Functional anatomy of the cheetah forelimb

A companion to the hindlimb study, this work dissected and quantified the cheetah forelimb musculature, again reporting muscle masses, fascicle lengths, and physiological cross-sectional areas in a comparative framework. The forelimb emerged as adapted for both propulsion and the demands of braking, manoeuvring, and grappling prey, with a muscle architecture that balances reach against force production. By measuring rather than estimating these parameters, the authors supplied data needed to model the forelimb role in deceleration and turning, processes later shown by field telemetry to be decisive in real hunts. Together the forelimb and hindlimb papers form a quantitative anatomical foundation for understanding how the cheetah body plan is tuned for explosive, highly manoeuvrable pursuit rather than economical endurance running.