Animal Athletes

[brobear]

thenormalguy; I second Kodiak's remark. Nice post. You will notice that wolves kill very few pronghorns. Takes me back - decades ago I read an article by some naturalist who was doing a study on them. In his opinion, the pronghorn is a more accomplished runner than the famous cheetah. Slower only by a hair, but built not only for speed but also for endurance.

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2020 17:22:08 GMT -5 brobear said:

thenormalguy; I second Kodiak's remark. Nice post. You will notice that wolves kill very few pronghorns. Takes me back - decades ago I read an article by some naturalist who was doing a study on them. In his opinion, the pronghorn is a more accomplished runner than the famous cheetah. Slower only by a hair, but built not only for speed but also for endurance.

Thank you very much.

Here is the article you probably talking about (below)

---

Pronghorn's speed may be the legacy of past [Extinct] predators such as the American Cheetah (which would make sense)

RACING at top speed across the Western plains, as close to flying as four hooves can take it, an American pronghorn in motion is a biological marvel running nearly 60 miles an hour, faster than anything else on the continent.

A quick dash and the antelope easily shakes off even the most determined coyotes and wolves, presenting biologists with a high-velocity mystery. What is this perfection of running speed doing here where there is no creature capable of pursuing the chase?
After studying pronghorns for 14 years on the National Bison Range in Montana, one researcher says he has the answer.

The scientist, Dr. John A. Byers of the University of Idaho in Moscow, says the pronghorn runs as fast as it does because it is being chased by ghosts -- the ghosts of predators past.

In a book to be published next year by the University of Chicago Press, ''American Pronghorn: Social Adaptations and the Ghosts of Predators Past,'' Dr. Byers argues that the pronghorn evolved its heady running prowess more than 10,000 years ago when North America was rife with fast-cruising killers like cheetahs and roving packs of long-legged hyenas.

''The realization just grew and grew that I was looking at an animal that was adapted to this former world,'' Dr. Byers said. ''These were predators that would have been really, really nasty.''

As researchers begin to look, such ghosts appear to be ever more in evidence, with studies of other species showing that even when predators have been gone for hundreds of thousands of years, their prey may not have forgotten them.

''It's going to be a very controversial idea,'' Dr. Richard Coss, a behavioral ecologist at the University of California at Davis, said of what he calls relict behaviors. Researchers used to thinking of behavior as infinitely adaptable and very quickly evolving ''may not find the idea of relict behaviors comfortable,'' he said.

Though controversial, the idea is far from new. As seems to be true of every interesting notion in evolutionary biology, Charles Darwin explored this possibility himself more than 100 years ago. Darwin speculated on whether behaviors suited for life in the wild might persist for long periods in domesticated animals no longer subjected to the natural rigors faced by their ancestors.

Until 10,000 years ago, the rigors of life for pronghorns appear to have been extreme.

In order to survive, at one time or another these doe-eyed cud-chewing creatures had to evade the North American cheetah, the giant short-faced bear, a long-legged creature that was probably an impressive runner, as well as lions and jaguars, which were even bigger and faster than they are today.

The young and the weak faced an even greater array of dangers with saber-toothed cats roaming about as well as numerous types of wolves and plundering dogs.

But the worst, by far, were the hyenas equipped with cheetah-like limbs and huge jaws full of ripping teeth.
''I don't think there's a predator alive today,'' said Dr. Byers, ''that would've been as ferocious as that long-legged hyena would've been -- its back as high as a person's waist and running in packs as it probably did. It would have been able to get on a group of pronghorns and drag them down and rip them apart. It would have been truly formidable.''

Once the pronghorn is envisioned amid such predators, its speed seems much less extraordinary and much more obligatory, as it is hard to imagine any save the fleetest getting out of the Pleistocene alive.

And fast they became.

One researcher clocked pronghorns at 55 miles an hour, though biologists guess that they may go even faster.

Others tracking pronghorns by light plane going at 45 miles an hour say they have seen pronghorns put on a little burst of speed and effortlessly slip away.

Pronghorns are endurance runners as well, going at 45 miles an hour for several miles without showing any signs of exhaustion.
Despite the explanatory power of ghosts of predators past, those studying behavior rarely stop to consider such vanished enemies, which was one of the major reasons Dr. Byers said he decided to write the book.

Dr. Daniel Rubenstein, a behavioral ecologist at Princeton University, called Dr. Byers's work ''high quality'' and agreed, saying that typically behavioral researchers would only consider such historical explanations if forced to do so.

