The cheetah is the fastest animal on earth, right? Well, it's true that the quick cat is the fastest animal on land, but in the water, the sailfish takes the prize. Scientists estimate it can leap out of the water at 68 miles per hour, as fast as a cheetah can run!
Fastest organism
The fastest land animal is the cheetah. The peregrine falcon is the fastest bird, and the fastest member of the animal kingdom, with a diving speed of 389 km/h (242 mph). Among the fastest animals in the sea is the black marlin, with uncertain and conflicting reports of recorded speeds.
Whereas the cheetah is the fastest sprinter, the pronghorn, also known as the American antelope, is the fastest long-distance runner of the animal kingdom. It is capable of maintaining a speed of nearly 35 miles per hour over several miles and is even faster over shorter distances.
Sailfish
Finally, we've arrived at the fastest fish in the ocean! The Sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) can sail right by you at 68 mph (110 kph). That is almost as fast as a cheetah runs on dry land. It's incredible that any animal underwater can reach these speeds.
Fastest Water Animal: Black Marlin — Top Speed 80 MPH
A resident of the tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the speedy fish can clock 80 miles per hour. Comparatively, black marlins swim faster than cheetahs run.
Cheetahs are built for speed, but they cannot outrun a poacher's bullet. 90 percent of the cheetah population has disappeared from the wild over the last century, and conservation experts warn that cheetah populations continue to collapse in the wild, in large part due to poaching.
The cheetah can run as fast as 70 m.p.h., and can go from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in just three seconds. These endangered animals only need to replenish themselves with water every three or four days. Killer whales, or orcas, can reach speeds of 48 m.p.h. Killer whales travel in pods, and each pod has its own unique sound.
Most sources believe that the fastest species of fish is the Indo-Pacific Sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus. According to Johnson and Gill (see below) the species has been clocked in excess of 110 km/h (68 mph) over short periods. The Indo-Pacific Sailfish grows to over 3.4 m in total length and 100 kg in weight.
Reaching speeds of up to 68 miles per hour, the sailfish has to be top of the list for the fastest fish!
But the true ruler of the sea is the killer whale. Killer whales are apex predators, which means they have no natural predators. They hunt in packs, much like wolves, which are also at the top of their food chain.
Pronghorn can sustain blazing speeds for miles, and in a distance, run would easily beat a cheetah without breaking a sweat.
Currently, the world's fastest human being is Jamaican Usain Bolt. He set the world record in the 100-meter dash in 2009 with a blistering time of only 9.58 seconds. That equates to a speed of just over 23 miles per hour. That's fast, but it's no match for the cheetah!
Fastest bird and fastest animal: Peregrine falcon
The fastest animal in the world is the peregrine falcon.
The comet has a long tail. The comet travels non-stop day and night. The comet travels faster than cheetah.
Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of up to 70 mph.
Shortfin mako sharks have been called the "cheetahs of the ocean," capable of swimming at estimated speeds of 70 or 80 miles per hour.
The dwarf seahorse (Hippocampus zosterae) is a species of seahorse found in the subtidal aquatic beds of the Bahamas and parts of the United States. It is threatened by habitat loss. According to Guinness World Records, it is the slowest-moving fish, with a top speed of about 5 feet (1.5 m) per hour.
Attaining speeds of up to 68 mph (109 kmph), the sailfish is atop the leaderboard of fastest fishes on the planet. It is also one of the most highly prized game fishes. As for the size, sailfish generally do not grow to more than 3 meters (9.8 ft) in length and rarely weigh over 90 kg (200 lb).
High-speed filming at 1,000–2,000 frames per second has revealed that two species of pipefish – the bay pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus) and the blue-striped pipefish (Doryrhamphus excisus) – and the longspine snipefish (Macroramphosus scolopax) can detect and gulp down prey in as little as two milliseconds.
The serval (Leptailurus serval) is one of the fastest wild cats out in the wild. These nimble creatures weigh between 10 and 40 pounds, but can sustain speeds of 40mph and even push the limit up to 50mph for short bursts.
Theoretically it's possible. We wouldn't be able to ride it like a horse, however. Since most carnivores have a very flexible spine and fairly small shoulderblades compared to horses we would have to almost sit on the neck of the animal for it to be able to carry us without being hurt or disturbed in it's movement.