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The walking gaits of some species of Pecora
Author(s) -
Dagg Anne Innis,
Vos Antoon de
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1968.tb03031.x
Subject(s) - biology , stride , swing , gait , preferred walking speed , terrain , power walking , ecology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , physics , physiology , acoustics , medicine
A method is presented for defining the walking gaits of quadrupeds from films so that they can be compared in closely related species. Differences in walking patterns of 18 pecoran species belonging to four families are discussed with respect to anatomy and environment. Variation in the walk patterns of members within a species are assessed. They are found to vary often with the speed at which the walk is executed, with the terrain, with the presence of heavy horns or antlers and with age. The time taken for one walking stride increases with the increase in length of the legs, but the legs swing forward more rapidly than they would if they acted passively like cylindrical pendulums.