In this post, I will be showing you The top 10 fastest creatures on the planet.
If you were to race an ant, you’d win. This makes sense, since your legs are quite a bit longer, despite being a third as numerous. Extrapolating from this, then, you’d think that longer legs or larger animals should be able to run faster, and while this is true up to a point, you find that an elephant is a lot slower than an ostrich, and the whole theory breaks down.
It turns out that getting bigger helps to attain a high maximum speed up to a point, after which it slows you down. Being small is a disadvantage, so a few studies use alternatives outrighting speed to consider body size, like body lengths per second.
This measure can make Southern Californian mites the fastest organisms on Earth at just 0.7mm in size, but able to travel at 6.5 kph (4.2 mph). This is an incredible 322 body lengths per second. If a human could run at the same comparative speed to size, it would reach 2,100 kph (1,300 mph).
Now all of these apart, today we will be talking about the top 10 fastest creatures on the planet and I’m gonna start from the 10th all the way to the 1st so get ready for a wild ride.
10. Wildebeest (Top Speed: 51.5 kph / 32 mph)
Wildebeest is an antelope of the genus Connochaetes.Source: Google
Wildebeest is an antelope of the genus Connochaetes and inhabits Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, sheep, and other even-toed horned ungulates. Remember when I said that longer legs or larger animals tend to move faster than others? It’s the case with the wildebeest. It evolved to be big with long legs because of its predators such as crocs, or lions so they can escape them.
9. Zebra (Top Speed: 57.6 kph / 35.8 mph)
Source: Google
Zebras are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats and share the genus Equus with horses and asses. These guys work with wildebeest when trying to spot predators but since zebras are faster running at speeds of 35.8 mph, the wildebeest are more of a decoy than equal partners. But they share the same reason for going fast.
8. Moose (Top Speed: 60 kph / 37.3 mph)
Source: Google
The moose is the only species in the genus Alces. The moose is the tallest and second-largest land mammal in North America, only falling short of the American buffalo in terms of mass. They have super long legs for running at 37 mph and they can swim. They evolved like this maybe to get away from brown bears. Oh bears, you guys could have made the list too but I guess you’re too slow. No offense, bear lovers.
7. Greyhound (Top Speed: 61 kph / 37.9 mph)
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. They are pretty fast but only got speed from the dogs bred to make them and also for the activities humans make them do.
6. Ostrich (Top Speed: 70 kph / 43.5 mph)
Ostriches are large flightless birds.
Source: Google
Ostriches are large flightless birds. They are the heaviest andlargest living birds, and lay the largest eggs of any bird or reptiles. They get their speed from their incredibly long legs and evolved like this to evade the apex predators of their habitat.
5. Quarter Horse (Top Speed: 71 kph / 44 mph)
Source: Google
The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less. This is all because of their long and strong legs carrying them at speeds of 44 mph.
4. Dorcas Gazelle (Top Speed: 80 kph / 49 mph)
The Dorcas gazelle, also known as the Ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. They are fast for the same reason as every other herbivore on this list.
3. Lion (Top Speed: 81 kph / 50 mph)
Source: Google
The lion is a large cat of the genus Panthera native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. Known as The King of Beasts, it is one of the fastest land animals known to the world. This is because of its large size and long legs. No wonder he’s the King of Beasts.
2.Pronghorn (Top Speed: 100 kph / 62 mph)
Source: Google
The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. It is not only fast, but also endurant. This is because of every other herbivore’s excuse to be quick.
1. Cheetah (Top Speed: 120 kph/ 75 mph)
The cheetah is not only the fastest cat but also the fastest land animal.
Source: Google
As a huge suprise to no one, the cheetah tops this list with a speed of 75 mph. The cheetah is not only the fastest cat but also the fastest land animal although they can only sprint at top speed for 45 seconds. The main reason the cheetah is the fastest cat is because of its body build. Firstly, the four Ls which are long, light, lean and lanky(thin and tall). They also have long legs which can spread out 8 metres. They have extra large lungs and heart so it can take big breaths when running. It also has a flexible spine so when running, the spine goes in to help the legs spread out. Also it runs in a manner called digitigrade(walking on toes) wo its legs are longer for a further spread.
So now you know what the fastest creatures on land are, so next time the topic will shift from the land to the sea.
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