When talking about speed, the first thing comes to our mind is superbikes or supercars. But, you will get surprise to know that some animals can reach almost same speed of supercars. Following is the list of 11 fastest animals on Earth.
11 Greyhound : 46 mph / 74 kmph
The Greyhound is a dog breed; just like a sighthound which has been bred for Greyhound racing and coursing game. According to Merriam-Webster, a Greyhound Dog is “any of a breed of tall slender graceful smooth-coated dogs characterized by keen sight and swiftness.”
It is a intelligent and gentle breed whose combination of powerful and long legs, deep chest, slim and flexible spine build allows it to achieve average race speeds exceeding 40 miles per hour (65 kmph). The Greyhound can cross a full speed of 46 miles per hour (74 kmph) within 30 metres (98 feet), or 6 strides from the boxes, traveling at almost 20 metres per second (66 ft/s) for the initial 250 metres (820 feet) of a race.
Since the rise in adoption of retired racing Greyhounds is in large-scale adoption, the breed has seen a resurgence in acceptance as a family pet.
10 Brown Hare : 47.84 mph / 77 kmph
Brown hare also renowned as European Hare are small mammals native to Asia and Western Europe. Brown hares are larger in size, longer ears, black tips and have longer legs than rabbits. They can gain top speed of 47.84 mph (77 kmph)
The powerful hind legs of these European hare help them to pick up speed in short time. Normally they runs in straight paths, also can change their direction in no time and can maintain speed even in zigzag movement. This speedy movement of brown hare save themselves from large number of natural predators.
09 Blue Wildbeest : 50 mph / 80 kmph
Blue Wildbeest are grass eating (herbivores) mammals native to east and south Africa. They grow up to a height of 1.30 meters (4.3 ft). The strong shoulders and legs helps Blue Wildbeest to reach speed up to 50 miles per hour (80 kmph). The speedy movement help Blue Wildbeest to search shelters from predators and to migrate easily.
Blue Wildbeest are generally found in groups. Searching for grass they migrate in dry season to wet lands. They used to get alarm of predators from Zebras as Zebras follow same migratory path. The blue wildebeests are widely spread and is being introduced into private game farms, conservancies and reserves. Because of this reason, the IUCN-International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, rates the blue wildebeest as status of Least Concern.
08 Lion : 50.3 mph / 81 kmph
Renowned for its royalty and nicknamed as “the king of the jungle,” the lion holds both strength and beauty. Lions are very powerful animals that usually stalk their chosen prey and hunt in coordinated groups. However, Lion are not particularly known for their stamina and can reach speeds of 50 mph, but only for short bursts. For this reason they have to be close to their prey before attacking.
Unfortunately for the Blue Wildebeest, the lion’s top speed almost exactly matches with them. At around 50 miles per hour, Lions can chase down their prey and making them extremely deadly predators.
07 Pronghorn Antelope : 60.89 mph / 98 kmph
Pronghorn Antelope are native animal from North America that can run very long distance with top speed of 60.89 mph. Unlike other fast moving animals Pronghorn have ability to run very fast and can travel long distance without getting tired. The protection of habitat and restrictions on hunting have allowed Pronghorn Antelopes to have population of about 1 millions and are under Least Concern category in IUCN list.
Pronhorn Antelope have very strong legs and shoulders and can grown up to a height of three feet. In different season Pronhorn Antelopes makes 300 miles long migration. The typically chooses grasslands and bank of rivers as migrative destinations.
Even though Cheetahs are much faster than that of Pronghorn antelope, but they can never run long distance with same power and energy as that of pronghorn antelope.
06 Sail Fish : 68.35 mph / 110 kmph
Sail fish is the fastest fish in ocean native to Indo-Pacific and Atlantic region. They live in colder areas all the seas of earth. Sail Fish is typically blue to gray in colour and has a characteristic erectile dorsal fin known as a sail. This sail often stretches the entire length of the back. The sail is generally kept folded down and to the side while swimming, but sail may be raised when the sail fish feels excited or threatened, making the fish appear much bigger than it actually is. This Other notable characteristic is the elongated bill, similar to that of the marlins and other swordfish.
