The shortest path between any two vertices in an unweighted graph is always an induced path, because any additional edges between pairs of vertices that could cause it to be not induced would also cause it to be not shortest. Conversely, in distance-hereditary graphs, every induced path is a shortest path.[2] Induced cycles are induced subgraphs or cycles. The girth of a graph is defined by the length of its shortest cycle, which is always an induced cycle.