The Fastest Animals on Earth

Here is an unusual list of the Fastest Animals and there won’t be a cheetah in sight! In order to survive, an organism is likely to have at least one skill that it can perform better than any other creature, or will become perfectly suited to a particular way of life. With this in mind, we’ll take a look at some animals whose ability to use unusual parts of their body with great speed gives them an edge. Think of it as a mostly alternative list of the fastest animals.

Peregrine falcon

Found worldwide, peregrine falcons are efficient hunting machines, and among the fastest creatures on Earth. They can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour when on the trail of another bird – and they’re large enough to prey on rooks, magpies, hooded crows and jackdaws.

Mantis shrimp

This colourful crustacean possesses an extremely specialised pair of front limbs known as ‘raptorial claws’. Though they’re designed for catching prey, they can move with such a devastatingly quick ‘punch’ that they have been known to shatter glass aquariums.

Giant Palm Salamander

This Central American amphibian can produce the most powerful burst of muscular power known in the animal kingdom – using its tongue. The giant palm salamander releases over 18,000 watts of power per kilogram of muscle as it flicks its tongue at incredible speed to catch fast-moving insects. Some species possess tongues that are as much as 80% of the animal’s entire body length.

Anna's Hummingbird

Like most hummingbirds, Anna’s hummingbirds flap their wings at an incredible 50 times a second. This is quick enough that the human eye cannot perceive the individual beats. This is made possible because of their small body size, fast heart rate and high body temperature. But the downside to this specialised lifestyle is that they must consequently feed once every ten minutes or so throughout the day.

Dragonfly

Dragonflies are among the fastest insects known, with the common green Darner dragonfly clocking in at an astonishing 100 kilometres per hour. Even more common members of the order Odonata, the most ancient group of flying insects, tend to reach speeds of about 50 kilometres per hour. All four of their wings can move semi-independently, allowing them levels of agility unknown to other insects – they can reverse, hover in place or change direction in midair. This suits their natural history, as their niche is that of an extremely specialised predator.

Frogfish

Nature buffs are probably familiar with certain members of the order Lophiiformes – they’re the famous anglerfish. But the frogfish is an even more bizarre member of this distinguished family. Covered in vegetation-like ‘spinules’, the frogfish is designed not to blend in with the background to escape detection, but to actively resemble the food of potential prey. When smaller fish approach to take a bite, they instead become swallowed up by the frogfish in a movement so quick that it often cannot be seen by human eyes. The frogfish moves its jaws with such swiftness that suction pressure is created, pulling water and prey into the gaping maw.

Spiny-Tailed Iguana

Though ‘cold-blooded’ creatures such as lizards aren’t famous for their speed, the spiny-tailed iguana of Central America can reach over twenty miles per hour – a record for reptiles. Their active nature extends to their temperament, as they are notoriously aggressive towards humans. This relationship extends both ways, however, as the iguanas are heavily hunted as a source of food throughout their home ranges, though they are not yet thought to be endangered.

The Top 5 Tallest Skyscrapers in the World

Here is the brand new list of the 5 tallest skyscrapers in the world! Includes the International Finance Centre, Jin Mao Tower, Sears Tower, Petronas Twin Towers & the Taipei 101!




5. International Finance Centre, HongKong



A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, it consists of two skyscrapers, the ifc mall, and the 55-storey Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Tower 2 is the tallest building in Hong Kong, usurping the place once occupied by Central Plaza. It is the third-tallest building in the Greater China region and the seventh-tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights; by roof height, only the Taipei 101, Shanghai World Financial Center, and Sears Tower exceed it. It is the exact height of the former World Trade Center. The International Commerce Centre, currently under construction above the MTR Kowloon station and scheduled for completion in 2010, will usurp 2IFC's various titles.





4. Jin Mao Tower

The Jin Mao Tower is an 88-story landmark supertall skyscraper in the Lujiazui area of the Pudong district of Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It contains offices and the Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel. Until 2007 it was the tallest building in the PRC, the fifth tallest in the world by roof height and the seventh tallest by pinnacle height. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, it is a centerpiece of the Pudong skyline. Its height was surpassed on September 14, 2007 by the Shanghai World Financial Center.






3. Sears Tower

The Sears Tower, a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, has been the tallest building in North America since 1973. It surpassed the World Trade Center, which itself had surpassed the Empire State Building only a year earlier. Commissioned by Sears, Roebuck and Company, it was designed by chief architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.






2. Petronas Twin Towers


The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were the world's tallest buildings, before being surpassed by the Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings and office building in the world. Tower 1 was built by Hazama Corporation and Tower 2 by Samsung Engineering & Construction and Kukdong Engineering & Construction (both of South Korea). They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by the US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969.






1. Taipei 101



Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building, designed by C.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture and Samsung Engineering & Construction, is the world's tallest completed skyscraper according to the CTBUH, the arbiter of tall building height. Taipei 101 received the Emporis Skyscraper Award in 2004. It has been hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World and Seven Wonders of Engineering (Discovery Channel, 2005).