The fastest animal on earth developing speed. What is the fastest animal in the world?

Animal world Our planet is very rich and diverse. Each representative of the fauna is individual and differs from others. There are a lot of fast animals among them, but there are also record holders among them.

The fastest animal on land

The fastest representative animal world -. His whole body is designed for fast running. Light weight, streamlined skull, elongated body, elastic spine, powerful paws and a long tail, which serves as a “steering wheel” for the cheetah when turning. In 2 seconds it reaches speeds of up to 75 km/h, and in 3 seconds – up to 120 km/h. It surpasses even a racing car in gaining speed. But it can only maintain record speed for a few seconds. But at speeds of up to 90 km/h, a cheetah can run for almost 10 minutes. The cheetah is a recognized sprinter in the animal world and rare prey will be able to escape from it.

Fastest animal in the air

The fastest among birds, and indeed among all living creatures, is. This is a small bird, about the size of a crow. He flies high in the sky, looking for prey. The falcon's vision is so acute that it can recognize its prey from a height of 300m. When he finds her, he throws a stone down and hits her with his sharp claws. The blow is so strong that the victim's head can be torn off. The peregrine falcon's falling speed reaches 320 km/h, and the speed record is 440 km/h, which is comparable to the speed of an airplane. This bird is called the king of dive flight. People have long used falcons to hunt birds, foxes and hares.

Fastest animal in water

But the fastest representative underwater world is swordfish. She is capable of accelerating to 130 km/h. It has a long, streamlined body covered with thick skin without scales and an elongated snout in the shape of a sword or beak, for which it got its name. Swordfish lives in warm waters Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are known cases when a swordfish pierced the hull of a ship made of iron 2 cm thick with its nose. And it also happened that, having broken through the boat and unable to free itself, the fish died. Scientists believe that the reason for attacks on ships may be that the fish at high speed simply does not have time to dodge or change its trajectory. It's pretty big fish, its weight reaches 700 kg, and its body length reaches 4.5 m.

These are the fastest representatives of the animal world from various elements. Each of them is good in its own way. But the undeniable championship in speed rightfully belongs to the peregrine falcon.

Man is the most smart creature on the ground. However, he cannot boast of the strength and speed that many animals on our planet possess. They will easily defeat a person in a fight and overtake them at any distance. The fastest animals will become the heroes of our article.

Every living organism living on our planet adapts to its conditions. Some have learned to blend in environment, others skillfully hide from enemies, and some have to catch up or run away. For many animals, the ability to move quickly is the only way to survive. There are speed record holders in the air, on land and in water.

Hyena

Many people know these animals. Their length is up to 1.7 meters and height up to 0.8 m. The hyena prefers hot countries, so most often it lives in Africa. It's a predator though for a long time It was believed that the hyena feeds on carrion and is not capable of hunting on its own. This beast is famous for its deadly grip. Her jaws close under a pressure of 70 kg per square cm. The predator is able to easily gnaw through thick bone.

Hyenas have powerful and strong limbs, which allows them to reach enormous speeds - up to 60 km/h.

Gray fox

The fastest animals in the world live on different continents. For example, the rare gray fox lives in America. It is similar to its European relative, but its fur is very different - it is gray on top and reddish-yellow on its belly. The huge tail can reach the size of the animal itself. The height of the fox is no more than 40 cm. She is very agile and can run fast. Develops speeds up to 65 km/h. In addition, she is an excellent tree climber. The fox lives only in a warm environment; in frosts it can die, since its undercoat is poorly developed.

Coyote

Coyotes are animals that are common in America and belong to the canine family. At first glance, they closely resemble wolves or dogs. As a rule, they live on plains or in deserts, but coyotes do not like forests. Sometimes they can be found in the suburbs. The animal is rarely seen during the day and is more active at night. Feeds on small rodents. It has a fairly high running speed (65 km/h).

Elk

If you decided that the fastest animals on Earth are predators, then you are mistaken. Elk, belonging to the deer family, is its largest representative. Its weight reaches 700 kg, height - more than 2.5 m, body length - 3 m. The moose's head is decorated with huge antlers, the span of which reaches 200 centimeters, and their weight exceeds 30 kg. This giant lives in America, Russia and Europe. Unlike the animals we talked about earlier, moose eat plant foods: moss, grass, berries, bark, etc.

