Elephants can certainly shift. African elephants can reach top speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour, albeit over short distances only.
This is more than twice as fast as the average human runner, so it seems like an open and shut case. Elephants win. Humans lose. Only not so fast. Unleash your inner pedant, and let’s think, for a moment, about what running actually is.
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Can elephants actually run?
According to Wikipedia, running is a distinct type of locomotion that has an aerial phase. This means that at some point in the stride, there’s a brief moment when all of the feet are off the ground. According to this definition, humans can run. So can horses, rabbits, lions, crocodiles and lots of other animals. And the elephant in the room?
Twenty years ago, locomotion expert John Hutchinson and colleagues filmed 42 adult Asian elephants moving at top speed along a 30 metre track in Thailand. White blobs of non-toxic paint were dabbed onto the animals’ legs and abdomen, so the footage could be digitised. When the clips were played back in slow motion, they revealed that the pachyderms always had one foot on the floor. There was never a moment when all four feet were airborne.
According to this scenario, a human can run faster than an elephant, because an elephant can’t run at all. But there are other definitions of running, and when the same team assessed two of them, the situation changed.
The first method assessed the relative amount of time that a given foot was on the floor compared with the time it took to complete a sequence of four steps. If a foot is on the ground for less than half the time it takes to complete the full set of footfalls, then the gait is said to meet the “kinematic” definition of running. By this metric, elephants passed the running test.
The second method, which was based on biomechanics, looked at how springy the animals were. As the elephants gathered speed, their back legs compressed a few centimetres like a pogo stick. This propelled them forwards at a definite run.
In addition, Hutchinson, who is Professor of Evolutionary Biomechanics at London’s Royal Veterinary College has pointed out that running doesn’t always require an aerial phase. Pure-bred Icelandic ponies can run, but they also keep one foot on the ground. Instead of bobbing up and down, they roll from side to side, which makes them more comfortable to ride.
So, elephants can run after all, but if you find one charging angrily towards you, don’t stop to pontificate on its unique locomotory style. Get somewhere safe. Then study its stride!
