In the hairless ape thread there was this,
“as distance runners we have few equals among mammals”.I actually thought we had no equals when it came to distance running.
Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?
sibeen said:
In the hairless ape thread there was this, “as distance runners we have few equals among mammals”.I actually thought we had no equals when it came to distance running.
Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?
Horse?
Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?
wolf, african hunting dog…similar?
sibeen said:
In the hairless ape thread there was this, “as distance runners we have few equals among mammals”.I actually thought we had no equals when it came to distance running.
Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?
Dog?
Wolf?
Horse?
Camel?
This article seems to suggest that we can beat horses and dogs etc:
http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2012/06/long_distance_running_and_evolution_why_humans_can_outrun_horses_but_can_t_jump_higher_than_cats_.2.html
sibeen said:
This article seems to suggest that we can beat horses and dogs etc:http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2012/06/long_distance_running_and_evolution_why_humans_can_outrun_horses_but_can_t_jump_higher_than_cats_.2.html
Link didn’t work for me, try this:
http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2012/06/long_distance_running_and_evolution_why_humans_can_outrun_horses_but_can_t_jump_higher_than_cats_.html
(looks the same, try copy the end bit and searching on that).
Anyway, they seem to be using as evidence that in one case of a marathon that has been run over many years a couple of men carrying nothing beat horses carrying men on their backs.
May I suggest that if the horses had not been carrying men, or if the men had been carrying horses, it would have been a different story.
You may also want to qualify the enviroment.
Dolphins would be hard to beat in the water (I know “running”)
Camels would be hard to beat in the desert.
Foxs would be hard to beat in the the snow.
Deer would be hard to beat in a forest.
Horses would be hard to beat on the praires.
Bats in the air
Thomo said:
Bats in the air
I think flying animals is a completely different matter, if for no other reason than there are any number of ‘efficiencies’ that flying can take advantage of that running can’t.
diddly-squat said:
Thomo said:
Bats in the air
I think flying animals is a completely different matter, if for no other reason than there are any number of ‘efficiencies’ that flying can take advantage of that running can’t.
True, much the same as Dolphins in the water
sibeen said:
Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?
I think it is the ostrich which will outdo the rest.
http://www.scienceinschool.org/2011/issue21/ostrich
Some avian species can run more quickly not only than humans run, but even faster than their flying counterparts fly. The fastest long-distance runner is the African ostrich (Struthio camelus). At a steady 60 km/h with top speeds exceeding 70 km/h, it could cover the 42 km Olympic marathon in 40 minutes rather than the two hours needed by a human. This remarkable combination of speed and endurance allows the ostrich to cover great distances to find fresh grazing pasture or to outdistance hungry hyenas.
Speedy said:
http://www.scienceinschool.org/2011/issue21/ostrichSome avian species can run more quickly not only than humans run, but even faster than their flying counterparts fly. The fastest long-distance runner is the African ostrich (Struthio camelus). At a steady 60 km/h with top speeds exceeding 70 km/h, it could cover the 42 km Olympic marathon in 40 minutes rather than the two hours needed by a human. This remarkable combination of speed and endurance allows the ostrich to cover great distances to find fresh grazing pasture or to outdistance hungry hyenas.
No Emu?
poikilotherm said:
No Emu?
No. The emu would lose :)
https://www.emucasino.com/image_uploads/fc7aqrzr68.jpg
Speedy said:
poikilotherm said:No Emu?
No. The emu would lose :)
https://www.emucasino.com/image_uploads/fc7aqrzr68.jpg
heh
What the Kalahari tribesmen used to do was lay caches of water in ostrich eggs buried at known positions accross the desert so that they could slake their thirst when making long trips in the desert.
>>had to laugh I haggled with a street hawker for a pair of cool led skate things you attach to your shoes. Talked him down to $30 for two pair.
mrs Skeppo promptly bought another two pair of another hawker for $15 so she was a smug as a pig in shit and kept giving me heaps.
Anyway a few minutes later we were offered two pair for $6
You could probably have gotten a BJ thrown in for $6.50
Peak Warming Man said:
>>had to laugh I haggled with a street hawker for a pair of cool led skate things you attach to your shoes. Talked him down to $30 for two pair.
mrs Skeppo promptly bought another two pair of another hawker for $15 so she was a smug as a pig in shit and kept giving me heaps.
