Postural control in the elephant

As the largest extant legged animals, elephants arguably face the most extreme challenge for stable standing. In this study, we investigated the displacement of the centre of pressure of 12 elephants during quiet standing. We found that the average amplitude of the oscillations in the lateral and fore-aft directions was less than 1.5 cm. Such amplitudes for postural oscillation are comparable with those of dogs and other species, suggesting that some aspects of sensorimotor postural control do not scale with size.

Automated summary

Elephants, as the largest legged animals, face challenges for stable standing but their postural oscillations are comparable to those of smaller animals like dogs and other species, suggesting that some aspects of sensorimotor postural control are not dependent on size.