Ask anyone what the fastest animal on Earth is, and they'll probably say the cheetah. But the focus on the speedy feline has stolen attention from other species that go much faster — some three or more times faster than the cheetah. Who are the overlooked speedsters of the animal kingdom?
A combination of leg length, muscle size and a long stride gives the cheetah the ideal body for running across land, said John Hutchinson, a professor of evolutionary biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College in London. Plus, a 2017 model based on 474 land and marine species, ranging from whales to flies, demonstrated that speed is closely tied to size. Speed increases with size until you reach an optimum.
"Quite a few flying birds can go faster than a cheetah," Hutchinson said. The common swift has been measured to fly 69 mph , and the white-throated needletail is estimated to reach speeds of 105 mph , according to the National Audubon Society.
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