Anyway a few minutes later we were offered two pair for $6You could probably have gotten a BJ thrown in for $6.50
> I actually thought we had no equals when it came to distance running. Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?
Kudu for starters. I’d also guess a range of other antelope.
mollwollfumble said:
> I actually thought we had no equals when it came to distance running. Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?Kudu for starters. I’d also guess a range of other antelope.
African wild dogs and the wolf .
Ah it has already been said.
Now the emu and the kangaroo are very difficult to catch on foot but they do stop for rests. We are talking about an animal that has a purpose as well as the capacity to keep running without stopping for rests. The cheetah can run very fast but only for short distances.I can only think of an animal that has the strength of the pack and the purpose of wanting to eat the human.
The kangaroo can make up to 8 metres in every bound. With such ease that it could be far enough in front to rest and have a drink before a human caught up and again it would be off in 8 m leaps. Emus would do as swell as ostrich and kangaroos but the man would have to be chasing them and be willing to brave being torn to bits by scrub and fences. Nothing other than man would attempt to run 20 miles or more for no reason. Antelope would not run that far unless the African hunting dog was on their tail. The only two I can think of that would be there at the end after a 20 mile run and all the time running as fast as the man.. would be either the Lyacon pictus or the Canis lupus.
I suppose the dingo could be put in the same group but for the fact that I doubt any research has been done into this aspect.
The Kudu female may run for many miles but the male would turn and fight.
Short of the reason to hunt or be hunted.. The contenders would be Husky, Camel, Pronghorn antelope, Ostrich, Emu, kangaroo, then comes the horse.
in view of speed over distance:
The Bottom Line
Humans are going to need a lot more training before they can hang with an ostrich or pronghorn antelope, the distance winners in the animal kingdom.
and yes, I did ask the internet for the last part http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/physics/animal-kingdom-top-marathon-runners-ostrich
On that most authoratitive source, the ABC’s kangaroo Dundee, it said that kangaroos could bound along at high speed for hours. I don’t remember if it gave a speed, but Wikipedia says comfortable bounding speed for a kangaroo is 20-25 km/h. Human marathon speed is about 20 km/hr, so on that basis I’d say a top kangaroo would beat a top human athlete over any distance greater than a few metres, so long as it had some incentive to keep bounding.
In terms of energy efficiency at constant speed over reasonably flat ground I believe the kangaroo is the clear winner, because it gets the energy for its hops from stored elastic energy in its tendons, whereas all runners and gallopers lose a significant bit of kinetic energy every time a leg changes direction.
On that basis I suggest that the longer the course the better for the kangaroo, and that it could well be the winner over marathon or longer distances.
Unhumand animals probably don’t have the inclination or see the point in running themselves into the ground to the point of collapse for no good reason.
The Rev Dodgson said:
In terms of energy efficiency at constant speed over reasonably flat ground I believe the kangaroo is the clear winner, because it gets the energy for its hops from stored elastic energy in its tendons, whereas all runners and gallopers lose a significant bit of kinetic energy every time a leg changes direction.On that basis I suggest that the longer the course the better for the kangaroo, and that it could well be the winner over marathon or longer distances.
I agree.
mollwollfumble said:
> I actually thought we had no equals when it came to distance running. Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?Kudu for starters. I’d also guess a range of other antelope.
On a doco that featured a bushman endurance hunting he ran down a kudu. Or not exactly ran down, it is a persistent chase, you don’t have to be faster than the animal, more tortoise and hare, with the tortoise catching up to the hare everytime it tries to catch some breath and cool down. As this is denied the animal gets progressively slower and waker and acid builds up in its muscles. Some of the chases go all day, morning till dusk.
Peak Warming Man said:
Unhumand animals probably don’t have the inclination or see the point in running themselves into the ground to the point of collapse for no good reason.
Yes, all this discussion assumes that the non-humanoids have been strongly incentivised in some way to keep running/hopping.
mollwollfumble said:
> I actually thought we had no equals when it came to distance running. Is there any other animal who can out run a fit human over a long distance, say about 20 km?Kudu for starters. I’d also guess a range of other antelope.