The locomotor kinematics of Asian and African elephants: changes with speed and size

Hutchinson, J R; Schwerda, D; Famini, D; Dale, R H I; Fischer, M S; Kram, R

Abstract

For centuries, elephant locomotion has been a contentious and confusing challenge for locomotion scientists to understand, not only because of technical difficulties but also because elephant locomotion is in some ways atypical of more familiar quadrupedal gaits. We analyzed the locomotor kinematics of over 2400 strides from 14 African and 48 Asian elephant individuals (body mass 116-4632 kg) freely moving over ground at a 17-fold range of speeds, from slow walking at 0.40 m s-1 to the fastest reliably recorded speed for elephants, 6.8 m s-1. These data reveal that African and Asian elephants have some subtle differences in how size-independent kinematic parameters change with speed. Although elephants use a lateral sequence footfall pattern, like many other quadrupeds, they maintain this footfall pattern at all speeds, shifting toward a 25% phase offset between limbs (singlefoot) as they increase speed. The duty factors of elephants are greater for the forelimbs than for the hindlimbs, so an aerial phase for the hindquarters is reached at slower speeds than for the forequarters. This aerial phase occurs at a Froude number of around 1, matching theoretical predictions. At faster speeds, stance and swing phase durations approach asymptotes, with the duty factor beginning to level off, concurrent with an increase in limb compliance that likely keeps peak forces relatively low. This increase of limb compliance is reflected by increased compression of the hindlimbs. Like other tetrapods, smaller elephants are relatively more athletic than larger ones, but still move very similarly to adults even at

Citation

Hutchinson, J. R., Schwerda, D., Famini, D., Dale, R. H. I., Fischer, M. S., & Kram, R. (in press). The locomotor kinematics of Asian and African elephants: changes with speed and size. Journal of Experimental Biology, 209(19), 3812-3827. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02443

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 13, 2006
• Deposit Date: Nov 11, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 11, 2018
• Journal: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
• Print ISSN: 0022-0949
• Publisher: The Company of Biologists
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 209
• Issue: 19
• Pages: 3812-3827
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02443
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1433280
• Additional Information: Corporate Creators : Butler, Calif Berkeley, Colorado State University, Phylet Museum, Germany