Animals evolved the ability to gallop 472 million years ago

The equine gait is the preserve of little kids mimicking horses or exercise classes. For camels, lions and giraffes, galloping is a key part of their routine as they shift up through the gears. Eric McElroy, from the College of Charleston, U.S., explains that galloping is just one form of movement from a selection of maneuvers. The ability to bound and gallop only emerged after mammals first appeared on the planet, according to scientists. It turns out that crocodiles can gallop at their highest speeds and turtles bound, which made Michael Granatosky, from the New York Institute of Technology, U.S., wonder if animals may have evolved the ability to coordinate their limbs independently much earlier than previously thought. The Journal of Experimental Biology published their discovery that animals probably evolved the ability to crutch, bound and possibly even gallop, 472 million years ago.

The duo scoured the scientific literature and created a family tree of mammals, fish, and toads that are known to use asymmetric foot falls when propelling themselves along surfaces with their feet and fins. The duo ran a series of simulations to find out if asymmetric gaits appeared earlier or later in the evolutionary tree.

It took months to work out all the bugs in the analysis, and it is most likely that the earliest ancestors of almost all modern animals, including fish, were capable of moving. The animals were capable of asymmetrically coordinating their limbs to propel themselves, so whether they were punting, crutching or bounding along the seabed isn't known. Even though our earliest ancestors might have been capable of this alternate form of transportation, some of them have lost the ability to bound and gallop.

The ability to bound and gallop is more than just the preserve of mammals. Even though some animals have lost their ability to move asymmetrically, most of the animals that are alive today have ancestors that were capable of doing this. The ability to coordinate asymmetric movements is not exclusive to mammals, and it is possible that we were the descendants of an ancient fish that was able to propel itself along the sea floor on its fins.

More information: McElroy, E. J. and Granatosky, M.l C. (2022). The evolution of asymmetrical gaits in gnathostome vertebrates, Journal of Experimental Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243235 Journal information: Journal of Experimental Biology Citation: Animals evolved the ability to gallop 472 million years ago (2022, March 8) retrieved 8 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-animals-evolved-ability-gallop-million.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.