More

More about The Cheetah: Built for Speed

Open Document