This is a list of the fastest animals in the world, by types of animal.

Fastest organism

The fastest land animal is the

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

. The peregrine falcon is the fastest bird, and the fastest member of the animal kingdom, with a

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

speed of . Among the fastest animals in the sea is the

black marlin The black marlin (''Istiompax indica'') is a species of marlin found in tropical and subtropical areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. With a maximum published length of and weight of , it is one of the largest marlins and also one of the la ...

, with uncertain and conflicting reports of recorded speeds. When drawing comparisons between different classes of animals, an alternative unit is sometimes used for organisms: ''body length per second''. On this basis the 'fastest' organism on earth, relative to its body length, is the Southern Californian mite, ''

Paratarsotomus macropalpis ''Paratarsotomus macropalpis'' is a species of mite belonging to the family Anystidae. The mite is endemic to Southern California and is usually observed darting amongst sidewalks and in rocky areas. Earlier classified as belonging to genus '' T ...

'', which has a speed of 322 body lengths per second. The equivalent speed for a human, running as fast as this mite, would be . The speed of the ''P. macropalpis'' is far in excess of the previous record holder, the Australian

tiger beetle Tiger beetles are a family of beetles, Cicindelidae, known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest known species of tiger beetle, ''Rivacindela hudsoni'', can run at a speed of , or about 125 body lengths per second. ...

Cicindela eburneola ''Cicindela'', commonly known as common tiger beetles are generally brightly colored and metallic beetles, often with some sort of patterning of ivory or cream-colored markings. They are most abundant and diverse in habitats very often near bodi ...

'', which is the fastest insect in the world relative to body size, with a recorded speed of , or 171 body lengths per second. The

, the fastest land mammal, scores at only 16 body lengths per second, while Anna's hummingbird has the highest known length-specific velocity attained by any

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

. owever 'body length per second' is a theoretically dubious unit which cannot be justified by engineering/physics dimensional analysis, it implies for example that a 2m long shark should be able to swim 10 times as fast as it could when it was a 20 cm long juvenile, and that a large bird three times as long as a small bird of similar type and shape ought be able to fly three times faster than the small bird, neither being what hydrodynamic/aerodynamic analysis would predict or what happens in nature].

Invertebrates

Fish

Due to physical constraints, fish may be incapable of exceeding swim speeds of 36 km/h (22 mph). Larger reported figures are therefore highly questionable.

Fastest organism

Invertebrates

Fish

Amphibians

Reptiles

Birds

Mammals

See also

Notes

References