Having figured out the location of the elephant's center of mass, Dr. Sereno and Jeff Ogradnik were finally ready to watch an elephant perform the hind leg stand.

Dr. Sereno and Angus' trainer, Michael Hackenberger, drew straight chalk lines down the elephants' legs to represent the underlying bones and allow calculation of their position during rearing.

As you can see in the quicktime movie, the elephant moved into his rearing pose very carefully. First Angus shifted his center of mass backward by bending his knees.

Now Angus can lift his front legs and stand in the rearing position. Notice also that Angus uses his long trunk and short tail to try to help maintain his balance. By moving them Angus ever-so-slightly shifts his center of balance backward