Which are the fastest animals in the air, on land and in water?
Here is a list of the 18 fastest animals in the world. We also have exciting background information for you – for example, how their speed is measured in the first place, and why animals don’t always move at maximum speed.
Would you have thought that a peregrine falcon almost as fast in a nosedive is like a formula 1 race car? And, that a gepard, the fastest land animal, probably too fast for an ordinary speedometer would be?
Fastest animals by type of locomotion
To clarify right away, which animals are the fastest fly, run and swim, here come the absolute top 3:
| fastest animal in the air | peregrine falcon | 322 km/h |
| fastest animal on land | gepard | 90-120 km/h |
| fastest animal in water | fan fish | 75-110 km/h |
The 18 fastest animals in the world
| fastest bird (in a dive) | peregrine falcon | 322 km/h |
| fastest mammal (flying) | bulldog bat | 160 km/h |
| fastest bird (flying) | gray-headed albatross | 127 km/h |
| fastest land animal (short distance) | gepard | 90-120 km/h |
| fastest fish | fanfish | 75-110 km/h |
| fastest land animal (long distance) | mexic. pronghorn | 88 km/h |
| fastest bird (when running) | ostrich | 70 km/h |
| fastest dog | greyhound | 70 km/h |
| fastest rabbit | field hare | 70 km/h |
| fastest marine mammal | orca | 65 km/h |
| fastest marsupial | kangaroo | 55 km/h |
| fastest insect (when flying) | noble A. Costalis | 50 km/h |
| fastest seal | california. Sea lion | 40 km/h |
| fastest bird (in water) | gentoo penguin | 36 km/h |
| fastest reptile (in water) | leatherback turtle | 35 km/h |
| fastest reptile (running) | black iguana | 34,9 km/h |
| fastest insect (running) | sand run buyer | 9 km/h |
| fastest starfish | sun star | 3 m/minute |
cheetah – photo: stuart G porter/shutterstock
average or maximum speed
Animals that live on the escape or on the hunting are, can very fast for a short time move. If you are a little late, because otherwise you miss the bus or the first lesson of school, then you also run much faster than usual.
but: you won’t be running around at this speed all day long. That would be much too strenuous. It’s the same with animals. The speeds mentioned here are therefore only valid for short distances.
How to measure the speed of animals?
For example cameras are also used in road traffic to speed up speeding motorists.
There are also stopwatches used or collars with a speedometer in them. Some scientists follow the animals by car and read the speed from the speedometer. But what do all these technologies have in common?
The speed can be not absolutely accurate are measured. Therefore, there are always different statements and everyone claims to be right. Not infrequently, this leads to disputes among scientists. wildlife.De therefore specifies speeds with "from to". So z. B. 90-120 km/h.
Take the cheetah, for example:
Driving a car next to him would be pointless, because he changes direction often and quickly, and as a wild animal he cannot be trained to run along a long, straight stretch of road.
To measure his speed, you put a collar on him and wait until he hunts a prey animal. But that still means a long time not, that the gepard does as fast as POSSIBLE runs. To keep his strength in check, he runs only as fast as NEEDED. And that also only 400-500 m.
Fun facts
Cockroaches are faster than thought
It is also astonishing that some animals are only supposedly slow. A cockroach can easily keep up with a man marching at full speed, but the sand-running beetle is even faster. And if you don’t pedal fast enough, you could be overtaken by an iguana!
More articles about fast animals: here you will find everything about the fastest land animals, the fastest birds in the world and the fastest fishes.