What does the South African springbok hide in its dorsal white plume of hair?”
Sprinkboks (like antelopes and gazelles) use alertness and speed to flee from their predators, as well as a curious behavior called “pronking” in which they regularly jump up into the air (as high as ten feet!) and appear to bounce along on stiff legs–leaping every which-a-way–in an attempt to confuse their predators. As they do so, a flap of skin on their backs rises into the air revealing a white plume of hair which also houses a gland (stretching from midback to tail base) which releases a strong scent into the air which–along with their “pronking” activity–warns the other members of their herd of impending danger. Thus alerted, the herd then begins to run from their predator in an orderly manner–following the scent now beginning to be laid down by all of the front-runners (if the herd ran in different direction–instead of in an orderly fashion–they were be more prone to individual attack). As they run, “pronking” becomes infectious. First one or two animals will start, and s
