Day 38
Post#38 Feb 18, 2020 Tue 21:50 PM
Do you know, it is almost impossible to outrun an animal in running. But why do animals run faster than us.
The answer lies in our feet structure, and the way we walk.
We walk with the whole sole, but animals just walk on their soles.
Based on their feet structure, terrestrial mammals are of three types:
Digitigrade: who walks on its digits i.e., toes
Plantigrades: who walks on its sole
Unguligrade: such as horses and cattle, who walk only on the distal-most tips of their digits, i.e., hooves, in contrast to Digitigrade, whose more than one segment of digit makes contact with ground.
Digitigrade and unguligrade animals have relatively long carpals(fist bones) and tarsals(feet bones), so the bones which would correspond to the human ankle are thus set much higher in the limb than in a human, making them look taller.
Mostly the part of the feet/hands that we see in animals, is just the fingers/ toe bones of humans.
The primary advantages of a plantigrade foot are stability and weight-bearing ability; plantigrade feet have the largest surface area.
The primary disadvantage of a plantigrade foot is speed. With more bones and joints in the foot, the leg is both shorter and heavier at the far end, which makes it difficult to move rapidly.
But it does enhance their fighting performance.
Digitigrade can actually run at a speed of around 80km/h, whereas humans can go only 30km/hr max. It also depends on individual stamina.
Humans can outrun horses though.
Fun fact: Bears are also plantigrade, but they can run around 40km/h, so never try to get into a fight with a bear.