Despite their impressive size, moose run well (70 km/h) and are excellent swimmers.

Gazelle

This graceful animal lives in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Sudan. It was first discovered by a Scottish scientist.

Thompson's gazelle is a small animal. Her Weight Limit less than 30 kg, and the height at the withers barely reaches 70 cm. This does not prevent her from reaching enormous speeds (80 km/h) while running. This allows you to avoid encounters with predators. Quite often, herds of gazelles number several thousand heads.

a lion

If you ask our readers: “What is the fastest animal?”, many will probably answer: “Lion.” And this is natural, because this is the king of beasts and he must surpass his “subjects” in everything. However, it is not.

Lions today are found in a very limited area. The uncontrolled destruction of this predator has significantly reduced the population.

These are very strong animals. They live in small groups and attack herds of antelopes or zebras, which do not always escape death, despite the fact that the antelopes are very fast. Lions have excellent acceleration (80 km/h). At the same time, they fizzle out very quickly.

Kulan

This is not the fastest animal in the world. Although its speed is quite high (80 km/h).

Despite the fact that the kulan is the closest relative of the horse, in appearance it resembles an ordinary donkey. Previously, it was widespread on Earth, but today it can only be seen in the territory of Turkmenistan. Prefers to settle in flat deserts and semi-deserts. Despite his “toy” appearance, he is an excellent runner.

Antelope

Probably someone reading our article will doubt that the fastest animals on the planet can reach such speed. For example, the wildebeest, which belongs to the bovid family, weighs more than 250 kg and is about 1.5 meters high, reaches speeds of up to 80 km/h.

Antelopes live in Africa. They eat plant foods. They are often attacked by predators.

Pronghorn

This animal also belongs to the antelopes. Distributed in Canada and North America. In appearance and size, the pronghorn resembles a roe deer. The pronghorn gains enormous speed (up to 100 km/h) because it has a very large heart and a thick trachea. These organs are twice the size of sheep's.

Cheetah

The fastest animals will seem like stupid kids next to our next hero. This is, of course, a handsome cheetah. There is no other animal on earth capable of developing such fantastic speed when running. Neither tigers nor lions can do this.

Even externally, the cheetah looks like a real athlete. Looking at his graceful body, it may seem that he is too thin. However, this is not so - he has no fat deposits. The speed of the fastest animal on Earth depends not only on its powerful paws, but also on general structure his body. A small head with rounded ears enhances the animal’s streamlining while running. The weight of an adult does not exceed 67 kg with a body length of 1.5 meters.

The tail of this luxurious cat is very massive (up to 80 cm). The cheetah looks very beautiful. This is largely due to the sandy color of the coat with bright black spots.

As a rule, the fastest animals hunt from ambush. In contrast, cheetahs stalk their prey. This method of hunting requires a powerful throw with further development speed. This is the fastest animal in the world, reaching speeds of up to 120 km/h. True, it maintains this pace only at a distance of up to 400 meters, but even such a segment requires a huge expenditure of energy, strength and oxygen. This cat reaches a speed of 75 km/h in 2 seconds.

Despite the fact that they are the fastest animals, cheetahs are much weaker than other predators. The same hyenas or leopards can easily take away their prey, since the “runners” need time to restore strength and breathing after such a difficult race. As a rule, this is half an hour. However, cheetahs are very smart. If they realize that they cannot eat their whole prey, they drag it onto tall tree and leave it until they are hungry again.

Here are twenty-five of the fastest land animals living on our planet:

25. Giraffe

Giraffes are the tallest mammals living on our planet and the largest ruminants. They are easy to recognize by long necks, the patterns decorating their skin and their incredibly long legs. But don't let their size and apparent clumsiness fool you; these gentle giants can reach speeds of up to 51 kilometers per hour.

24. Grizzly Bear


Bears are usually portrayed as gentle and sweet animals, but grizzlies have nothing to do with this image. In life they can be incredibly ferocious and will defend their young or food to the death. Despite their size, they are capable of reaching speeds of up to 56 kilometers per hour.

23. Jackal


These canine predators are found in parts of Africa and south-central Eurasia. Jackals are closely related to wolves, dogs and coyotes, and their running speed can sometimes reach 56 kilometers per hour.

