Thomson's Gazelle

Thomson's gazelles demonstrate the power of information cascades. When a gazelle detects a predator, it produces a sharp alarm call and leaps vertically (stotting), displaying its white rump patch. Within one second, every gazelle within 200 meters stops feeding. Within three seconds, herds of 400+ individuals are running in coordinated flight. This information propagates faster than cheetahs can move, converting individual detection into collective escape. The system exploits asymmetric threat costs: fleeing when no predator exists costs brief feeding interruption; ignoring an alarm when a predator exists costs death.

But stotting itself sends a different message - not to the herd, but to predators. 'I'm so fit I can waste energy on acrobatics while fleeing. Chase someone else.' This is honest signaling: only truly fit gazelles can afford the energetic cost of vertical leaping during pursuit. Predators learn to target non-stotting individuals, creating selection pressure that maintains the signal's honesty. Gazelles also demonstrate prey adaptations in evolutionary arms races: 80+ km/h speeds and exceptional agility to escape cheetah predation. This is Red Queen dynamics - neither predator nor prey gains permanent advantage, with both lineages continuously evolving just to maintain relative fitness.

For business, Thomson's gazelles teach three lessons: asymmetric costs enable rapid information sharing (when false positives are cheap but false negatives are fatal, share aggressively), costly signaling deters unprofitable engagement (demonstrating strength discourages weak attacks), and competitive arms races produce no permanent winners. The companies that survive aren't those that win the race - they're those that can keep running indefinitely.