This Slo-mo footage shows how cats always land on their feet

Turns out it's not just magic

This Slo-mo footage shows how cats always land on their feet

We love cats, you love cats, the internet loves cats. Hell, even the art world loves cats.

But have you ever stopped to consider - as well as remembering how funny they are - how amazing they are?

Foremost among their many talents as an animal is that uncanny ability to always land on their feet. Like the anti-toast, they always land the right way up - but did you know exactly how they do it?

This incredible slow motion footage, captured for a new BBC series, Life in the Air (which we assume will feature footage of dogs flying planes), and released as a trailer, shows a wild Caracal flipping mid-air to right itself. Cats have a flexible spine, which can rotate in two opposite directions, at different speeds, at the same time - an evolutionary stunt that helps them always land on their feet.

It's truly incredible - take a look below.

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Marc Chacksfield
Content Director

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.