22. Black-tailed deer


These mammals live in western North America, but in last years successfully took root in Argentina. Deer usually serve as prey for pumas and lynxes, so running speed plays a vital role for them. Black-tailed deer can run up to 56 kilometers per hour, which allows them to sometimes successfully avoid early death.

21. Hounds


Hounds, or as they are also called, English Whippets, are descendants of the fastest-footed dogs on Earth. And although this is a rather small dog, it is capable of covering a distance of 53 kilometers in an hour.

20. Mongolian kulan


This endangered species of kulans lives in East Asia, in Mongolia and Northern China. It can accelerate to 64 kilometers per hour.

19. Zebra


The black and white stripes on a zebra's skin inspire not only fashionistas and art critics, even the Mbombela stadium in South Africa painted in these colors. Zebras are also capable of reaching speeds of up to 64 kilometers per hour.

18. Hyena


Hyenas have always been known for their ability to produce sounds similar to laughter and giggles. But this does not mean that they are funny and cute animals. These natural-born predators with powerful jaws are capable of developing breathtaking running speeds, reaching 64 kilometers per hour.

17. Thomson's Gazelle


Named after Joseph Thomson, a Scottish geologist and explorer, this gazelle is one of the most widespread subspecies, with a population of over 500,000 individuals. Thomson's gazelles live mainly in the Serengeti. These gazelles are capable of reaching speeds of up to 65 kilometers per hour, overtaking the most persistent predators.

16. Gray fox


The gray fox, which was considered the most primitive species of the canine family, is now considered rare species, due to the ruthless hunt for her fur. Gray fox capable of reaching speeds of up to 67.5 kilometers per hour, and can also climb trees to avoid larger predators.

15. Greyhound


The greyhound is the second domesticated animal on our list. Previously, this breed of dogs was bred mainly only for racing, but in Lately they have gained popularity as a pet. The greyhound can run at a speed of 69 kilometers per hour for 30 minutes and can accelerate to 32 kilometers per hour after running just 250 meters. This animal is the second on the planet (after the cheetah, of course) in terms of speed acceleration. short distances.

14. Onager


Another representative of equines is the onager. This desert dweller can accelerate to 69 kilometers per hour.

13. Coyote


Also known as the American jackal, the coyote can reach speeds of up to 69 kilometers per hour and is capable of feeding on absolutely anything it finds, from insects to your pets.

12. Ostrich


This is the fastest and largest bird on the planet; the ostrich can accelerate to 70 kilometers per hour.

11. Red Kangaroo


These guys can jump at speeds of up to 71 kilometers per hour and maintain this pace for up to 2 kilometers. The further he jumps, the less energy he uses.

10. Wild Dog


She, of course, looks like a hyena, but no, she is not a hyena. The wild dog has many names, but this does not change the essence - these animals are capable of speeds of up to 72 kilometers per hour.

9. Wapiti


Don't let its size fool you, this second largest deer in the world is capable of reaching speeds of 72 kilometers per hour.

8. Black-tailed hare


Remember the fairy tale about the hare and the tortoise? Although this is just a fairy tale, there is some truth in it. These small animals are capable of reaching speeds of 72 kilometers per hour and jumping up to 3 meters in height.

7. Leo


These regal cats are considered the second largest of their kind and can reach speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour.

6. Garna


These Indian antelopes are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Accelerating up to 80 kilometers per hour, these antelopes thus escape from those hunting them wild cats and wolves.

5. Wildebeest


Although wildebeest look large and clumsy, they can accelerate up to 80 kilometers per hour.

4. Racehorse


Well trained racehorses can reach speeds of up to 88 kilometers per hour.

3. Springbok


These small antelopes can accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour.

2. Pronghorn antelope


Unfortunately, that's enough precise measurements maximum speed We do not have this antelope, but it has been recorded that it is capable of running at a speed of 98 kilometers per hour. But we believe that she is capable of more.

1. Cheetah


The cheetah is the fastest land animal on our planet. It is capable of reaching speeds of up to 121 kilometers per hour. At this speed, it can run up to 500 meters and accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 5 seconds (an indicator that surpasses most sports cars).

