Elephant Legs Are Much Bendier Than Shakespeare Thought

Throughout history, elephants have been thought of as ‘different’. Shakespeare, and even Aristotle, described them as walking on inflexible column-like legs. And this myth persists even today. Which made John Hutchinson from The Royal Veterinary College, London, want to find out more about elephants and the way they move. Are they really that different from other, more fleet-footed species? Are their legs as rigid and ‘columnar’ as people had thought?

Traveling to Thailand and several UK zoos, Hutchinson and his team investigated how Asian Elephants move their legs as they walk and run and made some interesting discoveries.

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Tagged as: Animals, Aristotle, Asian Elephants, Elephants, Fleet-footed Species, John Hutchinson, London, Myths, Shakespeare, Species, The Royal Veterinary College