''Digging back into the past to see why traits originated is almost a last resort,'' said Dr. Rubenstein, who described it as an explanation used only after researchers could not find any current use for a behavior.

Part of the reluctance to entertain such ideas, is the difficulty of testing hypotheses in which the principal players are all extinct.

Dr. John Fryxell, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Guelph in Canada, who called the soon-to-be-published book ''convincing,'' said historical explanations were always more difficult to test. Just as scientists cannot repeat and manipulate the ''big bang,'' researchers theorizing about long-dead predators cannot remove and rearrange extinct hyenas. They must instead examine whether other modern-day evidence supports their theory of the predators' importance.

In Dr. Byers's case, there is much supporting evidence, as many aspects of pronghorns' lives appear to have been shaped by their ancient enemies.

Many animals that rely on grazing will herd, roaming about in large groups. A group affords more eyes to spot an approaching predator and for any one individual in the group the chance of being attacked is diluted. So herding animals suffer the inconveniences of crowding, including struggling for food and dominance, in exchange for the safety of numbers.

Yet though adult pronghorns have nothing to fear from the carnivores around them now and nothing to gain from herding, they continue to do so in what appears to be another adaptation to ancient threats.

[I'm making a parenthesis with Thomson's Gazelle and Impalas, they are socially in big groups, probably for protection from fast predators like the cheetah, so without them they can become more solitary or small herds may I say]


Dr. Byers says he has found hints of the past in pronghorn mating as well. If peak speed and endurance were once key to survival, one might expect pronghorn females to pick fathers for their offspring on the basis of vigor and athletic prowess, which is exactly what females do. When the mating season begins, males work to herd groups of females.

But as soon as a female is ready to mate she begins to attempt escape, leading the male on sprinting chases and drawing the attention of challenging males. Females typically stand back and watch as males struggle to fend off challengers, then choose the victor as their mate.

Today the pressures on the pronghorn population are predation on fawns by coyotes, bobcats and even golden eagles, as well as hunting of adults by humans.

It is not only pronghorns that hang on to ancient defenses. Dr. Coss and his colleagues found that California ground squirrels from populations that have been free from snakes for 70,000 to 300,000 years still clearly recognize rattlesnakes. Exhibiting stereotypic anti-rattlesnake behavior, the ground squirrels approach with caution, throw dirt and fluff up their tails. But fear, even of snakes, does not last forever. Arctic ground squirrels in Alaska, free of snakes for some three million years, seem unable to recognize the threat of a rattlesnake. These hapless squirrels exhibited only a disorganized caution, even after being bitten repeatedly.

Dr. Susan A. Foster, an evolutionary biologist at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., and her colleagues have also found relict behaviors in stickleback fish. Working with a population that has long been free of sculpin, a dangerous predator, researchers presented preserved sculpin to the fish. To their surprise, researchers saw the sticklebacks immediately engage in stereotypic anti-sculpin behavior, treating the predatory fish with caution, avoiding its mouth and swimming behind to bite it.

In what will surely be the most controversial of the new studies, Dr. Coss and his colleagues are searching for relict behaviors in humans.
Researchers questioned 3- and 4-year-olds and adults about childhood nighttime fears. While the overwhelming majority of males reported being fearful of attack from the side, the greatest number of females reported being fearful of attack from below. Dr. Coss says these differences may be due to the life patterns of ancient hominid ancestors.

According to some theories, early female hominids were more adept climbers (evidenced today, in part, by the greater flexibility of the young adult female foot) and spent more time in trees than males. More likely to sleep in elevated roosts, females were most vulnerable to attack from below. Males sleeping on the ground, however, would have been more vulnerable to nighttime attack from the side.
Some might suggest that researchers were most likely detecting the ghost of television and movies watched. But Dr. Coss, while acknowledging the powerful effects of these media, suggests the opposite. Hollywood, he says, may be capitalizing on the primal fears that humans still carry from the days when they were easy, tender targets for many a predator.

www.nytimes.com/1996/12/24/scie ... ators.html

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2020 17:22:08 GMT -5 brobear said:

thenormalguy; I second Kodiak's remark. Nice post. You will notice that wolves kill very few pronghorns. Takes me back - decades ago I read an article by some naturalist who was doing a study on them. In his opinion, the pronghorn is a more accomplished runner than the famous cheetah. Slower only by a hair, but built not only for speed but also for endurance.

They can run at speeds of 88 km/h for an hour.

Cheetah can run 100 km/h for 800-1000 meters. Then, they obligatory cut the chase off, since they would overheat , in others words, the heart would beat too fast i think. They need 30 mins to recuperate from these long [for a cheetah] chases. After recuperating, they will start to eat, if i remember correctly, from the rump.

