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Primarch-XVI t1_jdsv5mt wrote

Reply to comment by LastLapPodcast in Can elephants canter or gallop? by [deleted]

Elephants 100% do have ankles. They’re just relatively weak, and elephants are so big that jumping just isn’t something their bodies can support.

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LastLapPodcast t1_jdt2dob wrote

https://www.audubonsculptures.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Anelephantfoot-1-e1517079923490.jpg

You can see from the skeleton that what you'd consider to be the ankle joint doesn't function like the ankle in other animals. The leg bones sit directly over with the animal walking on its toes. The calcaneum sits parallel to the ankle joint, essentially meaning the joint is fully extended any time the legs are straight. I imagine it as the same when a ballerina is on tiptoes, they also can't jump without either bending the balls of their feet (which elephants can't do) or by relaxing off their toes.

I will however concede that this alone isn't the only factor in the lack of galloping. The fact elephants have 4 forward facing knees also prevents a gallop.

Edit: the post below makes a very valid point that the joint in the front legs that performs the knee function is actually a wrist joint. The joint at the same level as the hind knees is actually a rear facing elbow joint. So it's more accurate to suggest they can't gallop because their legs bend the same direction when they walk/run. However the point around not being able to jump remains the same. The rear legs cannot produce the spring due to the way their feet are shaped and the way the joints sit. To gallop you must be able to propel your legs from the floor.

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KimberelyG t1_jdttjg6 wrote

>The fact elephants have 4 forward facing knees also prevents a gallop.

That's inaccurate. Elephants have knees and elbows that bend the same direction as any other mammal's.

This skeletal diagram is an easy illustration - https://imgur.com/HtrRcOb

And here you can see the elbow joint vs knees on a living elephant - this elephant has its elbows bent backwards as normal, and its wrists pressed against the ground as it's 'kneeling' to dig.

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BayouGal t1_jdtv9hv wrote

It’s called digitigrade and dogs & cats show this orientation of the foot & ankle bones. Because your fingers & toes are “digits”. When you walk flat footed like a human, it’s called plantigrade, and the bottom of the foot is the plantar surface.

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Primarch-XVI t1_jdt79ht wrote

Okay, I was not aware that elephants had such limited range of motion in their ankles.

But an ankle is still an ankle, no matter how much it can do. Saying that elephants don’t have ankles is just spreading misinformation.

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LastLapPodcast t1_jdtcr6q wrote

It's not misinformation. A bats wing and a whales flippers contain all the bones and joints in a hand but you don't say that those animals have hands. The foot to leg joint in elephants does not function the same as the ankle joint does in other four legged animals due to the way the heel structure is prevented from touching the ground. Yes, there is a joint there and yes it contains the same bones you find in feet but it doesn't do what those same bones do for other animals.

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