Stotting

Stotting, also called pronking or pronging, is a jumping behavior in which a four-legged animal springs into the air with all four feet leaving the ground at once, typically upon spotting a predator. It is seen in gazelles, springbok, pronghorn, mule deer, and other hoofed animals. The leading explanation, developed by researchers including John Maynard Smith, C. D. Fitzgibbon, and Tim Caro, is that stotting is an honest signal to the predator that the stotting animal is too fit to be worth chasing, a display that can benefit both predator and prey by ending a pursuit before it starts; other proposed explanations include anti-ambush behavior, sexual selection, and play.