Meeting Abstract
Carnivores hunt herbivores and herbivores evade carnivores. One facet of this, exemplified in the medium sized mammals of the African savannahs is pursuit predation. Authors have proposed that there is a strong selection pressure for both predator and prey to evolve to be ever faster and more maneuverable since hunt outcome and success rate are critical to survival. Here we focus on comparing athleticism during hunting in a large and a small wild pursuit predator, the lion (Panthera leo) and cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and their most common prey animal (zebra (Equus quagga) and impala (Aepyceros melampus). We chose three metrics, the first is muscle fibre maximum contraction velocity and muscle power which is a determinant of acceleration and absolute speed. The second metric is whole body acceleration (and deceleration) performance which whilst dependent on muscle power and mass is a measure of actual performance via factors including body shape, anatomy and grip. The third metric is turning performance (lateral acceleration and heading rate as a function of forward speed) which could be limited by grip, leg strength and anatomical specialisation. The studies were undertaken on free ranging wild animals in Botswana. Muscle measurements are made on skinned muscle fibres collected via biopsy during collaring events and locomotion (including hunting events) via collars of our own design that combine high rate inertial measurement (accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer) and high rate GPS measurements (Wilson et al 2013). The data show pairwise differences in performance that cannot be fully attributed to the inter species differences in muscle physiology. These data will be discussed in the light of the different ecological pressures the animals are subject to.
