The Cheetah, the World's Fastest Animal

[Fam Times reporter Lee Kyung-han] The cheetah is currently the fastest-running animal on land.

Cheetahs are truly fast. But scientists have wondered why an animal twice the size of a cheetah cannot run twice as fast, and why it cannot beat a cheetah in a race.

According to recent research, the reason animals larger than cheetahs cannot run faster than them is, ironically, their body size.

“Scientists have long struggled to explain why the largest animals are not the fastest,” said Walter Jetz, a professor at Yale University in the United States.

“In our study, we uncovered the simple fact that animals easily run out of energy before they can accelerate their bodies to their maximum speed.”

“Thus, while the largest animals could theoretically be the fastest, they cannot obtain the energy and time needed to accelerate their large bodies.”

The cheetah's body, meanwhile, is ideally suited for high speeds. Its muscles have enough energy to reach maximum speed.

Research into cheetah speed has helped scientists better understand how animals differ in their traits, basic hunting methods, and ways of finding food.

Australian scientists Peter Bishop and Christopher Clemente said in a journal, “The interesting part of this study is that these findings apply equally to animals on land, in the air, and in water.”

No other animal can beat the cheetah's speed. What about humans? Humans cannot beat cheetahs either.

We have a body type and size very similar to a cheetah's. However, because of how we survive, including our diet, we cannot run at speeds comparable to those of cheetahs.

Running at exactly the same speed as a cheetah is not currently one of our goals. So for the time being, let the animals race among themselves and postpone a human-cheetah showdown until the distant future.

Reporter Lee Kyung-han, fam1@pcss.co.kr