The animal world is distinguished by the diversity and amazing capabilities of its representatives. Among animals, birds, fish, insects there are real champions.
Many living creatures are known for the speed of movement, but who is one of the five fastest?
The fastest insect
Dragonflies are an ancient species of winged insect. These predators feed on other insects, often catching them during flight. The Australian dragonfly is the fastest insect in the world, it maintains a flight speed of 39 km / h. When hunting, she sometimes performs miracles of aerobatics. In flights over short distances, the speed is 58 km / h.
The Australian dragonfly owes this ability to a flywheel device. The front and rear pairs of wings move simultaneously. A record of a 100-fold wing flap per second is recorded, which provided an insect speed of 100 km / h.
This species of dragonflies is characterized by a long non-stop flight range: they were observed in the ocean at a distance of several hundred kilometers from the coast.
Due to the ability to such active movement, the insect has spread across all continents.
The fastest cloven-hoofed animal
Pronghorn antelope or pronghorn is the fastest artiodactyl, the only surviving representative of the Pronghorn family. Many individuals filled the prairies of North America.When the numbers halved, the governments of Canada and the United States sounded the alarm. Now the population is recovering.
Pronghorns live in extremely dry climates and are characterized by extraordinary endurance. The liver of animals constantly accumulates glycogen, which turns into glucose. The organism of pronghorn has a good blood supply and uninterrupted breathing. Thanks to these qualities, the antelope develops great speed and easily runs long distances. The maximum speed that a pronghorn develops is 87 km / h. Moving at a speed of 50 km / h, the animal overcomes a distance of 6 km.
The fastest predator
The title of the fastest animal in the world was won by a representative of feline cheetah. They live in Africa and Asia. The cheetah is a small beast: the length of the body is from 1.2 m to 1.5, the length of the tail reaches 75 cm, the height at the withers ranges from 65 to 100 cm. The weight of males is not more than 70 kg, females - 40-50 kg. A streamlined, elongated body, strong paws, a small head and a small mass - all this allows the animal to develop extraordinary speed. It is difficult to escape from such a hunter.
The speed of their running is still a matter of dispute. Observations conducted by Alan Wilson on animals at large confirmed the data obtained in the study of captive predators. The cheetah accelerates to 100 km / h in a matter of seconds. In this cat, even some sports cars are inferior. During the run, the length of this record holder's jump is 7 m. It is difficult to notice how during the run the predator is repelled from the ground. It seems that the cheetah is flying above the ground.The spectacle is impressive! The average length of the throw to the victim is 173 m, but sometimes the beast overcomes a distance of half a kilometer. If necessary, the cheetah dramatically changes its trajectory.
Fastest fish
Fishes living in the ocean swim much faster than river fish. Representatives of the sailing family are considered the fastest. Rapid movement is facilitated by the structural features of these marine predators. They have an elongated strong body, the upper jaw has the shape of a spear, on the back there is a long fin resembling a sail. In the area of the "spear" is the gland that secretes an oily secretion. A sailboat glides in water, like clockwork, in the literal sense.
The sailboat left behind all competitors in the water. Sailboat speed - 112 km / h. And this is not the only virtue. It can dramatically change direction or freeze instantly in place. The fish uses the dorsal fin only during sharp turns with rapid movement. When swimming calmly, the fin folds up and is almost invisible.
Fastest bird
Peregrine Falcon is a bird of prey of the falcon family. An inconspicuous-looking bird: the size of a crow, black-gray motley color. The peregrine falcon is famous for being the fastest bird in the world. In a dive flight the speed of a predator reaches 320 km / h. It is no coincidence that a high-speed train was named after him. AT horizontal flight the speed of the peregrine falcon is much lower and reaches only 110 km / h.
Speed helps the bird to hunt. Peregrine Falcon has been hunting for prey for a long time. Taking a position over the victim, the falcon folds its wings to increase speed and dives.The main weapon of the predator is powerful legs with sharp claws, which, falling from a height, it rips open and grabs prey. In many cases, this maneuver is fatal for the victim. Otherwise, the peregrine falcon finishes the prey with a strong blow of the beak.
In the top 5, the fastest, four against one, were predators. In the water - a sailboat, in the air - a peregrine falcon and an Australian dragonfly, on the ground - a cheetah. It would be difficult for the herbivorous pronghorn to compete in speed with the cheetah if they lived in the same locality.