They can gain maximum speed of 68.35 mph in swimming. To make faster swimming and diving Sail fish’s long body shape up to 11 feet help them a lot. Sail fishes make use of their faster diving and swimming habit to dodge predator like octopus and dolphin fish.
05 Cheetah : 70.21 mph / 113 kmph
Cheetah can gain a top speed of 70.21 mph and is the fastest running animal on land. The Cheetah are a marvel of evolution. Cheetahs are native to Asia and Africa, found in open areas. The cheetah’s long-legged, slender body is built for speed. This strong long legs helps cheetah to reach this speed within no time. Cheetahs are tan in color with black dots all over their bodies. Unlike other members of big cats family Cheetahs are of smaller size having height of 3 feet, small heads and ears, spotted coats and distinctive “tear stripes” that stretch from the corner of the eye to the side of nose.
Amazingly the chases for preys by cheetahs get accomplish within 40 to 60 seconds. They make use of their tails to steer right direction of their speedy run. Unfortunately, population of cheetahs is decreasing year by year. Today, an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 cheetahs exist in the wild in Africa and there is serious need to protect this amazing animal group.
04 Spur Winged Goose : 88.23 mph / 142 kmph
Spur Winged Goose is native to South Africa and is the largest group in the goose family. They weighs up to 8 kg and are 40 inches long. They are mainly found in bank of rivers, wet lands and lakes in Africa. In different seasons these Goose also make migration ranging to several hundreds of kilometers. They are the largest African waterfowl. They are mainly black, with large white wing patches and with a white face. Their long legs are flesh-coloured.
Spur Winged Goose is a social bird and can be found gathering in groups of as many as 50 individuals. Spur Winged Goose can flies with top speed of 88.23 miles per hour.
03 Frigate Bird : 95 mph / 153 kmph
Frigate Bird is long winged fork tailed ocean bird native to South America. They belong to the family of seabird. They are also known as Pirate birds or Man of War birds. Since Frigate Birds are closely related to the pelicans, the name “frigate pelican” is also applied to them. Female Frigate bird’s have white underbellies and males frigate bird’s have a distinctive red gular pouch, which the males inflate during the breeding season to pull female attention.
Frigate birds can fly as fast as 95 miles per hour, gifted by largest wingspan to it’s body weight. These birds use this fast move to steal food from other sea birds. Surprisingly frigate bird spends most of it’s life span in sky and used to touch the ground very rarely.
02 Spine tailed Swift :106 mph / 170 kmph
Spine tailed Swift also known as needle-tailed swift or white-throated needletail is the second fastest animal species on Earth. In other point of view, Spine tailed Swift is the fastest flying bird in powered flight. The Spine tailed Swift won’t use any type of supporting powers like wind currents to make it’s flight faster. It is native to Siberia and central Asia and can gain top flying speed of 106 miles per hour.
Spine tailed Swifts have long wings and short legs which makes their flight smooth. They spend most part of their lifespan in sky and use to breed in nest within high elevated cliffs. Spine tailed Swift is a migratory bird and they use to travel hundreds of miles in various seasons.
01 Peregrine Falcon : 242 mph / 389 kmph
Peregrine Falcon is the fastest moving species on the planet Earth. A Peregrine Falcon can gain incredible maximum speed of 242 miles per hour in flight. Peregrine Falcons are native to North America and can live in all regions except Antarctica. This makes it one of the most widely found bird species and the world’s most widespread raptor. They have point sharped long wings and long tails which helps in faster movement in air. Peregrine Falcon can easily sense it’s preys from great heights and also have good eye sight.
Peregrine Falcons used to make nests in skyscrapers and high cliffs mainly near ocean regions. They generally have small ocean birds in their diet. Each year Peregrine Falcons made several thousands of mile length migration from one continent to other.
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