# A Man Can Chase Down Any Animal . . . Eventually (??) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342 "2006-04-05T00:01:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/41 "2006-04-06T02:02:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Geese and albatrosses have completely different flight methods, so it is nearly impossible to compare them. Albatrosses are dynamic soarers, and can hardly fly at all in still air. They need wind to fly. Geese, in contrast, employ flapping flight almost exclusively It’s quite true that an albatross’ standard approach to flying is to use dynamic soaring with little to no flapping. But (according to the above-mentioned albatross vsistor center) they do use flapping flight when necessary to commute short (20-50km) distances to fishing areas they use when feeding a chick on the nest. In such flight they average about 100kph. It has been shown that there’s a good correlation between the wingloading of a bird (weight per square foot of wing area) and its efficient flight speed. Since a large albatross has about the highest wingloading of any bird, you’d expect its flight speeds to be high - as they are. (An excellent book that discusses this is _The Simple Science of Flight_ by Henk Tennekes.) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/42 "2006-04-06T02:54:59Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Most descriptions suggest top speeds of 90-100kph, sustainable for about 10 minutes, and 50-70kph sustainable for 30-60 minutes. Here’s a [link](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/pdf/BYEBUI_excerpt.pdf) (PDF) to an excerpt from the book _Built for Speed - A Year in the Life of a Pronghorn_ in which the author mentions a top speed “close to 60 miles per hour” and a speed of 45 mph for “several miles”. He also begins one sentence with “When a pronghorn breaks into an easy, rocking canter (a 30 mph pace that it can keep upindefinitely) …” If we assume this is a exaggerated and that “indefinitely” means “15 minutes” that means the pronghorn can then rest for at least 45 minutes and still stay well ahead of human pursuit. If the estimate of 30 minutes is valid, the pronghorn has 1.5 to 2 hours to relax before the next jog. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/43 "2006-04-06T04:45:28Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Actually, the OP did not specify that, but offered that scenario as one option. There’s evidence that our genus spent a lot of time in a savanna environment during our evolution, but we lived in lots of other types of environments as well, so I don’t know how “real world” that assumption is. Well, I guess I’m not the only one that missed it. Check the OP again: > [@Huerta88](#): > > It’s so long ago that I don’t even know what he was trying to say – was he lauding man’s superior skill and smarts, and saying that he would (if he were a skilled hunter) outsmart the animal? Or, as I took it at the time, was he making some physiological propositiion, viz., that over an infinitely long savanna, and if the tracker does not make any significant errors or frolics and detours, and even assuming the animal did not stupidly double back in his direction, a man’s aggregate stamina and endurance were such that he would eventually overtake the [cheetah/gazelle/chipmunk], sprint they never so fast for short bursts? He’s offering two alternatives, and we’re discussing the physiological one, which takes place on an “infinitely long savanna.” I think I’ve demonstrated that if we ignore that phrase and take terrain into account, it’s not true that humans can catch anything through dint of perseverence and long-distance running. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/44 "2006-04-06T12:08:03Z")
[The Great Dance: A Hunter’s Story](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262452/) is a documentary on the life of a tribe of San (bushmen) hunters which captured just such an event - the two hunters chased an eland (if memory serves) for over four hours in temperatures exceeding 46ºC (120ºF) until it simply stopped running and just stood there and let them kill it. They called it the “chasing hunt” and it was the most remarkable sequence! Afterwards the hunter said that he “actually became the animal” so that he could see where it was going, even though he couldn’t see it - which I suppose is his way of saying that he could predict where it would run based on terrain, etc and take shortcuts. In this case the terrain was not endless savanaha, but rugged semi-desert in the Kalahari - so rough that the Landrovers on which the cameras were mounted had a real job on thier hands to keep up with hunter and prey. Grim ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/45 "2006-04-06T13:14:04Z")
> [@ZeroZero](#): > > A pronghorn can easily outdistance a man. They can approach speeds of 50-55mph and keep it up for great distances. In terms of pure physical ability without any use of brains, animals that can run faster than humans, even if they can’t keep it up, can run farther, rest, run farther, rest, and keep ahead. The prongorn and its many relatives ARE very, very fast for short distances, but they CAN’T keep it up for very long. Of course, neither can most of their predators. A cheetah can’t run at top speed for very long either, so he’ll either catch his antelope in under a minute or he won’t catch the antelope at all. And a cheetah’s strategy is, in large measure, based on wearing out and taking down an exhausted antelope. Running 50 mph is exhausting, and no ruminant can do it for very long. The cheetah hopes to have just a BIT more endurance than his prey. The ability to run 50 mph for a minute is very useful against some predators, even MOST predators. But not against one who’s determined to keep up the chase long after the antelope thinks the chase is supposed to be over. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/46 "2006-04-06T13:24:04Z")
I just got the May issue of Discover magazine yesterday and there was an article about this very subject, basically agreeing with **Blake** ’s comments in this thread. I’ll dig it up when I get home tonight and post the relevant excerpts. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/47 "2006-04-06T13:31:00Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > And a cheetah’s strategy is, in large measure, based on wearing out and taking down an exhausted antelope. Running 50 mph is exhausting, and no ruminant can do it for very long. The cheetah hopes to have just a BIT more endurance than his prey. I saw something like this in a nature show. The exhausted cheeta just lay next to the prey they had caught after a minute or two of chasing. Then, a couple of wild dogs just sauntered up and stole the carcass. The cheeta was too tired to try and keep it, let alone even move. