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Re:Cheetahs' inner ear is one-of-a-kind, vital to high-speed... by trevyn on Saturday February 03, 2018 @11:30PM (#16301349)
Don't humans have this too?
Re:Cheetahs' inner ear is one-of-a-kind, vital to high-speed... by icegreentea2 on Sunday February 04, 2018 @12:20AM (#16301486)
Yes. Pretty much all vertebrates have something like this. The claim here is that cheetah's have an unusually well developed vestibular system, and that this evolution was recent (developed after the 'concept' of a cheetah evolved).

The linked paper is free to read. The actual research itself is limited to the anatomical study of how cheetah's vestibular system are different from other cats. It builds on other papers that talk about the relative advanceness of the cheetah's head stabilization, and the estimated benefits of the stabilization.

Re:Cheetahs' inner ear is one-of-a-kind, vital to high-speed... by dmix on Sunday February 04, 2018 @11:18AM (#16303308)
Specifically from the article:

> They found that the inner ears of living cheetahs differ markedly from those of all other felids alive today, with a greater overall volume of the vestibular system and longer anterior and posterior semicircular canals.

> These traits were not present in Acinonyx pardinensis, the extinct species examined by the researchers, emphasizing the recent evolution of the highly specialized inner ear of modern cheetah.

Re:Cheetahs' inner ear is one-of-a-kind, vital to high-speed... by lowpro on Sunday February 04, 2018 @12:03AM (#16301440)
In a rough sense, but maybe keeping your eyes fixed on something on a high-speed roller coaster that shakes a lot would be a better comparison of cheetah vs human stabilization.

I also wonder if there is some technology or lesson we can learn from this, more than just learning about our world and the animals in it. Either way it's fine, but it's always fun to wonder about the opportunity.

Re:Cheetahs' inner ear is one-of-a-kind, vital to high-speed... by jessriedel on Sunday February 04, 2018 @02:20AM (#16301787)
Humans have a tighter feedback to the muscles in the eyes and do most of the stabilization that way. Chickens don't have that sort of eye movement, and so they have to be more responsive with their head.
Re:Cheetahs' inner ear is one-of-a-kind, vital to high-speed... by always_good on Saturday February 03, 2018 @11:43PM (#16301381)
This is a characteristic you think humans have? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gy55o76SZc

It's something you'll see a trained ballerina do when twirling, but I'm not about to say humans walk on their toes.

Re:Cheetahs' inner ear is one-of-a-kind, vital to high-speed... by fern12 on Sunday February 04, 2018 @02:06AM (#16301742)
Ballet dancers are trained to do turns (fouette [0], pique [1] and pirouettes [2]) by "spotting" (i.e. picking an object in the near distance and spotting it until the next turn). I'm not sure the chicken video does this term justice, hence the links below.

[0] https://www.instagram.com/p/2ZOLkkHMKU/?taken-by=devon.teusc...]

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/BeoYE2DlTXF/?taken-by=tilerpeck

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/BT4WSbmDMKM/?taken-by=devon.teus...

Re:Cheetahs' inner ear is one-of-a-kind, vital to high-speed... by kinkrtyavimoodh on Saturday February 03, 2018 @11:46PM (#16301388)
We do have a "poor man's" version of it I guess. Coz our sense of balance does reside in the inner ear.