By: Dr. James A. Danoff-Burg
Contact: [email protected]
Ah! One of my favorite and objectively greatest sporting events in the world is about to start on July 26th – the Summer Olympics! I love seeing the paragons of human physical achievement test their fortitude against each other, and in so many amazing athletic types of competitions. Whether they are competing as individuals, pairs, or teams, watching the best from each country go head to head makes me proud to be an American for certain, but also a global citizen as well. Those who know me, know that I am crazy for triathlon and the three sports involved in it – seeking out new competitions as often as I can do so!
The long-standing Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius, or Faster, Higher, Stronger. In 2021, the International Olympic Committee modified it to emphasize how athletics bring us all together. The motto now reads in full ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter,” ending in together. With that in mind, I would like to think about how this Latin phrase could apply to the animals and plants at The Living Desert! Thus, let’s begin the Animal Olympics, Pa(lm Desert)ris 2024! For this competition, I’ll only focus on land-bound animals, as aerial and aquatic animals would require a totally different and much more complicated ranking system! Plants as a separate contest is another fun thought experiment that perhaps we’ll save for later the summer while the Olympics are happening.
Citius, or faster seems a simple competition, but as always, it depends on how we determine things. Cheetah are the clear winners in the 100 meter dash! Being able to get to 70mph for 100m puts the Cheetah head and shoulders of others who can go pretty fast over short distances. Many of our antelope, including our beloved black rhino, all can sprint in the 40+mph range and the pronghorn can get up to 55mph for 800 meters – not too shabby. Jumping to longer distances, like the 26.2 mile marathon (42.2km) and the 50km racewalk, again, there is no real competition. One of my favorite animals, the Pronghorn has the greatest endurance over an hour of running as they are able to maintain around 40mph for that length of a distance. Cheetah would definitely overheat and die trying to run quickly for more than a few hundred meters, let alone doing so for an hour! These animals have specific specializations that make their ways of life possible.
Altius, or higher also seems a simple competition, as most folks would argue for the tallest animal – the giraffe as that perfect match for this aspect of the Olympic motto. However, I’d like to offer a different approach. We have in our desert ecosystems animal athletes that can jump dozens of times their body height, much greater than the human champions in the pole vault. These proto-insects called springtails can launch themselves in the air, the human equivalent of more than 180 feet straight up – more than 20 times their height – using their own body like a pole vault using a modification of the last segments of their body: their springtail. Check them out online and you’ll agree that they are the definition of altius. If you’ll permit me a bit of Latin wordplay, they can saltius (jump the) altius! Look for the little white jumping specks that are springtails the next time you turn over a moist, rotting log at home or at The Living Desert.
Last, the fortius, or stronger, crown has to go to an animal that is dearest to my heart, our own black rhinos! Rhinos of all five species are among the strongest beings on land, able to engineer massive wallows that help out other species, topple and tear apart trees with their horns, effortlessly toss massive logs, and even topple Land Rovers! Rhinos are packed with so much muscle it is awe-inspiring. If they were to engage almost any other mammal in whatever would be the animal equivalent of Olmpic weightlifting like the snatch or clean and jerk, they would be without peer! And, in my view, would also be among the most adorable beings on the planet while doing so.
The word that was added last, communiter or together, I am going to reserve for us as humans who need to be custodians of nature and her beautiful and immensely important plants and animals. We humans and our actions and decisions we make are the reason why all these animals and plants are increasingly imperiled. As such, we can also be the solution by making better choices that enable us to live on the planet in a lighter fashion. Together, communiter, we can work as desert defenders to ensure that our arid land wildlife all-stars can continue to be Citius, Altius, Fortius!
