Walking gaits in Cervidae: deer tend to cross-walk, as opposed to the ambling typical of many bovids, part 1: Cervinae

INTRODUCTION

Ruminants walk with subtle gaits, difficult to classify and name.

My approach is to distinguish between ambling and a semi cross-walking gaits.

(Readers, please note: watch all the videos linked in this Post in slow motion, by adjusting the 'playback speed' to 0.5 or 0.25.)

In ambling, the hind foot is lifted only after the opposite fore is placed (watch from 40 seconds in slow motion in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EawG4Gu3Js).

By contrast, in semi cross-walking, the hind foot is lifted before the opposite fore is placed (https://vimeo.com/407626704 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=hxkM96MYlb8 and https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/deer-walk-cycle-vector-31351189 and https://www.shutterstock.com/da/image-vector/deer-walkcycle-silhouette-vector-illustration-frame-1724464180).

An amble is a 'parallel gait', whereas a cross-walk is a 'diagonal gait'.

In reality, the footfall-sequence varies among species along a continuum, rather than dichotomously. Thus, a semi cross-walk is, in terms of the footfall-pattern, intermediate between a cross-walk and an amble.

However the criterion between amble and semi cross-walk is significant, because it potentially affects the balance/stability of the locomotion.

The distinction is as follows:

In ambling, for most of the time there are two feet simultaneously off the ground on the same side (left or right) - which is relatively unstable in that it risks tipping to the unsupported side.

In cross-walking, by contrast, the two feet off the ground are on different sides, viz. left fore with right hind, or right fore with left hind. This is relatively stable, because it maintains diagonal propping. An additional advantage of semi cross-walking is that two feet are off the ground simultaneously for less than half of the time.

Readers can practise distinguishing between the approximately 'parallel' walk and the approximately 'diagonal' walk by repeatedly viewing the following video clips (adjusting the playback speed to show the footfall sequence in slow motion):

amble in Giraffa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh2yveXTKaU
semi cross-walk in Strepsiceros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rky362tL5kE

AIMS

The aim of thus Post is to show the walking gaits of as many genera and species as possible of cervids, according to the distinctions among ambling, semi cross-walking, and cross-walking.

RESULTS

Cervus elaphus

semi cross-walking:

https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/red-deer-cervus-elaphus-walking-green-meadow-summertime-nature-wild-hind-marching-open-grassland-summer-female-animal-going-pasture_24217519.htm

https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/item/85266360-hd-slow-motion-young-stag-red-deer-cervus-elaphus-walking

semi cross-walking in masculine strutting:

https://www.shutterstock.com/da/video/clip-1017907225-wild-red-deer-stag-walking-bright-morning

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/red-deer-rutting-season-737170840

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O9x3bQpGhw

cross-walking (on unstable substrate):

https://www.dreamstime.com/red-deer-hind-crossing-stream-water-close-up-winter-image138050863

Cervus canadensis

semi cross-walking:

https://www.dreamstime.com/grand-teton-national-park-wy-usa-september-close-up-bull-elk-cervus-canadensis-walking-across-road-traffic-stopped-image296347398

https://stock.adobe.com/es/images/wild-bull-elk-or-wapiti-walking-through-tall-frost-covered-grass-at-forest-s-edge-jasper-national-park-alberta-canada-cervus-canadensis/122577689

https://www.dreamstime.com/grand-teton-national-park-wy-usa-september-close-up-bull-elk-cervus-canadensis-walking-across-road-traffic-stopped-image296347398

https://stock.adobe.com/es/images/wild-bull-elk-or-wapiti-walking-through-tall-frost-covered-grass-at-forest-s-edge-jasper-national-park-alberta-canada-cervus-canadensis/122577689

nearly ambling:

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-wapiti-elk-cervus-elaphus-canadensis-cervus-canadensis-rutting-bull-76021844.html

Cervus nippon

semi cross-walking:

https://es.123rf.com/photo_91171124_a-sika-deer-walking-across-a-path-in-the-woods.html

https://www.istockphoto.com/video/young-deer-on-the-green-grass-at-the-zoo-gm1304918196-395939791

Elaphurus davidianus

semi cross-walking:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nDF9nyR62YQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvuQK9M5O5w

https://www.naturepl.com/stock-photo-nature-image01617635.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6KT9HyEqwc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-PkYSIGRl8

including during masculine strutting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o-Oap1xs9M

from 12 seconds, infant semi cross-walking, despite this meaning that the hind hoof must closely displace the fore hoof on the same side in order to avoid collision between hind and fore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqxIzx13FWk

nearly ambling:

https://www.staffanwidstrand.se/image/I0000NS9g.SH5Xug

https://www.shutterstock.com/da/video/clip-20558605-pere-davids-deer-herd-migrate-graze-elaphurus

from 10 seconds in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pItzvvhZBPA

Dama dama

semi cross-walking:

https://www.istockphoto.com/video/deer-hinds-in-harem-during-rut-in-autumn-mountain-forest-gm455379686-47417190

https://www.istockphoto.com/video/deer-hinds-in-harem-during-rut-in-autumn-mountain-forest-gm455379712-47417372

https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/625669/view/male-fallow-deer-walking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBaW7gt4Z4M

https://www.alamy.com/video/fallow-deer-male-with-winter-fur-walks-through-the-snow-dama-dama-in-the-snow-cervus-dama-in-winter-588321494.html

https://www.shutterstock.com/da/video/clip-3399380867-lonely-little-deer-walking-forest-reserve-near