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Taylor, C.R.; Rowntree, V.J.
Temperature regulation and heat balance in running cheetahs: a strategy for sprinters?
1973 American Journal of Physiology (224): 848-851
Cheetahs sprint at speeds exceeding 100 km hr- 1. At this speed their calculated heat production would be more than 60 times greater than that at rest. The cheetah stores most of the heat produced while running: 70 y0 of the heat produced during a 15-min run at 11 km hr-l was stored; this increased to 90 y0 at 18 km hr-? The cheetah refused to run when rectal temperature reached 40.5 C. Thus, the distance at which a cheetah pursues its prey appears to be limited by the rise in its body temperature. The resting cheetah possesses substantial capability for dissipating heat evaporatively and can maintain a constant body temperature of about 40 C when air temperature is 50 C. During running these evaporative heat-loss mechanisms are not activated. By comparison, the goat, a nonsprinter, increased evaporation and stored much less heat while running than the cheetah.
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