bio

Cursorial

A word for an animal that evolution has shaped to run - fast, far, or both. Cursorial bodies wear telltale marks: long slender legs so each stride covers more ground, mass carried high near the trunk so the far end of the limb stays light and swings fast, reduced toes (Earth's horse is down to a single hoof), and long tendons that bank elastic energy like biological springs. Horses, ostriches, and wolves are all cursorial. Pandora's pa'li wears the full set of marks - but at the scale of an elephant, its carbon-fibre skeleton keeping the legs slim and long rather than turning them into pillars.