Despite the fact that man is much smarter than all the animals that exist on our planet, he has never been distinguished by strength or speed. This cannot be said about animals, which can easily overcome a person and overtake him at any distance. Today we will show you the top 10 fastest animals in the world. So, gentlemen, let's begin.

10. Hyena (60 km/h)

Everyone knows hyenas. This is a relatively small animal, up to 1.7 meters long and up to 0.8 m high. It lives in hot countries, including Africa. The hyena is a predator. Unlike many other animals, it does not disdain carrion. Also wild animal famous for its grip - the pressure of the jaws is as much as 70 kg per square centimeter, which makes it easy to chew through bone! There is an opinion that hyenas very often strive to snatch prey from the same lions, although in fact everything happens exactly the opposite - it is the lions that “terrorize” the hyenas. The paws of these animals are powerful, which apparently has a beneficial effect on their speed - it reaches 60 km/h.

9. Gray fox (65 km/h)

And this is a very rare animal that can only be found in America (South, Central and North). The fox has a very interesting appearance, although it is similar to its European relative. But what really differs is the fur - on top it has a gray tint, and on the belly it is reddish-yellow. The tail is huge, often reaching the size of the animal itself. The height of a fox is on average no more than 40 centimeters. She is very agile, can run fast and, most interestingly, is an excellent tree climber. It survives only in a relatively warm environment; in frosts it can die, since the undercoat is poorly developed.

8. Coyote (65 km/h)

Coyotes belong to the canine family and are similar in appearance to dogs and wolves, although smaller than the latter. Distributed in America, you won’t find coits in Europe, except perhaps in a zoo.

The animal prefers to live on plains and deserts, but avoids forests. Oddly enough, it can be found not only in desert areas, but also in some suburbs. Leads night look life, rarely occurs during the day. It feeds on marmots, gophers, hares, rabbits and small rodents.

Among wild canids it has one of the most high speeds. In addition, it has developed sense organs. For example, it is able to see at a distance of 200 meters, and is the same both day and night.

7. Elk (70 km/h)

Elk belongs to the deer family and is the largest animal among its kind. Thus, the weight of males can reach 700 kg, body length - 3 m, height - about 2.5 m. They have huge horns, whose span reaches 200 centimeters, and weight - about 30-40 kg. Found in America, Russia and Europe. Unlike the animals we described above, moose feed exclusively on plant foods: grass, moss, bark, berries, leaves, mushrooms, and so on.

In addition to the fact that moose are excellent runners, they are excellent swimmers and, you won’t believe it, they even hold their breath underwater! True, they only last for a minute, but this is a great result!

6. Thompson's Gazelle (80 km/h)

Thompson's gazelle is distributed exclusively in Tanzania, Kenya, and South Sudan. It was discovered by a Scottish scientist, after whom it was named.

Gazelle has relatively small dimensions. For example, its maximum weight barely reaches 30 kg, and its height at the withers is no more than 70 cm. However, it has excellent speed, which allows it to avoid encounters with various predators. It is said that there are herds consisting of several thousand animals, although usually a colony contains no more than 100 animals.

5. Lion (80 km/h)

Now we have reached the king of beasts. Today, lions are found in a limited area, but previously this family, a member of the cat family, could be seen over a significant area. larger territory. Alas, persecution by humans has significantly reduced the population of these graceful animals.

Despite their excellent speed, cheetahs are quite weak animals. For example, the same leopards or hyenas can take away their prey, since “runners” need some time to recuperate after a hard race (about half an hour). However, cheetahs are not so stupid. If they cannot eat their prey in one sitting, they drag it up a tree, where they leave it until they become hungry again.

Surely many people are interested in what the fastest animals in the world exist. Who runs, flies or swims the fastest? At average speed running ordinary person at 30 km/h, our smaller brothers are many times faster than us in terms of speed of movement. We have selected the 10 fastest animals in the world, compiling a list not only of land inhabitants, but also adding birds and sea inhabitants to it. To make it fair, we divided our top 10 into three parts, allocating a third to each habitat. So let's finally answer the question, what better legs, wings or tail?

