The cheetah’s life is reputedly balanced on an energetic cliff. Yes, it’s the fastest land animal, capable of going from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a few seconds. But, according to countless nature documentaries, its high-speed chases leave it exhausted and overheated. If it fails to catch a meal, it’s in bad shape to try again. And even if it’s successful, it is easily and frequently driven away from its own kills by more powerful predators like lions or hyenas. The price of super-speed is a teetering existence, spent scrabbling for food and energy.

Except, very little of that is true.

The cheetah’s true biology is clouded in myth, in speculations that have been passed down through so many