In most animals, displacement is a factor of great importance for their vital processes. Each group of species has developed different ways of getting around, ranging from walking to swimming, flying or crawling. Many animals use their limbs to move and, depending on the way they do it, they are designated in one way or another.
Thus, we have bipeds and quadrupeds, depending on whether they use two or four legs to move. In this article on our site we introduce you to the quadrupedal animals, their main characteristics and examples.
What are four-legged animals?
The term quadruped refers to animals with four legs that they use to move. Thus, quadrupedal animals are those terrestrial vertebrates that walk on four legs It is important to make a distinction between tetrapods and quadrupeds, since the former, although they have four limbs, sometimes two of them have been evolutionarily modified and are used for other purposes, such as flying in the case of birds. That is why many tetrapod animals are not quadrupedal, but bipedal.
Characteristics of quadrupedal animals
Quadrupeds, although they belong to different taxonomic groups, have certain common characteristics, which we explain below:
- They have two front limbs and two hind limbs on which the rest of the body rests, which, in some cases, allows a balance in the distribution of body mass. In others, more than half the weight may be supported by the front or rear legs.
- When they move, at least one of the legs is always on the ground.
- The movement of the fore and hind limbs occurs in a synchronized manner, which allows the animal to move in a coordinated manner.
- Although there is a range of tread patterns, in each group they are evenly spaced.
- Quadrupeds have more options for toggling movement dynamics than bipeds.
- Its symmetry is bilateral, making the sagittal division into right and left. This symmetry is closely linked to its cephalization.
- The following terms are used to indicate the areas of the body: anterior for the head, posterior for the tail, dorsal for the back, ventral for the belly, medial to define the longitudinal midline that runs throughout the body, lateral to each of the sides, pectoral to the chest, supported by the front legs, and pelvic to the hips, supported by the hind limbs.
- There is a frontal plane that divides the body of quadrupeds into dorsal and ventral, while the transverse plane divides it into anterior and posterior.
Examples of quadrupedal animals
Once we know their characteristics, let's review some examples of quadrupedal animals.
Elephants
They are animals belonging to the order of the proboscideans and are the only current family of the group. The elephant is a clear example of a quadrupedal animal that moves on its four legs. They are the species that reach the largest sizes among terrestrial animals, so the conformation of their legs is vital for proper support.
Horses
Horses are vertebrates of the perissodactyl order, belonging to the equine family. They move on all four limbs and can reach great speeds when running. In addition, curiously, they manage to sleep standing up, thanks to the anatomical configuration of their legs.
Rhinos
Taxonomically, rhinos are included in the order Perissodactyla and in the family Rhinocerotidae. Like elephants, they are among the heaviest land mammals on the planet, so they also require legs adapted to support up to more than a ton of weight. On the other hand, despite their mass, they can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h.
Do you want to know more about these animals? Do not miss this other article where we talk about the Types of rhinos.
Cheetahs
Also known as cheetahs, these cats are considered of the fastest land mammals They usually weigh just over 70 kg, so They are thin and have long limbs compared to the body, which surely gives them the ability to reach high speeds. Unlike other cats, cheetahs do not stalk their prey, but rather wait until they are within a safe distance before launching into a swift run.
Gazelles
Gazelles are fairly agile quadrupedal animals, belonging to the order Artiodactyla and the Bovidae family. With their long and thin legs they support a slender, medium-sized body weighing about 50 kg. They can reach speeds close to 100 km/h and maintain half this speed for quite a long time.
Giraffes
Giraffes are ruminant mammals and the tallest land animals in existence. These quadrupeds can measure, from head to foot, about 6 meters in length, which allows them to be seen from far away. It is a disadvantage, since they can be discovered quite easily by lions, their main predators.
Get to know the different types of giraffes in this other article and let yourself be surprised by their incredible characteristics.
Bears
Bears are mammals belonging to the Ursidae family. There are several species that have characteristics, such as coloration or way of feeding, quite dissimilar. However, a peculiarity of some of these quadrupeds is that they can stand up on their two hind legs and take short steps in this way.
Buffalos
Buffalos are large bovines that are distributed throughout various regions of the planet and are among the quadrupeds of great weight and size. They can reach up to 500 kg in weight and there have even been specimens that considerably exceeded this figure. This means that they need legs capable of adequately supporting this weight.
Donkeys
Donkeys, also called donkeys, belong to the equine group. These quadrupedal animals cannot reach the speed of horses, however, they have unfortunately been used throughout history, especially as pack animals thanks to their stability and safety when movingon its four limbs.
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are one of the most fascinating extinct animals, undoubtedly due to the various peculiarities that have been studied thanks to the fossil record found in various parts of the world. Among the dinosaurs there are some groups that moved bipedally, but there are also quadrupedal ones, such is the case of the species Aragosaurus ischiaticu or Stegosaurus armatus, among others.
Other quadrupedal animals
There are many quadrupedal animals, in this list we add more examples:
- Moose.
- Bisons.
- Deer.
- Ñus.
- Reindeer.
- Cows.
- Dogs.
- Lions.
- Hippos.
- Camels.
