# Do all four legged animals have all four basic(?) gaits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 3, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979 "2022-12-03T16:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/1 "2022-12-03T16:11:16Z")
We’re used to seeing/talking about horses walking/trotting/cantering/galloping. How about all the rest of the tetrapods? If you take a dog that is well-trained to the leash out for a “walk” and gradually increase your speed, will the dog naturally shift its way up those gaits to stay best suited to your speed? I’m wondering, because I’ve never noticed that a dog was cantering. Walking, all the time. Trotting, sure thing. Galloping? Happily. But cantering? And what about all the rest of them? Do hippos ever break into a trot? Do giraffes canter? ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/2 "2022-12-03T16:22:06Z")
Dont forget the other quadruped gait; > **[Stotting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stotting)** > > Stotting (also called pronking or pronging) is a behavior of quadrupeds, particularly gazelles, in which they spring into the air, lifting all four feet off the ground simultaneously. Usually, the legs are held in a relatively stiff position. Many explanations of stotting have been proposed, though for several of them there is little evidence either for or against. > The question of why prey animals stot has been investigated by evolutionary biologists including John Maynard Smith, C. D. Fitzgi... ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/3 "2022-12-03T16:34:42Z")
Apparently, elephants can only walk or walk quickly, > As the largest extant terrestrial animals, elephants do not trot or gallop but can move smoothly to faster speeds without markedly changing their kinematics, yet with a shift from vaulting to bouncing kinetics [Cite](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18723530/) They also [can’t jump](https://www.science.org/content/article/elephants-can-t-jump-and-here-s-why#:~:text=In%20the%20case%20of%20the,to%20push%20off%20the%20ground.), so stotting is right out. Although it would be really cool to see an elephant stotting. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/4 "2022-12-03T17:23:38Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > Dont forget the other quadruped gait There’s also the rack and the pace. Most horses don’t do either, and I don’t know whether any other species does; but they’re also quadruped gaits. Maybe the OP meant specifically to exclude them by saying “basic” gaits, however. – some dogs also stott. I had one who routinely did that if running in tall grass; though it turned out after some years that her joints weren’t up to it, probably due to the part of her parentage that left her with a body that was heavy for her legs. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/5 "2022-12-03T17:53:35Z")
Icelandic horses have a unique basic gait called the tölt that looks like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNStWLCzsE8). The ability to tölt is caused by a [mutation](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11399) that most horses don’t have. If gait can change within a single species like this, I would assume that entirely different species could have entirely different gaits. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/6 "2022-12-03T18:17:22Z")
I’ve seen this in cats, especially kittens who’ve been startled. Haven’t really analyzed the other possibilities with my cats. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/7 "2022-12-03T18:24:09Z")
Hares stott frequently when someone’s after them. It is a patently obvious signal of “I’ve seen you and you don’t have a chance, so don’t bother, pal [but I’m still kinda scared].” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/8 "2022-12-03T18:24:54Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Apparently, elephants can only walk or walk quickly…They also can’t jump… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RZRSJdIZkSU/hqdefault.jpg "Jumping Elephant") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZRSJdIZkSU&t=40) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/9 "2022-12-03T18:30:07Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > They also can’t jump… That’s not jumping. That’s bouncing with style!. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/10 "2022-12-03T18:33:37Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > That’s not jumping. That’s bouncing with style!. To be fair, I think it’s also extremely sophisticated CGI. Either that or I want to know what materials that trampoline is made out of. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/11 "2022-12-03T18:35:05Z")
Pacing is supposedly the natural gait of camels. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/12 "2022-12-03T18:38:10Z")
Do lizards have any locomotion besides walk and walk really fast? I don’t think they change their gait so much as do it a lot faster. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/13 "2022-12-03T19:18:27Z")
Some quadrupeds pace, and some have any number of variants of a 'running walk" – a four-beat gait that can be as fast as a canter. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/14 "2022-12-03T19:44:19Z")
What about “the beast that walks on four legs in the morning”? Does any other quadruped walk by dragging its limbs? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/15 "2022-12-03T20:47:24Z")
I don’t think turtles do many of those. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/16 "2022-12-03T21:11:04Z")
Yeah, my little whippet/terrier cross used to pronk when she was younger, often to show off - one time she flew right past someone’s face at eye level, with all 4 legs pointing stiffly downwards. The other gait I’ve seen (in long grass) was almost a bipedal movement - leaping on the hind legs only for two or three leaps, stepping down on all fours in one leap out of three or four, mainly because the gait wasn’t very stable. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/17 "2022-12-03T21:15:51Z")
Lambs like to pronk as well. The folks who raise sheep call that “popcorning” for obvious reasons. A cute term that brings a smile to my face. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/18 "2022-12-03T23:19:34Z")
“Pronk”, itself, is also a very fun word. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/19 "2022-12-03T23:26:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The folks who raise sheep call that “popcorning” for obvious reasons. It’s called popcorning in Guinea Pigs too. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979/20 "2022-12-03T23:35:50Z")
I like ‘stot’ particularly because in the north-east of England it is used to mean ‘bouncing up and down in anger’. “Ya should’a seen him man - he was stott’n”. Also used for heavy rain, “It’s stott’n doon”. Geordies may offer us more examples. Also in Scotland, ‘stot’ is a synonym for a ‘steer’: a castrated male calf. Perhaps they are prone to stotting? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-four-legged-animals-have-all-four-basic-gaits/975979.md?page=2)