I am an American evolutionary biologist with a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology. I am based at Rutgers University, where I specialize in studying biodiversity, evolution, and genomics.
Being the largest or having the longest limbs doesn’t guarantee the title of the fastest in the natural world. For instance, elephants and giraffes are giants among animals, with the latter boasting some of the longest limbs. Yet, when it comes to sheer speed, they are outpaced by the likes of the cheetah, which, despite its moderate size, claims the crown for the fastest land animal, with a top speed of 75 mph.
However, this new study illuminates a more complex reality: there are, in fact, two distinct limits determining an animal’s peak velocity.The first, referred to as the “kinetic energy capacity limit,” is related to how quickly muscles can contract, while the second, referred to as the “work capacity limit,” concerns the extent of these contractions. An animal maxes out its top speed based on whichever of these two limits it encounters first.
A key factor lies in the composition of their bodies. Reptiles typically have a smaller percentage of their body weight dedicated to limb muscle compared to mammals. This anatomical difference means that reptiles hit the “work capacity limit” quicker and at a lower body weight. For reptiles to remain agile and move quickly, they need to keep their body size relatively small.
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