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Galloping dates back 472 million years to our ancient fishy ancestors

Almost all animals that are alive today have ancestors capable of moving asymmetrically.

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Horse herd run on pasture in Chile, South America

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Galloping dates back 472 million years... to our ancient fishy ancestors, according to new research.

They propelled themselves along the seabed to catch or escape from prey - on their fins.

This was about 70 million years before any species set foot - or fin - on dry land.

It was thought only mammals could coordinate their limbs unevenly - until scientists recently discovered primitive crocodiles galloped too.

They patrolled broad rivers that coursed through north Africa 100 million years ago - chasing and eating dinosaurs.

But the ability emerged much earlier - in the sea rather than on terra firma.

A unique family tree of more than 300 species of modern vertebrates found they all inherited it.

They include mammals, fish, reptiles, toads, frogs, marsupials and monotremes.

Some creatures - such as lizards, salamanders, frogs and even elephants – have lost the skill to bound and gallop.

Lead author Dr. Eric McElroy, of the College of Charleston, South Carolina, said: "It took months to work out all the kinks in the analysis."

In humans, the equine gait tends to be the preserve of little children mimicking horses or doing exercise classes.

But for camels, lions and giraffes, galloping is a key fixture of their repertoire as they shift up through the gears.

It's just one form of movement from a selection known as asymmetric gaits- where the timing of foot falls is unevenly spread.

They include bounds performed by rabbits, crutching and punting when fish drag themselves across land or push themselves along a waterbed with their fins.

Dr. McElroy said, "In total we compiled data from 308 species." A score of 0 was allocated to those that only used evenly timed walks, trots and runs.

A score of 1 was given to those that showed any sign of moving asymmetrically by bounding, crutching, punting or galloping.

The US team then ran simulations to find out when they appeared in the evolutionary tree.

It showed the earliest ancestors of almost all modern animals, including fish, were capable of punting, crutching or bounding.

So galloping isn’t just the preserve of mammals. Almost all animals that are alive today have ancestors capable of moving asymmetrically.

Some either lost the nerves necessary for the movements or became too large or too slow to become airborne.

Bounding and galloping was once thought to have emerged after mammals first appeared on the planet 210 million years ago.

But crocodiles can gallop at up to 11mph to accelerate quickly in order to escape from danger.

Analysis of the bone structure of their ancestors from the Age of the Dinosaurs found they galloped across the plains.

One, named Kaprosuchus saharicus, was more than 20 feet long with three sets of dagger-like tusks and an armoured snout - for ramming its prey.

Alligators and caiman did not evolve the technique because they stand their ground and fight when confronted with danger.

Turtles are also known to bound. The study is in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

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