[brobear]

Sept 27, 2020 17:44:25 GMT -5 thenormalguy said:

Sept 27, 2020 17:22:08 GMT -5 brobear said:

thenormalguy; I second Kodiak's remark. Nice post. You will notice that wolves kill very few pronghorns. Takes me back - decades ago I read an article by some naturalist who was doing a study on them. In his opinion, the pronghorn is a more accomplished runner than the famous cheetah. Slower only by a hair, but built not only for speed but also for endurance.

They can run at speeds of 88 km/h for an hour.

Cheetah can run 100 km/h for 800-1000 meters. Then, they obligatory cut the chase off, since they would overheat , in others words, the heart would beat too fast i think. They need 30 mins to recuperate from these long [for a cheetah] chases. After recuperating, they will start to eat, if i remember correctly, from the rump.

Thank you thenormalguy. Very informative contributions today. I believe you hit the nail right on the head with the pronghorn data; just as I remembered it.

[tom]

Sept 27, 2020 17:22:08 GMT -5 brobear said:

In his opinion, the pronghorn is a more accomplished runner than the famous cheetah. Slower only by a hair, but built not only for speed but also for endurance.

He is correct. The cheetah is faster but he is a sprinter and the pronghorn is a distance runner along with his speed. Fastest North American land animal, nicknamed "speed goat". I used to see a lot of them when I spent time in western North Dakota. Incredible eyesight they have.

[tom]

To continue a moment about the Pronghorn Antelope. Why are they so fast and how did they develop such speed. With nothing else in North American even remotely as fast one wonders how they developed this speed over the course of their evolution.

One possible reason may be the American Cheetah or maybe something very similar. 

safe.menlosecurity.com/https://pleistoscenery.com/2014/12/10/why-so-fast-pronghorn/

So why this speed? Why has the pronghorn evolved this unequaled capacity to run at very high speeds for very long times? Why that incredible vision?
In a word: predation. Evolution is driven by adaptation. Something drove the pronghorn to develop this unmatched capacity to run and run and run, at high speed, over enormous distances. The question then is this: What nightmare creature had the speed and endurance to drive pronghorns to evolve their exceptional combination of speed and endurance?

The answer is: No one is really sure.

It wasn’t wolves, and it wasn’t coyotes. Newborn or injured pronghorns are vulnerable to predation by wolves and coyotes. But adult pronghorns are much, much faster than coyotes: They can outrun them easily. Wolves are pursuit predators. They hunt in packs and employ relay strategies where some of the wolves chase a prey animal, and then others of the pack take up the pursuit, eventually tiring and wearing down the prey so that it can be taken. And this perhaps was an effective strategy against the pronghorn when wolves roamed the same country as the pronghorns do. But for the most part wolves do not prey on pronghorns. They have other prey – elk, for example, and – today, at least – are not commonly found in the type of country where pronghorns roam. Ambush predators like mountain lions don’t have enough cover to successfully stalk and kill pronghorns regularly.

So if it wasn’t coyotes, nor wolves, nor mountain lions, what animal was it? What nightmare creature had the speed and endurance to drive pronghorns to evolve their exceptional combination of speed and endurance?

There are two primary contenders: The American cheetah, and the hunting hyena.

One theory is that the pronghorn developed its remarkable running ability in response to predation by the American Cheetah. The name is not entirely accurate. Although they were fast – very fast – the two species of American Cheetahs were not cheetahs at all, but more closely related to mountain lions (cougars). Nonetheless they showed evolutionary adaptations designed for speed. One of them – Miracinonyx trumani – lived on the prairies and plains. It may well have been the pronghorn’s partner in the evolutionary race for speed and endurance.

But recently, Miracinonyx fossils have been found in the “wrong” habitat – in steep, rocky hillside areas – leading to some speculation that the American Cheetah lived more like a modern day snow leopard, than its African namesake.[5]

And cats tend to be sprinters rather than marathoners. Since the pronghorn can sustain its incredible speeds for such a long time, it seems likely that the running ability evolved in response to pressure from some predator that could run at high speed for long distances. And, in fact, there is another possible explanation for the pronghorn’s speed and endurance: The American hyena, Chasmaporthetes ossifragus, called the hunting hyena.

