t’s a motion more closely associated with horses, but researchers have found that more species of crocodiles can gallop than previously thought. The study, which was led by the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), also discovered that by contrast alligators and caiman, also members of the crocodylian family, cannot manage more than a trot.
Evidence-based veterinary medicine matters
Yet, despite the difference in gaits used, crocodiles and alligators can all move at about the same speed – no more than 11 miles per hour. The ability to gallop (and to use an even more extreme gait called a bound) is likely down to the size and build of the Crocodylia in question.
