It is common that among mammals only elephants are deprived of the opportunity to jump. We decided to check that science is known about the ability to jump elephants and other animals.

This information more often Found V Collections Entertaining facts O animals. Sometimes she Accompanied ironic Comment: And well, since an animal with such a weight cannot jump, otherwise there is already enough earthquakes to humanity. Large media also write about the inability of elephants to jumps (magazine "Around the world", "Expert" And "Russian service BBC"). In 2011 in Russian I went out A book with the name “Why don't elephants know how to jump? And 113 more questions that will at the dead end of any scientist ”, in which scientists - science popularizers gathered the strangest questions about the world around them and tried to find answers to them.

Elephants are a family of mammals of the detachment crusted. All other representatives of this detachment are extinct animals, for example Mastodonts or merger. Only three species survived in the ivory family to this day: a barn elephant, forest and Asian. Among them are the largest - Savian (or African), its weight Maybe exceed 6 tons. At the same time, it is impossible to call the Slow elephants in any way - according to the non -profit association Elephants for Africa from Botswana, representatives of the family can Develop speed up to 40 miles per hour (64.37 km/h).

Bounce, as the dictionary says, is such a way of movement in which there is a short, short rise into the air. From the point vision Biologists, jump is the ability to tear off all limbs from the surface at some point. However, in addition to the usual jump, in which the take -off is ensured by the power of the lower extremities, some animals also have the opportunity to jump, pushing their hands. This method of movement called Brachication and characteristic of some primates, such as gibbon.

The professor of evolutionary biomechanics from the Royal Veterinary College in London John Hatchinson devoted his scientific activity to study the movement of elephants. In an interview with Live Science, he confirmedThe elephants cannot jump in the usual understanding of the mechanics of this movement (that is, at once to tear off all four limbs from the ground). However, science has no accurate answer why animals are deprived of this ability. The main version today is the features of their anatomy: “Animals that jump are needed, really flexible ankles, strong Achilles tendons and calf muscles, and the elephants have weak muscles of the lower leg and not very flexible ankles.” According to the professor, an attempt to jump, like a kangaroo, can end sadly for an elephant. If the beast stumbles and falls, then because of its huge weight, heavy injuries will be inevitable. The second probable reason why the elephant does not jump is that for most animals a jump is an opportunity to escape from the threat, primarily from a predator, thanks to a sharp movement in space. But, as Khatchinson says, “to be big is a good defense in itself,” so additional mechanisms to avoid the danger of such heavyweight.

Moreover, the scientist ironically notes that the wording “elephant does not know how to jump” is not entirely correct. Although scientists were not able to fix the jumping of the elephant, this does not speak of the absolute inability of the animal. “Perhaps the elephants are simply shy,” the specialist jokes. He and colleagues also Put it The speed of running elephants - within the framework of their observations, they have never fixed the speed above 15 miles per hour (24.14 km/h), which is more than two times less than the results of the Botstannian observers. According to scientists, even when running, one of the legs of the elephant always remains on the ground, unlike other large animals. The same rhinos, for example, during running for short intervals, take all four legs from the ground, which can formally be considered a jump.

However, the elephant is by no means the only mammal who does not know how to jump. There are those who, not having such a huge weight, are deprived of the ability of us, for example, sloths. These mammals from the unauthorized detachment spend most of their lives on trees literally in limbo and Go down It is mainly down in order to defecate, and also to change the tree. Bekki Cliff, a British zoologist working in the Kostarikan Fund for the Save of Lenovtsy, confirmsthat the sloths do not know how not only to jump, but also to run. Due to the peculiarities of their lifestyle, the hind legs of the sloths, unlike the front ones, do not have quite strong muscles, which makes both quick movement and movement with a separation from the surface of all four limbs. Going down from the tree, the sliven basically crawls. The speed of movement of the sloths, depending on the speed of animal metabolism, also makes them incapable of braching. You can see how the sliven is moving, in the video of the Moscow Zoo.

With general slowness, the sloths, by the way, swim very well - the speed of the animal in the water is much higher than during movement on land.

Thus, the assertion that elephants are the only mammals that do not know how to jump is true only half. Scientists, indeed, have never seen a bouncing elephant, while the elephants are not alone in their inability. The company is at least ranging to them. But other heavyweights, such as rhinos, are quite capable of tearing all four limbs from the surface on the run.

Image on the cover: Pxhere