The fastest animal in the world may be a relative of your bed! | Species Chat

In 2014, a mite named Paratarsotomus macropalpis won the honorary title of "world's fastest animal", which can cover a distance of 192.4 times its body length per second. Before that, the fastest title belonged to a tiger beetle named Cicindela eburneola, which can cover a distance of 171 times its body length per second.

If humans can reach the speed of mites, Su Bingtian's speed will exceed 1,184 kilometers per hour!

P. macropalpis is only 1 to 2 millimeters long and can barely be seen with the naked eye. They live in Southern California and can be found on the sand and on the road.

Their gait frequency is also the fastest among animals , reaching 135 steps per second, while humans can only take 3 steps. When turning, the mites will adjust their pace, taking long steps with the foot on the outside of the curve and small steps with the foot on the inside, while hooking the ground with the inside foot to avoid falling. With this strategy, they are not only fast, but also very agile , and can turn 180 degrees 10 times per second.

By the way, the record for the "strongest animal in the world", or at least the "world tug-of-war champion", also belongs to the mite. Archegozetes longisetosus, a mite often used in experiments, can support a pulling force of 1,180 times its body weight on a rough surface.

The illustrations in this article are not scientific illustrations but have undergone certain artistic processing.

Comic script: Calendar Girl

Scientific review: Species Calendar Team

Painting: Chen Pupu

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

If you need to reprint, please contact [email protected]