Cheetahs Combine Head Pitch Stabilisation with Predictive Yaw Tracking during High-speed Pursuit

Abstract

Predators pursuing agile prey must coordinate locomotion with rapidly changing visual information, yet how they control head orientation during high-speed terrestrial pursuit remains poorly understood. We reconstructed three-dimensional head, torso, and lure target trajectories from synchronised multi-camera recordings of freely running cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) using model-based markerless reconstruction, and propagated reconstruction uncertainty through Monte Carlo analysis. Across 1,373 valid reconstructed pursuit frames, head pitch was more closely aligned with the target than torso pitch, and is tightly stabilised relative to target elevation. Head-on-torso counter-rotation nearly cancelled concurrent torso-pitch rotations, preserving target-relative head pitch despite locomotor oscillations. In yaw, cheetahs predominantly oriented their heads ahead of the target's instantaneous position while maintaining a distinct locomotor heading and continuing to close range. During steady-lateral pursuit, head yaw was best described by a short horizon constant-velocity extrapolation model with a cross-validated median prediction horizon of 45 ms. Together, these findings reveal complementary head orientation strategies during pursuit: robust sagittal stabilisation and predictive lateral tracking keep the head target-referenced while the torso generates a closing trajectory towards intersection.