Which animal is the fastest on the planet?

Which animal is the fastest on the planet? If the answer is cheetah (Russian: Gepard, English: Cheetah), it may still be the incorrect answer. The fastest organism record can be a falcon, a shrimp species or even a jellyfish if approaching the concept of "moving" under a wider perspective. In fact, it is not easy to determine what is the fastest moving animal on the planet. Let's dive into this complicated question.

In fact, the idea of ​​cheetahs is the fastest living thing on the planet that has been formed for years. Most people, from small to large, accept this answer. However, judging from a more objective perspective, the delimitation of the top of the table in the fastest animal world is not as simple as identifying the heaviest species (blue whale) or highest (giraffes). .

Sheila Patek, biologist at Duke University, USA said: "When we talk about the speed of a movement, it is necessary to clearly identify many factors such as the time of the whole motion, too Acceleration, speed calculated by body length per second . At the same time, not only consider the movement of the whole body, but also to study more broadly, determine the movement of the body parts and the ability create speed, . ".

Movement of the whole body?

Picture 1 of Which animal is the fastest on the planet?
Is the cheetah the fastest animal?

Typically, cheetahs can be "the fastest animals" if you limit the scope and show it to run from point A to point B. In this case, it can obviously run at up to speed. 29m / s. But learn more about the context of this action. The leopard ran for a reason: Hunting. Most prey are not so stupid that they bet their lives on the straight line with the leopard. Instead, they choose to run zig zac. That means that although the newspaper is capable of achieving speeds of 29m / s under ideal test conditions, in the natural world, it averages only 15m / s and maintains speed. This is from 1 to 2 seconds.

Picture 2 of Which animal is the fastest on the planet?
Paratarsotomus macropalpis, only about 0.7mm long, but can run up to 322 times the length of the body every second, making it the fastest animal on the planet.

Patek said: "The newspaper has a relatively low acceleration and therefore, it takes quite a long time to achieve the impressive speed we often see." Considering the speed measurement unit is "body length / second" , it is possible to cede the seat to Paratarsotomus macropalpis . This mite can run 322 times the body length per second. This speed bypasses the Australian tiger beetle at 171 times the body length per second.

Picture 3 of Which animal is the fastest on the planet?
Image of an Atlantic sail, dubbed the fastest swimming fish in the ocean

Another animal that often appears in "quickest" conversations is sail . This is a large fish, with the same name as Marlin and swordfish. It is known as the fastest ocean fish, which can reach speeds of about 30m / s when surfing on waves. Besides, most of the speed kings in this animal world often possess special points to adapt to high speed. Evolution has given the sailfish special tissues, which enhances the working capacity of the eyeball nerves while traveling at high speed.

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Cut birds, creatures are said to be the fastest in the sky with the ability to rely on gravity to create acceleration, reaching the speed of down to 58m / s

Here we have the fastest creature on land and in the sea, then this throne in the air will belong to falcon. When hunting, the cut bird can find a very high position, then use gravity to plunge down the prey below. In one study, a Arctic Cut (gryfalcon) named Kumpan could reach speeds of 52 to 58m / s when it plunged from a height of 500 meters. Another test conducted by National Geographic showed that the cut bird could also reach 82m / s when dropping it from a height of 4572 meters.

Another approach: Movement of a part of the body

At this point, it is possible that the speed at which the bird can reach can make the journalist shame. So the cut bird deserves to receive the title of the fastest animal on the planet? The answer also depends on how you define speed.

For example, you can look at the amazing speed of cutting birds but wait, how many seconds did it take to reach the required height? That means that the cut bird is capable of achieving high speed but must rely on the help of gravity to achieve the necessary acceleration.

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The headline shrimps with the ability to flicker very fast

And in terms of acceleration, Patek already has a number of candidates in the animal world. Typically, mantis shrimp with two springs is as springy, can be flipped forward like a bow. Once snapped out, the more it could pop out and take in less than 3 milliseconds.

The jellyfish can also create higher acceleration when it attacks the enemy. At that time, jellyfish could release billions of extremely small sized hemp fibers at the same speed that a bullet flew out of the barrel. According to a study published in the journal Current Biology in 2008, each poisonous spine is called nematocysts , which can be launched in less than 700 nanoseconds and produce five times greater acceleration than acceleration. gravity

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Function jaw ants are characterized by a jaw that can open 180 degrees and close at a speed of less than 64m / s

Obviously, the acceleration of these animals is quite impressive. However, it is still not the best. Considering the ability to use parts of the body at a rapid rate, it is necessary to include the jaw (ondotomachus) and the Panamanian termite . Ants trap jaws with a lower jaw that are capable of opening 180 degrees like a trap. This set of functions is capable of extremely fast opening and closing depending on the thin hairs on the surface. According to the study, the speed of its opening and closing functions can reach 64m / s to help it turn its whole body up to escape danger.


An ant traps the jaw itself to snap itself up to escape danger

However, jaw ants are only ranked 2nd when compared to Panamanian termites . Although there are no stately jaws, it is due to the living conditions in the narrow caves, Panamanian termites possess lightning flashes, to gain advantage in close-quarter combat. First, it will clench the jaw to the extent that it distorts it, when it reaches its limit, its jaw will slip out and produce a powerful force to snap at the enemy. Most invaders will die immediately after this unique bite.


The video slows down the scene of an ant trapping the jaw attacking the opponent

Jeremy Niven, a researcher at the University of Sussex, measured the speed of this bite at about 67m / s. He said: "There has never been any previous research to find out which species have the same speed bite."

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Close up of 67m / s bite of Panamanian termite

Finally, the answer to the fastest animal question depends on how you approach the definition of speed and determine what the unit of measurement is . It can be maximum speed, acceleration, acceleration process, etc. At the same time, consider the range of motion, movement is the whole body or part of the body. Obviously, compared to the bite of the Panamanian termite, the leopard is just a slow creature. But as mentioned above, it seems that absolute comparisons are too limp. More importantly, we limit the scope of re-measurement and will find the fastest speed.