Page 51 - How It Works - Book of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, 12

____ Environment _______________ Q�

0-40m in three stri
Check out the three stages a cheetah undertakes to reach 40mph in just three strides

1. Brace 2. Snap 3. Kick
The cheetah employs its hard, ridged footpads The spine uncoils and snaps straight, driving the hind The combined spine and leg muscles give the cheetah an incredibly broad
and blunt, non-retractable claws to maximise legs into the earth and pushing the cheetah forward. The swing range and propel it 7.6 metres (25 feet) through the air in a colossal
traction with the ground. Its spine curves, honed, slender muscles expand in conjunction, adding bound. At the culmination of the bound one foot is replanted onto the earth
coil-like, and head drops a fraction. greater elasticity and drive to the forward thrust. and the process is repeated. The cheetah completes three strides a second.

The sailfish's elongated bill is
similar to a swordfish's and
marlin's, placing it in the
category of billfish.

Capable of swimming for long periods of time at
over 40mph, and witfi a recorded top speed of over
70mph, the sailfish is the ocean's fastest animal

ith a top speed on par with that of a chase to consume fish, crustaceans or (notably the large dorsal fin that adds over a foot
cheetah, the sailfish is lightning fast cephalopods, the sailfish will flick its tail back on to its overall height). This feature helps it
W and one of the most difficult-to-catch and forth hundreds of times, utilising the reduce the effects of drag and minimise
fish in the world. powerful muscles which run down its resistance to its movements.
Thanks to its stiffened, tapered body and compressed body. Its spine is also very flexible and as with the
scissor-shaped caudal fin, the sailfish is built for As with a peregrine falcon, the sailfish's speed cheetah allows it to generate increased thrust
speed-a speed that comes courtesy of a rapid is also aided by its ability to retract parts through the rapid curves it bends its torso into
and ferocious flicking of its tail. Indeed, during a of its body, in this instance its various fins while swimming.

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