Question

Would an animal that was a great sprinter, but was a poor distance runner, have more red muscle or white muscle? Why?

Answer 1

White muscle Let's look at the difference between red and white muscles. Red muscles are red because they have a large concentration of myoglobin in them. This kind of muscle performs work via aerobic metabolism. So they can sustain their activity for a long time without fatigue, but they're slow. White muscles on the other hand, have little myoglobin, but are very rapid in contraction. But most of their work is via anaerobic metabolism and they accumulate lactic acid while performing work. This makes these kind of muscles very fast and powerful for short bursts of work, but they fatigue quickly.