Nickole Perez

Professor Nicholas Lux

Environmental Science I
21 March 2016

Over time, the evolution of the cheetah has developed to benefit the needs of the animal in its
given environment and how to adapt with catching its prey. Many factors can contribute to this,
but lets see how it can be broken down:
Assuming that its ancestors started with speeds of 20 mph, the development in evolution heavily
depends on the need to survive, as in any given species. We can also assume that its ancestors
may have had dense muscles, a short tail, legs and a short torso to match, given that the cheetah
could once only travel at top speeds of 20 mph. With this being said, the type of prey that the
cheetah ancestors dealt with, may have been new to their surroundings, and thus creating a new
need to survive.
Over time, the cheetahs body must have grown into a more slender, less dense body and had
also grown in height as well. Along with the growth in its legs and body, one can assume that the
organs also developed in beneficial ways. Since sprinting causes a lot of energy excursion, in
order to keep up with this, the lungs must have grown in capacity too. Their heart must have
grown in size, to keep up with the proper blood flow needed to provide oxygen to its now largely
developed organs. Their paws must have also grown in size, as with a large paw to grasp and
push itself off the ground is a huge contribution in keeping up with their prey. Their senses, such
as eyes and ears may have become fine-tuned, and their camouflage may have changed as well,
to match their surroundings.
With most context clues, it can be somewhat apparent as to how the development of a species
grows into a body that has adapted to its new found and developing environment, and prey.