Stotting is a behavior of gazelles, particularly Thomson's Gazelles, involving leaping straight up during pursuit by a predator, typically a cheetah or lion. This reduces the lead distance and speed of the pursued gazelle when performed, and as such increases the risk of being caught and killed by the predator. This apparently counterproductive behavior may signal to the predator or potential mates its comparative fitness as a form of boasting or taunting, and so therefore may be an evolutionarily selected behavior. This is offered by adherents of the handicap principle as a prime example. Species Several, see text A gazelle is an antelope of the genus Gazella. ... Binomial name Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber, 1775) Type species Acinonyx venator Brookes, 1828 (= Felis jubata, Schreber, 1775) by monotypy The range of the cheetah The cheetah (derived from Sanskrit word Chitraka meaning Speckled) (Acinonyx jubatus) is an atypical member of the cat family (Felidae), a poor climber that hunts by speed... Binomial name Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution of Lions in Africa Synonyms Felis leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. ... In economics, more precisely in contract theory, signalling is the idea that one party (termed the agent) conveys some meaningful information about itself to another party (the principal). ... The handicap principle is an idea proposed by the Israeli biologist Amotz Zahavi. ...

References

• FitzGibbon, C. D., and Fanshawe, J. H., (1988), Stotting in Thomson's gazelles: an honest signal of condition. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Volume 23, Number 2 / August, pages 69–74.