Stotting in hares
(writing in progress)
Various species of ruminants stot (https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2013/01/03/antelope-pronking/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stotting).
The basic idea in stotting is that the animal moves exuberantly, expending energy in a conspicuous and inefficient way. This is clearly a form of self-advertisement, although the question remains of whether the demonstration is directed towards members of the same species on one hand, or potential predators on the other.
As far as I know, the scientific literature lacks any claim that any lagomorph stots, at least in the quadrupedal way. I have yet to see the words 'hare' and 'stot' in the same sentence, anywhere in the scientific literature.
What has been frequently mentioned are 'observation leaps' (https://watermark.silverchair.com/29-1-303.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAArwwggK4BgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggKpMIICpQIBADCCAp4GCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMPPVPu7dKxZqOBRrYAgEQgIICb0QL1S4-diAz5vGdNW3edGsVa5kQzetCn4Gb5jYFVjg36OWg8X8uorUYA6Sh4ZuHa0Z0cuh4AtIZJ1rw25-02SD4ex0PvXh1p1bB-fli3YpeSQekcGy2aayuTZOvsFLD8OFk9jYgj2zsWFV5WbrcF6ZkQ9lcUQ5uFjG7VeMUFCCjghs-_V_e6wyDTGLUe47g-uOB2Di57KfwSd7kXhDILXEFbr2mA0LvXFmM12CUs_iuTK2s7n_h0K7-sj1GNFxcTZl0MiXetWFLDkOWYgtH1eCRE5YYPlXEkChfi1igKtW_sCTHqn0mPaInu4iddYQ_FUq6UXh2jqgWXb_2tOT6wT6Rs_iaWhFGpENiSTVtq76VC01LaMAhqSh6aDkHjzlEicdActzPKc3HWAM0rFyknQ-S3DUiSXnjt5YmV1Vni5v7emJMHRejuGa1eJwFeamLjh28a7API6XbyGtt7MhPpJImq4klGulUmQriJ2NORaWxQweyP6ATGOkATJ7IuZAP-pgWlAnVWTD3hRM9qrtKY6xHhExjIfEMk-T4Hlz9G2YKROy7ZFqsuaUmKdMtoh1PhxzkEL3aVFgrbPMn_GeuMtRkh_HCOFJ9RM53GW0BjnKOSch-sWAhMu9X_1JCU8VaN_NQT95yp4KjZVvR1jT_TrV6Xd840M7WBfEfn6XfSbHKbbuM_JfAYQy7HDSmbQwG4FPxEzJ6qSeG4qAQL0nIuYpJVTBD3eeYj-VxASx-Wv9Gj5g3e-OXY_hCfQzNQr4TR-SL55czT6FpkRFZNRvADSQYdO7QRyY1CzJrReSk9hNzoRKqUYgM1r7IS3xrifQm and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348464180_Lagomorpha_Locomotion), in which hares in the act of fleeing intersperse their normal running gait with a particularly high stride. All authors seem to have assumed that this functions not as a form of self-advertisement, but rather as a way of maintaining a clear view of the potential predator.
Establishing that Lepus stots in evolutionary convergence with ruminants would, therefore, be something new to science.
At present, the evidence for stotting in hares falls into two categories, as follows:
- sundry photos and videos showing ambivalent aberrations from the normal gaits of running, often in uncertain circumstances, and
- clear evidence, in a few ecologically extreme species of hares, of gaits which are odd but different from any stotting gait in hoofed mammals.
Lepus californicus. https://inaturalist.nz/observations/101996083 and https://inaturalist.nz/observations/64044230
Lepus callotis seems to qualify for stotting, based on Best and Henry (1993): "When flushed, L. callotis alternately flashes its white sides while running away from the intruder...Another escape behavior is that of leaping straight upward while extending the hind legs and flashing the white sides. This behavior is seen when the white-sided jackrabbit is startled or alarmed by a predator."
Lepus townsendii: the following possibly shows stotting: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35863227.
Lepus europaeus:
Two gaits suggestive of stotting can be seen from about 4 minutes 30 seconds in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylqBH7iOXl4 and from about 1 min 45 sec in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3JM0hhNOOU.
the following show possible stotting: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/106614136 and https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Feldhase%2C_Lepus_europaeus_2a.JPG and https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/details-photo/european-hare-lepus-europaeus-adult-male-running-stotting-back-to-female-in-grass-field-suffolk-england-march/FHR-10512-00774-842 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/73530651 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/73202777.
Please note that Lepus does not normally erect its tail in flight. I suspect that stotting in Lepus features both a bouncing action and the swinging of the tail higher than usual (as seen in the first photo in https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/106614136). This exposes not just the white underside of the tail (which is only partly exposed https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/running-hare-gm467394605-33962244 in normal fleeing gaits in Lepus) but also a white patch of pelage on the buttocks, which is hardly noticeable in the normal action of fleeing.
Lepus timidus: https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/mountain-hare-lepus-timidus-known-blue-396645550.
The fact that only three species use bipedal stotting gaits is partly explained by the large body size of L. arcticus and L. alleni, the gregariousness of L. arcticus and L. alleni, and the pair-bonded social structure of L. callotis.
(writing in progress)