Not much is known about the hunting hyena. It is the only species of hyena to cross the land bridge from Eurasia to North America. “Fossil remains of Chasmaporthetes have been found at 4 sites in Florida, 3 sites in Arizona, 2 sites in north Texas, 2 sites in Mexico, and 1 site in New Mexico. . .[6] Chasmaporthetes is called the hunting hyena because it, too, like the America cheetah, shows adaptations for speed. Its legs were long and slender, and it probably hunted in packs on open grassland. Today, African hyenas are tenacious pack predators, often chasing prey for long distances. Thus is seems possible that the American hunting hyena might have been the pronghorn’s partner in the evolution of this speed and endurance.

The American cheetah is long gone now, and the hunting hyena went extinct roughly seven hundred eighty thousand years ago. Still, the pronghorn survives; and still it carries the adaptations it evolved: the vision to see danger from far away, and the speed to run and run and run, as long and as fast as possible, to escape from whatever it was that pursued it – the American cheetah, or the hunting hyena. Whatever it was, it haunts the pronghorn’s dreams still.

[brobear]

www.speedofanimals.com/animals/pronghorn

The pronhorn can run exceptionally fast, being built for maximum predator evasion through running, and is generally accepted to be the fastest land mammal in the New World. The top speed is very hard to measure accurately and varies between individuals; it is variously cited as up to 70 km/h, 72 km/h, or 86 km/h. It is often cited as the second-fastest land animal, second only to the cheetah. It can however sustain high speeds longer than cheetahs. University of Idaho zoologist John Byers has suggested that the Pronghorn evolved its running ability to escape from extinct predators such as the American cheetah, since its speed greatly exceeds that of extant North American predators. It has a very large heart and lungs, and hollow hair. Although built for speed, it is a very poor jumper. Their ranges are often affected by sheep ranchers’ fences. However, they can be seen going under fences, sometimes at high speed.

[Deleted]

Sept 29, 2020 17:08:28 GMT -5 brobear said:

www.speedofanimals.com/animals/pronghorn

The pronhorn can run exceptionally fast, being built for maximum predator evasion through running, and is generally accepted to be the fastest land mammal in the New World. The top speed is very hard to measure accurately and varies between individuals; it is variously cited as up to 70 km/h, 72 km/h, or 86 km/h. It is often cited as the second-fastest land animal, second only to the cheetah. It can however sustain high speeds longer than cheetahs. University of Idaho zoologist John Byers has suggested that the Pronghorn evolved its running ability to escape from extinct predators such as the American cheetah, since its speed greatly exceeds that of extant North American predators. It has a very large heart and lungs, and hollow hair. Although built for speed, it is a very poor jumper. Their ranges are often affected by sheep ranchers’ fences. However, they can be seen going under fences, sometimes at high speed.

We could and maybe should transfers all these pronghorns posts to the right thread. Delete my post [this one] after. Let's stay wolves and bears or just wolves here 

[brobear]

Quote: We could and maybe should transfers all these pronghorns posts to the right thread. Delete my post [this one] after. Let's stay wolves and bears or just wolves here.

*Just a little insight of some of the wolf's prey. animals.mom.com/how-to-train-a-dog-to-walk-with-a-leash-13582930.html

A wolf may travel as many as 40 miles in a single day, but he has more than stamina. The wolf is also capable of moving quickly in short bursts. This allows him to hunt small and quick prey like hares as well large, strong and fast animals, like white-tail deer and mountain goats.
Built primarily for long-distance hunting, a wolf typically maintains a speed of about 5 miles per hour -- this moderate pace allows him to travel many miles in a single day while looking for food. Shorter bursts of high-speed running allow him to quickly close in on prey, but he can't maintain his maximum speed for long. He can run about 25 miles per hour for up to 2 miles. For shorter distances, he can run as fast as 40 miles per hour -- his top speed.

[brobear]

Who are the true animal athletes? Running, jumping, swimming, wrestling, etc.? The Animal Kingdoms Olympians. 
 
What animal might win in a 100-yard dash? 
What animal might win in a 10-mile run? 
What animal might jump the highest?
What animal might jump the furthest? 
What animal that walks on dry land and sleeps on dry land can swim the fastest? ( furthest - deepest ). 
What animal would be 'king of the wrestling ring'? 
 

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2020 3:57:03 GMT -5 brobear said:

Who are the true animal athletes? Running, jumping, swimming, wrestling, etc.? The Animal Kingdoms Olympians. 
 
1) What animal might win in a 100-yard dash? 
2) What animal might win in a 10-mile run? 
3) What animal might jump the highest?
4) What animal might jump the furthest? 
5) What animal that walks on dry land and sleeps on dry land can swim the fastest? ( furthest - deepest ). 
6) What animal would be 'king of the wrestling ring'? 
 

