Cheetahs running

Cerpin Taxt

Lifer
Feb 23, 2005
11,940
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I liked how little the head moved in space as it ran. That's a well-tuned predator, right there.
 

Miramonti

Lifer
Aug 26, 2000
28,653
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Holy cr@p, that's got to be a world record for the speed of a hairball.
 
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ProchargeMe

Senior member
Jun 2, 2012
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It's amazing how long it stays airborne. The hind legs only touch the ground every 15-20 feet. Amazing.
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
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Kickass! Thanks, OP! It's amazing how the head just doesn't move up or down. o_O Talk about engineering!

And about "engineering"; HD video has changed our perception of the world we live in for the better. This video is proof.
 

eits

Lifer
Jun 4, 2005
25,015
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www.integratedssr.com
their spine is unique to any other animal because it's like a spring. with every bound, it springs forward around 4-6 body lengths.

also, it's claws never retract.

and it is the only cat that can chirp.
 

RedRooster

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2000
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Near the end there, where they show how it was made, holy crap.
At 6:15 or so, the speed he passes the camera!
Nature is so awesome, and I agree with MichaelD that HD and high fps makes all this stuff so incredible. Thanks for the video!
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,639
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wow really fucking neat video. the hind legs almost move partially like kangaroos when you see it slowed down like that.
 

Juked07

Golden Member
Jul 22, 2008
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The first 2 mins unfolded in 2 secs of real time so imo it's more crazy the amount of strides it took rather than how still the head was.

Seconds are pretty long. Even a jogger takes something like 170-200 steps per minute. I think if you go out and try to have fast turnover you can probably approach ~300 steps per minute, and humans don't have fast strides compared to a lot of animals. That the fastest land animal can do a little over twice that turnover is kind of underwhelming if anything.. I'd be surprised if there aren't tons of other land animals that have similar turnover -- even animals that aren't really that fast in absolute terms like squirrels probably have very fast steps.

For sure the thing that struck me most about the video is the overall form. The entire cheetah's body moves and lunges extremely far on every stride, demonstrating a great deal of power, yet the motion is extremely smooth and it is able to keep a random body part (the head) level the entire time.