Study
Temperature regulation and heat balance in running cheetahs: a strategy for sprinters?
Taylor, C. Richard; Rowntree, Victoria J.
American Journal of Physiology, 1973
Ran two captive cheetahs on a treadmill while measuring oxygen consumption and body temperature, and observed that the animals stopped running once body temperature reached about 40.5 °C.
- Studied in
- Acinonyx jubatus
- Sample size
- 2 captive cheetahs running on a treadmill
The treadmill-running cheetahs stored heat rather than dissipating it, and refused to continue at around 40.5 °C, which the authors proposed as a limit on sprint duration.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Heat storage may set the limit on how long a cheetah can sprint, a strategy that trades a temperature rise for the ability to run without the cost of cooling.
How NatureHQ reads it
Kept because it is the origin of the overheating claim, not because it settles it. Two captive animals on a treadmill is a different thing from a wild cheetah hunting, and when body temperature was finally measured in free-living animals the pattern did not hold. NatureHQ presents the pair together, because the sequence is a good illustration of how a reasonable inference becomes a textbook fact.
- Two captive animals, on a treadmill, running for far longer than a wild hunt lasts.
- A treadmill refusal is not the same event as a wild cheetah breaking off a chase, and the study could not observe the latter.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Learned society journalsPublished in a learned society journal.
doi.org/10.1152/ajplegacy.1973.224.4.848
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-03.