Wild About Nature Blog

Everyone knows that the cheetah is the fastest animal on earth. But with a small amendment - only on land. If the rating would be about all animals in general, birds of prey would win all places, and the cheetah would not even make it to the top ten. So, we will consider super-fast-moving animals not only in terms of the "kilometers per hour" indicator but also considering their size and habitat.

Pronghorn. This elegant creature is the fastest land animal in North America, developing a speed of 90 km / h. In the short distance, the pronghorn could not outrun the cheetah, but it would easily tear itself away from it on any long road. Endurance allows the pronghorn to migrate hundreds of kilometers each year.

Mexican free-tailed bat. The fastest of bats, accelerating to almost 100 km / h in a dive. Folded folds live in large colonies in caves, under bridges, and in old buildings. In the evenings, they simultaneously fly out to hunt, forming an amazing "cinematic" picture.

Sailfish and swordfish. A curious example of a draw - different sources call either a sailfish or a swordfish the world's fastest fish, developing a speed from 100 to 130 km / h. One of the studies, giving away the victory to a swordfish, found with the help of an MRI scan that there is an amygdala in the upper jaw of the fish that produces oil. Spreading around the fish head, the oil reduces friction against water and improves speed.

Anna's hummingbird. The upper limit of the speed of this bird is 80 km / h, which does not seem to be a very impressive result until you appreciate its size. Biologist Christopher Clark of the University of California at Berkeley decided that at this speed the hummingbird covers 385 sizes of its body per second, experiencing the strongest overload in 10G.

Cheetah. Far from being the fastest animal on Earth, giving way to birds, fish, and even insects, but still the fastest land animal and fastest mammal. It reaches speeds of more than 100 km / h, accelerating from 0 to 100 in three seconds. This animal will forever stay the symbol of greater strength and speed.

Black Marlin. According to the BBC, the maximum speed developed by black marlin is 130 km / h. It was measured according to how quickly the fishing line was wound from the fishing pole while catching fish, which is a somewhat controversial method. Did the boat move at that moment, did the fish swim in a straight line? Anyway, it is not surprising that with such speed black marlin is very popular among fans of sport fishing.

Horsefly. If one of these biting creatures ever chased you, you know how fast they are. Jerry Butler, an entomologist at the University of Florida, states that the adult male horsefly Hybomitra has a speed of over 144 km / h. True, it is difficult to accurately measure the speed of an insect due to its size, nonlinearity of flight, and other factors.

White-throated needletail. This bird has a speed of up to 170 km / h, which makes it the fastest flying animal. It lives in Asia and Australia, occasionally flying into Europe.