Why would the cheetah be the fastest land animal?
First, the claws of the cheetah are semiretractile (they do not retract completely into their pads, like in the other cats), functioning like crampons during the race. The paw’s cushions have transversal folds that increase adherence to the ground. The fact that the long tail acts like a rudder during the run helps cheetah overcome preys running in zig zag by making quick turns at amazing speeds. The cheetah’s spine is extremely elastic, working like a spring. Also, compared with the limbs of other cats, those of the cheetah are extremely long and thin, adapted to running, possessing very lax articulations to the body (at the hip and shoulder), fact that allows them to make large steps. The skeleton of a cheetah is also very light. The elastic spine and the long legs allow the cheetah to make successive jumps 7 m (23 ft) in length each and in 2 seconds a cheetah has already reached 75 km per hour and in 3 even 110 km (that’s faster than most cars can do!). Its most rapid preys, the gaz