1) Cheetah on land, Sailfish, Peregrine Falcon (if diving)
2) Pronghorn (wildebeest could be a good-runner up)
3) hard to tell, kangourou ?
4) Snow leopard 
5) Not the polar bear. A pinniped species.
6) An human armed. Without kidding, an elephant.

[brobear]

Reply #10... Number #1; My meaning was on dry land; but that's ok. I would have guessed mako shark as fastest fish. But the "billed" fish seem to own that trophy.
www.sciencefocus.com/nature/top-10-what-are-the-fastest-fish-in-the-world/

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2020 3:57:03 GMT -5 brobear said:

Who are the true animal athletes? Running, jumping, swimming, wrestling, etc.? The Animal Kingdoms Olympians. 
 
What animal might win in a 100-yard dash? 
What animal might win in a 10-mile run? 
What animal might jump the highest?
What animal might jump the furthest? 
What animal that walks on dry land and sleeps on dry land can swim the fastest? ( furthest - deepest ). 
What animal would be 'king of the wrestling ring'? 
 

Idk about others but for the fifth spot tiger can swim up to 16 km/h so I think that would be good spot for it

Here is the proof
sun9-47.userapi.com/c858124/v858124105/afcf4/lBe7lDyD-l8.jpg



Credits to Othodus Megalodno from carnivora

[Deleted]

pinnipeds walk on land and sleep on land. Beat the hell out of these animals

[brobear]

Pinnipeds definitely win, otters a close second. Brown bear in a race across a river ( half-mile ) against a tiger; my nickel is on the bear. 
 
Hight jump / Long distance jump - kangaroo, puma, or snow leopard? 
 
The Southern elephant seal is the largest marine mammal that is not a cetacean. The adult male has a large proboscis that it uses to produce thunderous roars especially during the breeding season, hence the name elephant. Their primary feeding area is at the edge of the Antarctic continent where they feed on squid and fish. Their deepest dive has been recorded at 6,998 feet, and they are the deepest diving air-breathing non-cetaceans. They have increased oxygen storage and a reduced rate of consumption making excellent divers.

[OldGreenGrolar]

The sperm whale is the one that dives the deepest to get to the giant squids.

[brobear]

Quote: What animal that walks on dry land and sleeps on dry land can swim the fastest? ( furthest - deepest ). *and I should also have stated mammal.   
 
                          

[Deleted]

Oct 4, 2020 4:59:04 GMT -5 brobear said:

Quote: What animal that walks on dry land and sleeps on dry land can swim the fastest? ( furthest - deepest ). *and I should also have stated mammal.   
 
                          

That is pretty impressive when you think that we "humans" get a sensible change in our audition after reaching just a depth of 10 meters [caused by pressure]. 

Imagine nearly 300 times deeper !

The technology humankind created like putting trackable tools on animals bring astounding information and discovery about animal behavior that could have never been possible manually.

Like how to know the depth of diving of whales.

[Deleted]

Polar bears can also dive preaty deep. I heard like 30 meters or something like that. Wasn`t polar bears max swimming speed 10 km/h?

[OldGreenGrolar]

Oct 4, 2020 10:34:25 GMT -5 @kassuts said:

Polar bears can also dive preaty deep. I heard like 30 meters or something like that. Wasn`t polar bears max swimming speed 10 km/h?

Swimming
.


Polar bears are strong swimmers; they swim across bays or wide leads without hesitation. They can swim for several hours at a time over long distances. They've been tracked swimming continuously for 100 km (62 mi.).


A polar bear's front paws propel them through the water dog-paddle style. The hind feet and legs are held flat and are used as rudders.


A thick layer of fat, up to 11 cm (4.3 in.) thick, keeps the polar bear warm while swimming in cold water.


Polar bears can obtain a swimming speed of 10 kph (6.2 mph).


A polar bear's nostrils close when under water.

Diving
.


Polar bears make shallow dives when stalking prey, navigating ice floes, or searching for kelp.


Polar bears usually swim under water at depths of only about 3-4.5 m (9.8-14.8 ft.). They can remain submerged for more than one minute.


Maximum dive duration is unknown; however the longest polar bear dive observed to date lasted a total of 3 minutes and 10 seconds covering a distance of 45 to 50 m (148–164 ft.) without surfacing.


No one knows how deep a polar bear can dive. One researcher estimates that polar bears dive no deeper than 6 m (20 ft.).

seaworld.org/animals/all-about/polar-bear/adaptations/