The cheetah is a very graceful creature. Its slender body shape and strong hind limbs are extremely suitable for running and adapted to the need for turning when running at high speeds. The cheetah's tail is also relatively thick, which helps the cheetah maintain balance when running. But in order to run faster, the cheetah has also lost a lot. Its slender neck and waist can be broken by a bite from a large beast. The hair on its body is not conducive to heat dissipation. The cheetah has to rest after running at full strength for 250 meters, otherwise it will be due to the body temperature. Too high will burn the internal organs.
The speed of cheetahs is an advantage, but due to the shortcomings of their size, the size of the animals they can hunt It is also limited, and many animals run extremely fast. For example, antelopes have evolved a special way of escaping. They can make sharp turns while running at full strength, which beasts cannot do. Also because of their size defects, cheetahs are often bullied. Sometimes hyenas rush to snatch the prey they have just caught; in order to hunt, they have to move around the territory of some lion groups, so they bear the plight of having their cubs killed. After the cub is killed, the cheetah's year-long efforts are in vain, and the cheetah can only wait for another rainy season to reproduce again when food is plentiful.
Some netizens say that cheetahs have entered an evolutionary dead end. The reason is that they have over-evolved the advantage of running speed. However, their body shape and weight are not advantageous. The trunk length is 1 meter to 1.5 meters and the tail length is 1 to 1.5 meters. It is 0.6 to 0.8 meters tall, its shoulder height is 0.7 to 0.9 meters, and its weight is generally 35 to 72 kilograms. Most of them weigh more than 30 kilograms. Extremely large cheetahs will lose the advantage of running fast. They mainly feed on antelopes. Antelopes have very good running abilities. Even antelope calves can run very fast just a few hours after they are born. Cheetahs have adapted to this kind of competition, so they run faster and faster and their body shape becomes more and more suitable. Run fast.
However, unable to defeat a pack of hyenas or defeat a lion, cheetahs are forced to try anything. During the dry season, they will jump into the mire to catch catfish and crocodiles for the sake of their round bellies. However, the hardship of life forces them to hunt far away from home, which increases the chances of their cubs being exposed. Adult cheetahs often need to spend hours hunting outside. The cubs cannot bear the loneliness and may run out of their dens. Once they are patrolling their territory, If found by a pack of male lions or hungry hyenas, the chance of cub death is high. This is the cruelty of survival. For an animal like the cheetah, which is not very powerful and lives alone, it is very difficult to protect the family and find food at the same time.
Perhaps due to the difficulty of survival, cheetahs gradually realized that it was not reliable to fight alone, so more and more cheetahs began to survive in groups, like them Like their predecessors, lions, cheetahs began to gather together in family units, which made it easier to hunt and protect their cubs. With the support of the team, cheetahs dared to capture larger animals such as wildebeests, no matter what, first Let's wait until they have a few bites. This kind of cooperation can also make them more confident in facing other beasts. When a single cheetah is hunting and faced with a group of hyenas, it can only escape quickly, but the group of cheetahs can give full play to their advantages, even if Even a group of hyenas has to weigh things up.
However, the world is not about fighting and killing, it is about human relationships. In the growth stage, the cheetah mainly relies on the mother to raise the cubs, which makes the cheetah inherit the mother's characteristics of being alone. , will not leave home to survive alone until they reach adulthood and have the ability to hunt. However, the cruel nature forces cheetahs to stay in groups in order to eat well and find a mate quickly. Therefore, cheetahs live in groups that are not very close. If you can beat me, I will join. After joining the group, your strength will be stronger. If you really can't beat me, I will run away. You don't have to work hard to stutter. It's okay to be hungry temporarily. If you can allocate all your family resources at once, then you will have to do it. Kissed.
In addition to their small size, weak bite force, and inability to extend their claws when running It is not easy for cheetahs to survive due to defects such as these. It has been observed that some male individuals like to stay in groups. However, these male individuals can also harm the population after they get together. Zoologists have observed that a small group of several male cheetahs encounters predators. After having cubs or a single female, they will even force the female to abandon her home and become a vassal or run away. They themselves are also more willing to die. Nowadays, due to the drastic changes in the environment due to human activities, the living environment of cheetahs is becoming more and more difficult, and even the grasslands Lions, the largest cats, live in groups, and cheetahs are a bit unable to travel alone.
However, the solitary lifestyle of cheetahs also has a slight advantage, that is, it is not conducive to the spread of diseases. Lions live in groups, and if one of them If you suffer from a certain infectious disease, other lions may also be infected, causingThe decline in the fighting capacity of the population and the decline in adaptability will make the lions more vulnerable to attacks by other lions. Cheetahs are solitary, which is not conducive to the spread of diseases. The closest contact is with their own children or mothers. After the male has mated, he will rub his butt and leave the leopard. Being together for a short period of time is not conducive to the spread of certain diseases.
In short, survival and reproduction are the themes of biology. The physiological structure of cheetahs is not conducive to survival, but it is also conducive to preserving the characteristics of the population. In order to survive, they will move in time. If life is really difficult, they will form an alliance and eat meat and drink. When faced with a serious problem, it just runs away. It has no other abilities. Running is its special skill. Combined with its ability to climb trees, the cheetah has few natural enemies.