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/48 "2006-04-06T16:06:08Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > And a cheetah’s strategy is, in large measure, based on wearing out and taking down an exhausted antelope. Running 50 mph is exhausting, and no ruminant can do it for very long. The cheetah hopes to have just a BIT more endurance than his prey. > > The ability to run 50 mph for a minute is very useful against some predators, even MOST predators. But not against one who’s determined to keep up the chase long after the antelope thinks the chase is supposed to be over. I think you’re using the term “endurance” differently than most people do. No one talks about endurance running when the time scale is 1 minute. That’s a full out sprint. Cheetahs don’t wear out their prey, but capture them on the run, relying on speed and maneuverability (that’s what the tail is for) to catch them. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/49 "2006-04-06T17:01:31Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The prongorn and its many relatives ARE very, very fast for short distances, but they CAN’T keep it up for very long. Note that pronghorns don’t have relatives. They are colloquially called “antelopes” because of superficial similarities with that group of animals, but they are in fact not much alike. Note further that the contention that pronghorns can’t keep running for very long directly conflicts with the book I quoted above. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/50 "2006-04-06T18:53:39Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Note that pronghorns don’t have relatives. They are colloquially called “antelopes” because of superficial similarities with that group of animals, but they are in fact not much alike. > > Note further that the contention that pronghorns can’t keep running for very long directly conflicts with the book I quoted above. Your post got me curioins, and you seem to be correct on both accounts. Very interesting-- I never knew this about [pronghorns.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronghorn) > [@](#): > > The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae, and the fastest land animal in North America running at speeds of 54 mph (90 km/h). The pronghorn is also known as the pronghorn antelope, but is not a true antelope… > > \ > > The pronghorn is one of the fastest land animals, being second only to the cheetah. It can sustain high speeds longer than cheetahs, however. The top recorded speed was 61 mph (98 km/h). I wonder how good it is at sustaining a nice, moderate pace over long distances, though. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/51 "2006-04-06T19:42:02Z")
One puzzle about the pronghorn why it’s so damn fast, since it’s much faster than any predator currently in North America. The answer seems to be that there once were cheetah-like cats on the Great Plains, which became extinct during the Pleistocene. ---
**Author:** ![jake1964](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@jake1964](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jake1964)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/52 "2006-04-06T20:02:48Z")
I’ve been a lurker here for a couple of years. Finally decided to add my $.02. I know from personal experience that a man can run down an animal. As children, my younger brother and I used to run down and catch rabbits, ground squirrels, and chipmunks regularly. While I doubt that I could do so at the age of 42, it wasn’t really all that difficult from the ages of 12 to 17. As was posted previously, animals only run until they no longer perceive a threat. This allows you to stay close enough that you can continue to threaten them until they tire, thus allowing you to catch and capture them. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/53 "2006-04-06T20:52:23Z")
The american “cheetah” was _Miracinonyx_. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracinonyx](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracinonyx) > [@](#): > > Called the American cheetah, the genus Miracinonyx is a mystery. Living from three million to ten or twenty thousand years ago in North America, these cats are known only from fragments of skeletons. They are not true cheetahs, as they are not part of the sub-family Acinonychinae, to which modern cheetahs belong. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/54 "2006-04-20T19:39:42Z")
> [@August West](#): > > I just got the May issue of Discover magazine yesterday and there was an article about this very subject, basically agreeing with **Blake** ’s comments in this thread. I’ll dig it up when I get home tonight and post the relevant excerpts. Never saw the follow-up. I don’t have my issue in hand but the [opening sentences](http://www.discover.com/issues/may-06/features/tramps-like-us/) are available online. The article is coincidentally focused on _exactly_ the OP. The subtitle is > [@](#): > > Biomechanical research reveals a surprising key to the survival of our species: Humans are built to outrun nearly every other animal on the planet over long distances The thrust of the article is that humans are very well adapted for long-distance running, both biomechanically and by the ability to dissipate heat. Conditioned humans can run down nearly any animal to the point of overheating where they become virtually helpless. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/55 "2006-04-20T20:03:40Z")
If \*\*CookingWithGas \*\*can revive this thread, then I can veer off course with it. > [@mr. jp](#): > > If we were to make a contest where animals of different species had to reach a goal post in the shortest amount of time, what would be the optimal conditions for humans? > Based on blakes posts it seems to be some long distance (40 km) on a plain field, in hot weather. I’d think the ‘best-for-humans’ race would be an overhead ladder swing, followed by a half-mile on flat ground to drop the apes and monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342/56 "2006-04-20T20:55:54Z")
You can read parts of their findings [here](http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.18/01-running.html), [here](http://www.utah.edu/unews/releases/04/nov/runevolve.html) and [here](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=256348&page=1). > [@](#): > > “We are very confident that strong selection for running – which came at the expense of the historical ability to live in trees – was instrumental in the origin of the modern human body form,” says Bramble, a professor of biology. “Running has substantially shaped human evolution. Running made us human – at least in an anatomical sense. We think running is one of the most transforming events in human history. We are arguing the emergence of humans is tied to the evolution of running.” I find this very interesting because in my Taxonomy class, the teacher keeps telling us that locomotion spurs evolution of higher lifeforms. A coelomate has a greater range of movement than a pseudocoelomate which can move more than a acoelomate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-man-can-chase-down-any-animal-eventually/351342.md?page=2)