The Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is known as the fastest animal on the planet. It can reach speeds around 70mph, but even more amazingly, it can reach maximum speeds within 3 seconds! The cheetahs stride can be up to 25 feet long and while completing around 4 strides per second, the cheetah can travel over 100 feet per second (Helium).

The cheetah is different than any other felid because it runs down its prey in a short maximum speed chase. Other cats usually pounce on prey that is close in range (Russell and Bryant, 2011).

In order to survive in a competitive world, the cheetah needs to be able to sprint. The questions we must ask, are how is a cheetah capable of running at such amazing speeds and how does it help them?