Ostrich does its thing on a treadmill for C. Richard Taylor (left), a Harvard University physiologist, and his colleague, Norman Heglund. Among 62 species of animals put on a treadmill in a detailed locomotion study, the ostrich proved one of the most willing workers and an efficient runner at high speeds. Capable of sprinting at 75 km/h, the ostrich was helped by its size. At high speeds, larger animals move more efficiently than small ones, the researchers found. Long, lean tendons and the greater distances covered give the advantage. Like man, the ostrich moves with a spring or pendulum-type motion, sometimes both. DONALD J. FREDERICK, of the National Geographic News Service, reports.

Press, 3 June 1983, Page 13

Ostrich does its thing on a treadmill for C. Richard Taylor (left), a Harvard University physiologist, and his colleague, Norman Heglund. Among 62 species of animals put on a treadmill in a detailed locomotion study, the ostrich proved one of the most willing workers and an efficient runner at high speeds. Capable of sprinting at 75 km/h, the ostrich was helped by its size. At high speeds, larger animals move more efficiently than small ones, the researchers found. Long, lean tendons and the greater distances covered give the advantage. Like man, the ostrich moves with a spring or pendulum-type motion, sometimes both. DONALD J. FREDERICK, of the National Geographic News Service, reports.