John Townsend - Animal Record Breakers

Humans can be amazing. Athletes with super-fit bodies keep breaking records. Some can run at nearly 28 miles per hour. Thats super-fast!

Even super-fit athletes cant catch up with the animal world. Many animals run faster, jump higher or leap further than any human.

They can out-perform us in many ways. In fact, some animal records might surprise you. But not all the animals in this book are super-fit. Some break other records scary ones.

Get ready for a few shocks!

The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world.

This super-beast zooms off faster than a sports car 0 to almost 60mph (96km/h) in under three seconds. Cheetahs can sprint at 70mph (112km/h) in short bursts.

Usain Bolt wouldnt stand a chance!

The fastest bird on the planet is the peregrine falcon. This bird of prey swoops down from a great height. It reaches speeds of over 200 miles an hour (322km/h). Then its talons slam into a victim, such as a pigeon. A peregrine falcon can spot a pigeon from over five miles away.

This super-falcon lives across Europe and in western Asia.

The white-throated needletail (also called the spine-tailed swift or storm-bird) is the fastest flying bird (not diving).

Check out these speeds:

The worlds fastest fish can shoot through the sea at speeds of up to 70mph (112km/h). It is the sailfish, which raises the sail on its back to help it steer through the water. Groups of sailfish often hunt sardines. They do it in short bursts at great speed.

Sailfish grow bigger than humans to over 3.4 metres long and weighing 100kg.

Fast fish league table

The animal that breaks many Wow! records is the blue whale. For size alone, it is a winner. At 30 metres long (thats two buses) and at 200 tons (15 buses), blue whales are even bigger than the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived.

Blue whales are found in all the worlds oceans. They feed on tiny sea creatures called krill, which they filter out of the sea. Thats 3-4 tons of krill a day for each blue whale.

A blue whales tongue is as heavy as an elephant. Its heart alone is as heavy as a car. About 100 people can fit in a blue whales mouth. But it might be best not to try!

If you could carry six double-decker buses full of people, you would be as strong as the rhinoceros beetle! This beetle can carry 850 times its own body weight on its back. Even the mighty African elephant can only carry 25 per cent of its own weight. With around 100,000 muscles in its trunk, an elephant can lift up four humans but thats nothing compared to the rhinoceros beetle. It might be small, but its packed with power.

Rhinoceros beetles get their name from the tiny horn at the front of the males head. This mighty beetle reaches 6-9 centimetres and holds the record for super strength.

Elephants are big lifters, but for its size the rhinoceros beetle wins the prize!

Fleas are well known for jumping sometimes as far as 30cm in one hop. Thats a bit like you leaping over eight buses. But another insect has also jumped into the record books.

The froghopper (also called a spittle bug) is only 6 millimetres long but it can ping itself 70 centimetres into the air. Thats the same as you hopping over a skyscraper.

The froghopper

In 1993, Javier Sotomayor from Cuba won the high jump world record when he cleared 2.45 metres. Thats nothing to a red kangaroo. Kangaroos have been known to jump fences over 3 metres high when trying to escape!

American Mike Powell set the world long jump record when he leapt 8.95 metres. Big cats can do even better. A snow leopard holds the animal record for the longest jump when it leapt over a ditch that was 15 metres wide.

When American Michael Phelps set the world swimming record, his speed in the water was 6.5km/h (4mph). Thats not a patch on penguins. The Gentoo penguin can reach speeds of 35km/h (22mph) under water.

Maybe its time to hold the first ever Animal Olympics!