The World's Only Galloping Insect Runs Like A Race Horse In Slow-Mo
P. endroedyi Smolka et al. Most insects walk with an ambling, tripod gait, keeping at least three legs on the ground while the others move. This type of walk is the most common gait in the animal kingdom. But somewhere along the line, three species of dung beetle decided to break away from the alternating-leg pack, developing the only gallop in the insect world. Instead of moving legs on each side separately, Pachysoma endroedyi, P. hippocrates and P. glentoni move each set of legs in synch, like a bounding rabbit or a speedy horse. Just watch: Why exactly these beetles might have developed this gallop is unclear. It's incredibly inefficient. The gait only utilizes the front and middle legs; the back legs drag behind and "seem to contribute little to propulsion," according to the study describing the phenomenon....