See even animals have affairs! wee ha

This dragon lizard executes a reptilian wheelie while accelerating at twice the rate of a human sprinter. If zoo inhabitants could compete in the Olympics, humans would have a hard time winning any medals

At 8 a.m., before the day turns shirt-clinging muggy, bystanders gather in hopes of seeing some of the world’s really fast runners, soon to appear on the outdoor course for training sprints. A boy a bit bigger than his backpack fidgets against the railing, but the rest of the small crowd stands quietly, cameras ready. From behind a grassy rise on the far side of the course comes the slamming of metal doors, and suddenly the runners lope into sight, their long yellow tails kinked behind them.

Travel costs being what they are these days, this report on what makes an athlete extraordinary is not brought to you from Beijing. Instead, a $1.35 fare (off-peak) on the Washington, D.C., subway leads from the Science News offices to the grounds of Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

That’s fine actually. The zoo has the better athletes by far. In this assemblage of contestants in a physiologist’s fantasy Olympics, plenty of species can outrun, outdistance, out-hop and out-scurry poor old Homo sapiens. And researchers around the world are analyzing how these alternative gaits work and why some are so fast.

The zoo really does arrange morning training sprints for its cheetahs, but not at the top speed recorded for the species. The restriction comes in part from concerns for safety on the running path. A cord moving along a series of ankle-high guideposts pulls a lure in a snaking path through the domain of the three young cheetah brothers out today. The cord curves between clumps of tall grass and swerves around a perching log. With all these switchbacks to keep the exercise interesting, “acceleration is no problem; stopping is a problem,” says zoo cheetah biologist Craig Saffoe. So for a cheetah on the longest straightaway in the course, Saffoe keeps the speed lively but still safe, no more than 20 meters per second (about 45 miles per hour) — a speed that would smash world records in Beijing.

Of course, these cheetahs will race after a little swatch of rabbit fur on a motorized string. So there’s some consolation in remembering who controls the motor.

via science news