Large Animals' Travel Speed Limited by How Well They Expel Muscle Heat

According to a new study led by Alexander Dyer from the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research, an animal's traveling speed is limited by how effectively it sheds the excess heat generated by its muscles.

Large animals travel more slowly

(Photo : JACK TAYLOR/AFP via Getty Images)

The ability of an animal to travel is critical to its survival because it determines where-and how far-it can migrate, find food and mates, and spread into new territories.

This becomes even more difficult in a human-dominated world with increasingly fragmented habitats and limited food and water resources as a result of climate change.

Using data from 532 species, Dyer and his colleagues created a model to investigate the relationship between animal size and traveling speed.

While larger animals should be able to travel faster because they have longer wings, legs, or tails, the researchers discovered that medium-sized animals have the fastest sustained speeds.

The researchers attribute this to larger animals needing more time to dissipate the heat produced by their muscles while moving, so they must travel more slowly to avoid overheating.

They conclude that the speed of any animal can be explained by considering how efficiently it uses energy and sheds heat.

According to Dyer, the new study provides a method for understanding animal movement capacities across species and can be used to estimate any animal's traveling speed based on its size.

For example, even if the details of an animal's biology are unknown, this approach can be used to predict whether it will be able to move between habitats fragmented by human development.

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Anaerobic Metabolism

Metabolism is defined as the sum of the chemical reactions that occur within each cell of a living organism and provide energy for vital processes as well as the synthesis of new organic material.

Living organisms are unique in that they can extract energy from their surroundings and use it to perform tasks like movement, growth and development, and reproduction.

Some chemical reactions in the cell's metabolic web release energy and can occur spontaneously (without energy input).

Others, on the other hand, require additional energy to occur. Cells require a constant inflow of energy to power their energy-requiring chemical reactions, just as you must eat food to replace what your body uses.

Large animals, such as elephants and rhinos, move slowly because their circulatory system cannot completely carry anaerobic metabolism in skeletal muscles during intense physical activities, as per Assignment Expert.

Because these animals move slowly, only unusual circumstances can cause them to move faster, because such a burst of activity necessitates a lengthy period of rest.

Anaerobic metabolism is the process by which energy is produced by burning carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen.

This occurs when your lungs are unable to deliver enough oxygen into your bloodstream to meet the energy demands of your muscles, as per Verywell Fit.

It is generally only used for short bursts of activity, such as sprinting, running, cycling, or lifting heavy weights.

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