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Garland, T.jr.
The relation between maximal running speed and body mass in terrestrial mammals
1983  Journal of Zoology (199): 157-170

It would not be surprising if animals of different sizes could attain different maximal running speeds. Exactly how running ability should scale with body mass (M) is not, however, obvious, and four competing theories offer different predictions. The reader is referred to Gunther (1975) and McMahon (1975b) for discussions of the assumptions involved in each theory. Thompson (1917) and Hill (1950) conclude that maximal running speed (MRS) should be mass independent among geometrically similar animals (cf. Gunther's, 1975 "kinematic similarity"). Mcmahon (1975b), however, argues that animals should be designed so as to meet the criteria of elastic similarity. Elastic similarity predicts that the speed at which animals will be running at their natural frequency will be proportional to M0.25. If MRS is a constant multiple of this speed, then MRS should also scale as M0.25 among elastically similar animals. Alternatively, if animals were built for static stress similarity, MRS should scale as M0.40 (McMahon, 1975b). Finally, MRS is predicted to scale M0-17 among dynamically similar animals (Gunther, 1975). (Dynamic similarity exists if homologous parts of differently sized animals experience similar net forces.) There is thus no paucity of theory concerning how speed should vary with body mass. The purpose of this paper is to examine the available data on speeds of mammals, to determine the empirical relationship between maximal running speed and body mass, and to compare the running abilities of different groups of Mammals. In addition, the empirically derived scaling relationships are compared with the above mentioned theoretical expectations

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