Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Workshops and Meetings
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Experimental Biology
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

supporting biologistsinspiring biology

Journal of Experimental Biology

  • Log in
Advanced search

RSS  Twitter  Facebook  YouTube  

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Workshops and Meetings
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
Research Articles
High speed galloping in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the racing greyhound (Canis familiaris): spatio-temporal and kinetic characteristics
Penny E. Hudson, Sandra A. Corr, Alan M. Wilson
Journal of Experimental Biology 2012 215: 2425-2434; doi: 10.1242/jeb.066720
Penny E. Hudson
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sandra A. Corr
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alan M. Wilson
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & tables
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF
Loading

SUMMARY

The cheetah and racing greyhound are of a similar size and gross morphology and yet the cheetah is able to achieve a far higher top speed. We compared the kinematics and kinetics of galloping in the cheetah and greyhound to investigate how the cheetah can attain such remarkable maximum speeds. This also presented an opportunity to investigate some of the potential limits to maximum running speed in quadrupeds, which remain poorly understood. By combining force plate and high speed video data of galloping cheetahs and greyhounds, we show how the cheetah uses a lower stride frequency/longer stride length than the greyhound at any given speed. In some trials, the cheetahs used swing times as low as those of the greyhounds (0.2 s) so the cheetah has scope to use higher stride frequencies (up to 4.0 Hz), which may contribute to it having a higher top speed that the greyhound. Weight distribution between the animal's limbs varied with increasing speed. At high speed, the hindlimbs support the majority of the animal's body weight, with the cheetah supporting 70% of its body weight on its hindlimbs at 18 m s–1; however, the greyhound hindlimbs support just 62% of its body weight. Supporting a greater proportion of body weight on a particular limb is likely to reduce the risk of slipping during propulsive efforts. Our results demonstrate several features of galloping and highlight differences between the cheetah and greyhound that may account for the cheetah's faster maximum speeds.

FOOTNOTES

  • ↵* Present address: Division of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonnington Campus LE12 5RD, UK

  • FUNDING

    The authors would like to thank the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council and the Royal Veterinary College for funding this research. This work was part funded by DARPA M3 program with Boston Dynamics [award number W91CRB-11-C-0048].

  • LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

    BW
    body weight
    CoM
    centre of mass
    GPS
    global positioning system
    GRF
    ground reaction force
    LFL
    lead forelimb
    LHL
    lead hindlimb
    LMM
    linear mixed model
    NLFL
    non-lead forelimb
    NLHL
    non-lead hindlimb
    SLC
    single limb contact
    • © 2012.
    View Full Text
    Previous ArticleNext Article
    Back to top
    Previous ArticleNext Article

    This Issue

     Download PDF

    Email

    Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Experimental Biology.

    NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

    Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
    High speed galloping in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the racing greyhound (Canis familiaris): spatio-temporal and kinetic characteristics
    (Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Experimental Biology
    (Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Experimental Biology web site.
    Share
    High speed galloping in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the racing greyhound (Canis familiaris): spatio-temporal and kinetic characteristics
    Penny E. Hudson, Sandra A. Corr, Alan M. Wilson
    Journal of Experimental Biology 2012 215: 2425-2434; doi: 10.1242/jeb.066720
    del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
    Citation Tools
    High speed galloping in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the racing greyhound (Canis familiaris): spatio-temporal and kinetic characteristics
    Penny E. Hudson, Sandra A. Corr, Alan M. Wilson
    Journal of Experimental Biology 2012 215: 2425-2434; doi: 10.1242/jeb.066720

    Citation Manager Formats

    • BibTeX
    • Bookends
    • EasyBib
    • EndNote (tagged)
    • EndNote 8 (xml)
    • Medlars
    • Mendeley
    • Papers
    • RefWorks Tagged
    • Ref Manager
    • RIS
    • Zotero
    Alerts

    Please log in to add an alert for this article.

    Sign in to email alerts with your email address

    Article navigation

    • Top
    • Article
      • SUMMARY
      • INTRODUCTION
      • MATERIALS AND METHODS
      • RESULTS
      • DISCUSSION
      • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
      • FOOTNOTES
      • LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS
      • REFERENCES
    • Figures & tables
    • Info & metrics
    • PDF

    Related articles

    Cited by...

    More in this TOC section

    • Thermal strategies vary with life history stage
    • Microsurgical manipulation reveals pre-copulatory function of key genital sclerites
    • Are the surface areas of the gills and body involved with changing metabolic scaling with temperature?
    Show more RESEARCH ARTICLES

    Similar articles

    Other journals from The Company of Biologists

    Development

    Journal of Cell Science

    Disease Models & Mechanisms

    Biology Open

    Advertisement

    Editors’ choice – Breath-holding locusts don't keep spiracles open when they exhale


    Photo credit: Stav Talal.
    Diapausing butterfly larvae keep their spiracles open while exhaling during discontinuous gas exchange; however, a recent study from Stav Talal and co-workers reveals that adult locusts do not. Instead they repeatedly open and close their spiracles in time with contractions of the abdominal muscle to expel air from the body.


    JEB in the news – Sheep hair curl secret in cells


    Photo credit: Anita Grosvenor.
    Why does hair curl? By looking at curly merino sheep wool, scientists from New Zealand and Japan have discovered that the hair cells lining the outside of the curl are long (orthocortical cells) while the cells on the inside of the curl are another type (paracortical cells), which are short, making the hair bend to give it a curl. This JEB Research Article was reported in the New York Times and ABC news.


    Commentary – Robotics-inspired biology

    Robotic devices are increasingly generating ideas for experiments on living animals. Nick Gravish and George V. Lauder explore this new twist on the inspiration that biologists have traditionally taken from mechanical systems.


    JEB symposium 2017 – The biology of fat

    Delegates at the 2017 Journal of Experimental Biology symposium ‘The biology of fat’ share their experiences and highlights of the meeting. We have also recently published a special issue featuring review articles based on the talks at this meeting.

    Articles

    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Alerts

    About us

    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Workshops and Meetings
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news

    For Authors

    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer

    Journal Info

    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Alerts

    Contact

    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback

     Twitter   YouTube   LinkedIn

    © 2018   The Company of Biologists Ltd   Registered Charity 277992