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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 ev
by icegreentea2 9y ago
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.
- dmix 9y agoSpecifically 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.