@beartracker

Estes (1991), on page 116 of The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, states the following under the heading 'Postures and Locomotion' for the tribe Hippotragini (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grazing_antelope) of the family Bovidae:

"The trot is not a regular gait in this tribe but may appear as a transition between walk and gallop, and a STYLE-TROT is performed in situations of excitement or alarm. Oryxes have a particularly beautiful flowing trot with a suspension stage during which all feet are off the ground and the head is turned synchronously from side to side (Kingdon 1982). Trotting scimitar-horned oryxes hold their chins raised with horns back (Hugh 1980)."

What this means is that, in hippotragins, stotting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stotting) takes the form of style-trotting.

In my experience, photos or videos capturing this form of anti-predator display are rare, even in the case of infants and juveniles in play.

Therefore, finding the following depiction today, I am posting it immediately, before it vanishes from the Web.

Please scroll to 24th photo in http://teamwindchase.com/Africa-2019-11.htm for style-trotting, a form of stotting, in Oryx gazella.

The following (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL_OzqtuNxo) briefly shows trotting by an individual infant of Oryx dammah.

Posted on September 25, 2022 10:42 PM by milewski