AI Practice Knowledge BaseCounterintuitive Facts (7): Why Does a Gazelle Stop to Jump Up and Down When It Sees a Lion, Instead of Running?
PremiumThe Handicap Principle: All unforgeable signals must carry a self inflicted cost
I. African savanna. A Thomson's gazelle spots a lion in the distance. Logically, it should immediately turn and run as fast as possible. Every second is the difference between life and death.
II. But it doesn't run. It does something bewildering: Four legs stiff, leaping high, bouncing repeatedly in place. This behavior is called Stotting.
III. This seems suicidal. Not only wasting precious escape time. Also consuming enormous energy. Also exposing itself more prominently to the lion. Has it gone mad?
IV. Israeli biologist Amotz Zahavi offered a revolutionary explanation: It's not going crazy, it's communicating with the lion.
V. The gazelle is saying: "Mr. Lion, do you see this?" "I'm healthy enough to waste energy on this difficult move." "If you chase me, you won't catch me."
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