Move for Larger Creatures

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by schmeelke

The black mamba's max. speed is ~12.5 mph (Move ~6, or ~5 + 1 sprint bonus).

The reported speed of black mambas ranges from 7 mph (GURPS move 3) to 20 mph (GURPS move 9). I tend to find the lower results more believable (i.e., move 3), but am unable to find any primary literature on the subject. I have memories of a report of a naturalist - it may have been Ionides - who captured a mamba, released it in a cleared region with a circle marked off (with the mamba in the center of the circle), and timed how long it took to cross the line, and thereby showed that the speed of this snake was much less than commonly reported. Unfortunately, I cannot now find that report. The values of 20 mph are almost certainly bogus, however.

In general, commonly given values of the speed of almost any animal will be inflated. This is because people like to pick top speeds to report. For example, I could report that humans run at 10.2 m/s - that's 23 mph and GURPS move 10 - and I would be technically correct. Usain Bolt did in fact run that fast in the 100 meter dash, setting a speed record that has yet to be broken. To conclude from this that a typical human can run at 10.2 m/s would be incorrect.

Luke