10. Lion / Panthera leo (~80 km/h)

Since 10 is not exactly divisible by 3, we decided to give the vacant position to a sushi representative, and to which one at that. Our list of the fastest animals in the world opens with the lion. Even though the lion is the king of beasts, it is not the best in speed. This one of the largest representatives of felines reaches its speed of 80 km/h extremely rarely, since it is mainly lionesses who do the hunting in the pride.

9. Horse mackerel / Trachurus (~80 km/h)

Our rating is continued by the representative aquatic environment habitat - horse mackerel. It is one of the three fastest-swimming fish on our planet. It moves mainly in large schools in the surface layers of water, reaching speeds of up to 80 km/h. Probably because of this fast movement horse mackerel has virtually no fat at all. The largest fish of this breed ever caught by humans weighed about 2 kg.

8. Gazelle Granti (~80 km/h)

Eighth place is taken by Grant's gazelle. This fast-moving, artiodactyl animal is found in eastern Africa. It got its name in honor of the famous Scottish naturalist D.O. Granta. Despite its seemingly fragile appearance, this gazelle is very resilient and strong. This graceful animal uses its considerable speed mainly to run away from its main enemies - hyenas and jackals.

7. Pronghorn / Antilocapra americana (~88 km/h)

In seventh place on our list of the fastest animals in the world is an antelope called the Pronghorn. These animals live in North America. Accelerating to almost 90 km/h, they easily escape from wolves and coyotes, who only get weakened, sick individuals. Their population was once very large like bison, but because of their natural curiosity, pronghorns became easy prey for hunters. Currently, some subspecies of these animals are included in the Red Book.

6. Striped marlin / Istiophoridae (~100 km/h)

Next in our ranking is again a representative of the aquatic habitat - striped marlin. It ranks second among the fastest-swimming fish on our planet. Its sticking out menacingly dorsal approximately equal in height to his body, which allows him to maneuver very well without losing speed. This fish can reach sizes up to 5 meters in length, and can weigh more than half a ton. The marlin got its name from the similarity of its nose to a rigging tool called a piling, which in English is written as marlinspike.

5. Sailfish / Istiophorus platypterus (~110 km/h)

Fifth place on our list again goes to an aquatic inhabitant - the sailfish. The sailfish is the fastest fish in the world. Its habitat is mainly tropical and subtropical zones oceans, but it is also found in temperate waters. The size of a sailboat can be up to 3.5 meters in length and weigh more than 150 kg. When a sailfish swims quickly, it folds its giant fin into a special notch on its back. Thanks to their fin structure, these fish make good use of the effect of turbulence, when the water dissected during movement does not pass in even layers along their body, but by forming special vortices, which additionally allow them to achieve such phenomenal speed in the water.

4. Cheetah / Acinonyx jubatus (~110 km/h)

In fourth place in our top is the cheetah - the fastest land animal in the world. His speed in a jerk, according to various sources, can be from 110 to 120 km/h. Cheetahs are found in Africa and some countries in the Middle East. The unique body structure helps cheetahs move in leaps even at top speed. These born hunters not only run fast, but are also able to instantly change the direction of their movement due to the structure of their long tail. Scientists have determined that average length The cheetah's run is only about 170 m and this is not surprising, with such speed these graceful predators very quickly overtake their prey.

3. Frigate / Fregata (~153 km/h)

The top three of our top ten fastest animals is opened by a representative air environment Habitat: Frigate bird. This bird can be found in warm waters of tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. These unusual birds in horizontal flight they can reach a speed of about 153 km/h. Their wingspan is approximately 2 m 50 cm, and the body weight of an adult is approximately 1.5 kg. Male frigatebirds are very easily distinguished by their bright red throat sac; in females it is white.

2. Spiny-tailed swift / Hirundapus caudacutus (~170 km/h)

In second place on our list is the needle-tailed swift. Despite its diminutive size, this bird ranks second among all birds in speed. The size of the needle-tailed swift does not exceed 24 cm, and the weight does not exceed 140 g. The streamlined shape of this bird allows one to minimize air resistance in order to achieve such amazing results in flight speed. It is noteworthy that these birds spend almost their entire lives at altitude, only occasionally descending to the ground.

1. Peregrine falcon / Falco peregrinus (~390 km/h)

And finally, first place. Answering the question of what is the fastest animal in the air, you can immediately answer the question of what is the fastest animal on Earth.