Oooo....oooo pick me! Is the bird the albatross? Land animal the cheetah? Sea...dolphin or marlin or sailfish?
Here's the question that seems to cause disagreement on a lot of sites. What is the fastest bird in level flight, the fastest animal across the ground, the fastest swimmer in the sea?
Peregrine Falcon, Jaguar and Dolphin
Citing the peregrine falcon as the fastest-flying bird, The Guinness Book of Records says that it “reaches record speed levels when swooping from great heights during territorial displays, or when catching prey in midair.” This bird has reached a speed of 217 miles per hour [349 km/hr] at a 45-degree angle of descent!
The cheetah truly can run like the wind. Incredibly, it can accelerate from a dead stop to about 40 miles per hour [65 kph] in only two seconds! It can attain speeds of up to 70 miles per hour [110 kph]! It is the fastest animal on land.