Cargando…

Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey

Predator–prey interactions are fundamental in the evolution and structure of ecological communities. Our understanding, however, of the strategies used in pursuit and evasion remains limited. Here, we report on the hunting dynamics of the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah, Acinonyx jubat...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wilson, John W., Mills, Michael G. L., Wilson, Rory P., Peters, Gerrit, Mills, Margaret E. J., Speakman, John R., Durant, Sarah M., Bennett, Nigel C., Marks, Nikki J., Scantlebury, Michael
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3971710/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24004493
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0620
_version_ 1782309511088832512
author Wilson, John W.
Mills, Michael G. L.
Wilson, Rory P.
Peters, Gerrit
Mills, Margaret E. J.
Speakman, John R.
Durant, Sarah M.
Bennett, Nigel C.
Marks, Nikki J.
Scantlebury, Michael
author_facet Wilson, John W.
Mills, Michael G. L.
Wilson, Rory P.
Peters, Gerrit
Mills, Margaret E. J.
Speakman, John R.
Durant, Sarah M.
Bennett, Nigel C.
Marks, Nikki J.
Scantlebury, Michael
author_sort Wilson, John W.
collection PubMed
description Predator–prey interactions are fundamental in the evolution and structure of ecological communities. Our understanding, however, of the strategies used in pursuit and evasion remains limited. Here, we report on the hunting dynamics of the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus. Using miniaturized data loggers, we recorded fine-scale movement, speed and acceleration of free-ranging cheetahs to measure how hunting dynamics relate to chasing different sized prey. Cheetahs attained hunting speeds of up to 18.94 m s(−1) and accelerated up to 7.5 m s(−2) with greatest angular velocities achieved during the terminal phase of the hunt. The interplay between forward and lateral acceleration during chases showed that the total forces involved in speed changes and turning were approximately constant over time but varied with prey type. Thus, rather than a simple maximum speed chase, cheetahs first accelerate to decrease the distance to their prey, before reducing speed 5–8 s from the end of the hunt, so as to facilitate rapid turns to match prey escape tactics, varying the precise strategy according to prey species. Predator and prey thus pit a fine balance of speed against manoeuvring capability in a race for survival.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3971710
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2013
publisher The Royal Society
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-39717102014-04-16 Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey Wilson, John W. Mills, Michael G. L. Wilson, Rory P. Peters, Gerrit Mills, Margaret E. J. Speakman, John R. Durant, Sarah M. Bennett, Nigel C. Marks, Nikki J. Scantlebury, Michael Biol Lett Physiology Predator–prey interactions are fundamental in the evolution and structure of ecological communities. Our understanding, however, of the strategies used in pursuit and evasion remains limited. Here, we report on the hunting dynamics of the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus. Using miniaturized data loggers, we recorded fine-scale movement, speed and acceleration of free-ranging cheetahs to measure how hunting dynamics relate to chasing different sized prey. Cheetahs attained hunting speeds of up to 18.94 m s(−1) and accelerated up to 7.5 m s(−2) with greatest angular velocities achieved during the terminal phase of the hunt. The interplay between forward and lateral acceleration during chases showed that the total forces involved in speed changes and turning were approximately constant over time but varied with prey type. Thus, rather than a simple maximum speed chase, cheetahs first accelerate to decrease the distance to their prey, before reducing speed 5–8 s from the end of the hunt, so as to facilitate rapid turns to match prey escape tactics, varying the precise strategy according to prey species. Predator and prey thus pit a fine balance of speed against manoeuvring capability in a race for survival. The Royal Society 2013-10-23 /pmc/articles/PMC3971710/ /pubmed/24004493 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0620 Text en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ © 2013 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Physiology
Wilson, John W.
Mills, Michael G. L.
Wilson, Rory P.
Peters, Gerrit
Mills, Margaret E. J.
Speakman, John R.
Durant, Sarah M.
Bennett, Nigel C.
Marks, Nikki J.
Scantlebury, Michael
Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey
title Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey
title_full Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey
title_fullStr Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey
title_full_unstemmed Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey
title_short Cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey
title_sort cheetahs, acinonyx jubatus, balance turn capacity with pace when chasing prey
topic Physiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3971710/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24004493
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0620
work_keys_str_mv AT wilsonjohnw cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT millsmichaelgl cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT wilsonroryp cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT petersgerrit cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT millsmargaretej cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT speakmanjohnr cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT durantsarahm cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT bennettnigelc cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT marksnikkij cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey
AT scantleburymichael cheetahsacinonyxjubatusbalanceturncapacitywithpacewhenchasingprey