Speed record holders in the animal world

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Everyone knows that the fastest animal on earth is the cheetah. But with a small amendment - only on land. Only birds of prey would participate in the "common animal" rating, and the cheetah would not even get into the top ten. So we will consider super-fast animals not only in terms of the direct indicator of "kilometers per hour", but also taking into account their size and habitat.

Pronghorn

This elegant creature is the fastest land animal in North America, reaching speeds of under 90 km / h. At a short distance, a pronghorn could not overtake a cheetah, but it would easily break away from it on any long track. Endurance allows pronghorns to migrate hundreds of kilometers each year.

Brazilian foldlip

The fastest of the bats, accelerating to almost 100 km / h in a dive. Folded lips live in large colonies in caves, under bridges, and in old buildings. In the evenings, they simultaneously fly out to hunt, forming a stunning "cinematic" picture.

Sailboat and swordfish

A curious example of a draw - different sources call either a sailboat or a sword-fish the fastest fish in the world, developing speeds from 100 to 130 km / h. One study that gave victory to the swordfish found on an MRI that an almond was located in the upper jaw of the fish, releasing oil. By spreading around the fish head, the oil reduces friction against the water and increases speed.

Calipta Anna

The upper speed limit for this bird is 80 km / h, which does not seem like a very impressive result until you estimate its size. Biologist Christopher Clarke from the University of California at Berkeley calculated that at this speed, the hummingbird covers 385 body sizes per second, experiencing strong overloads of 10G.

Cheetah

Far from the fastest animal on Earth, yielding primacy to birds, fish and even insects, but still the fastest land and fastest mammal. Reaches a speed of over 100 km / h, accelerating from 0 to 100 km / h in three seconds.

Black marlin

According to the BBC, the maximum speed developed by black marlin is 130 km / h. It was measured by how quickly the line was reeled off the line when a fish was caught, which is a somewhat controversial method. Was the boat moving at this moment, was the fish swimming in a straight line? Anyway, it's no surprise that black marlin is very popular with sport fishing enthusiasts at this rate.

Horsefly

If you've ever been chased by one of these biting critters, you know how fast they are. Jerry Butler, an entomologist at the University of Florida, states that an adult male horsefly Hybomitra can reach speeds in excess of 144 km / h. True, it is difficult to accurately measure the speed of an insect due to its size, flight nonlinearity, and other factors.

Needle-tailed swift

This bird develops a speed of almost 170 km / h, which makes it the fastest flying animal. She lives in Asia and Australia, occasionally flies into Europe.

Mite

If we take the fastest animal in the world in relation to the length of its own body, then no one will keep up with a tick of the species Paratarsotomus macropalpis. In a second, it covers a distance of 320 of its own size - it's all the same as people would accelerate to 2090 km / h.

Peregrine falcon

Although the peregrine falcon flies more slowly than the needle-tailed swift, in a dive for prey it accelerates to 390 km / h. The blow with claws after dispersal is so strong that it can tear off the victim's head.