Between the turtle and the free, the human being is usually classified in the middle of the table.Although the record for our species is held by Jamaican Usain Bolt with 44.72 km/h, an average person can run at most 15 or 20 km/h, which is not bad either.
Between the turtle and the wild one, it is said that the cunning reptile wins by taking advantage of this lazy cousin of the rabbit, but it does not always have to be that way. We would love to see the turtle taking the 100-meter freestyle race so slowly.who surely would not make it to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Furthermore, as fast as the wild animal may seem to us, it is not even close to being the fastest animal known on Earth. Our planet is inhabited by incredible beings, some of them with genetic adaptations that have allowed them to specialize in a specific task. over the course of the last few million years. The species we’re going to talk about today is a professional carnivore when it comes to speed, being able to hunt down its victims at over 380 km/h, which is almost nothing.
The fastest animal on the planet
To understand this species we must stop thinking about muscular or supernumerary legs (like the centipede), the key to its speed does not lie in its power. not in its weight, but in ‘letting itself go’. Thanks to the evolutionary adaptations that have made it one of the best predators on the planet, this animal is capable of reaching speeds unimaginable for a human with the simple orientation of its body.
And to understand how This flying bird is capable of humiliating in speed one of the engineering marvels of our country, such as the AVE trains. (Spanish high speed), which can reach 300 km/h at certain times, it is necessary to know more about how this animal moves. Note the attempt at banter between the homophones ave-AVE, which is not insignificant.
In fact, Some of the species of this kind of bird can be found in much of the Iberian Peninsula as in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Celta and Melilla, which is why it is very present throughout the Spanish territory and collective imagination. We could not refer to another being than the peregrine falcon or ‘Falco peregrinus’, a bird of prey much more common than you might think.
The peregrine falcon is called ‘traveler’ both in Spanish and in its scientific name. because many of the northern species undergo long migration processes towards warmer areas when the cold winter weather begins to make itself felt.
Falcons, like the vast majority of flying birds, can fly thanks to their bone structure and plumage. The skeleton of birds is often called ‘hollow bones’. Because, in fact, they do not have the same internal thickness as many other species that do not fly in the skies. Thanks to the low weight of its skeleton and the shape of its flight feathersfalcons are able to stay aloft in the sky and also move against strong air currents.
How does a peregrine falcon hunt?
Like a sniper, Falcons fly higher than their prey to keep an eye on them from above and plan their next attack move without being detected.being able to reach even more than a kilometer in height from ground level.
Once they have spotted their future victim, and using its aerodynamic shape (which many modern ‘fighter’ aircraft copied) which reduces the braking effect of the wind, They let themselves dive until they hit their prey by surprise at high speed.In 2009, a falcon was recorded in the middle of a hunt reached 389 km/h in free fallNo matter how light their bodies are, just imagine the force these birds carry through their inertia.
They are such good hunters that In many town and city councils in Spain they have been used for decades for pest control.such as pigeons, rats or the recently infamous Argentine parakeets. Just a month ago, the Murcia City Council released three female falcons in the city to control the skyrocketing pigeon population.