fourfooted

Fourfooted is an adjective describing animals that have four feet or four limbs used for locomotion. In everyday use it overlaps with quadruped and is commonly applied to mammals such as dogs, cats, horses, cattle, and deer, as well as many reptiles and amphibians.

In biological terms, the concept pertains to tetrapods—vertebrates with four limbs. However, not all four-limb animals rely on their limbs as feet for movement in the same way; some use forelimbs for manipulation or suspension (as in many primates), and birds are typically not described as four-footed.

The four-limb configuration arose in early tetrapods enabling life on land, and subsequent lineages diversified in locomotor strategies, including running, climbing, and swimming. Among modern examples, many mammals are quadrupedal, cetaceans have forelimbs modified into flippers and hind limbs vestigial, and some reptiles are quadrupedal when on the ground.

In literature and culture, fourfooted appears in descriptive prose to evoke animality, steadiness, or strength. In scientific contexts, the more precise term quadrupedalism or quadruped is preferred.

See also quadruped, quadrupedalism, tetrapod.