The cheetah's extraordinary speed is the product of millions of years of evolutionary refinement — its hyper-flexible spine acts as a coiled spring, nearly doubling stride length compared with other big cats of similar body mass. At 112 km/...
About: Fastest Land Animals by Top Speed
Overview of the data behind this chart
The cheetah's extraordinary speed is the product of millions of years of evolutionary refinement — its hyper-flexible spine acts as a coiled spring, nearly doubling stride length compared with other big cats of similar body mass. At 112 km/h, it can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in under three seconds, faster than most production sports cars, though it can only sustain peak speed for roughly 20 to 30 seconds before overheating. The pronghorn antelope of North America is the second-fastest land animal, and far more impressively, it can maintain speeds above 80 km/h for miles — a stamina no cheetah can match. Scientists believe the pronghorn's extreme endurance evolved not to outrun today's predators, but to escape the now-extinct American cheetah that roamed the continent until roughly 10,000 years ago. Among domesticated animals, the Quarter Horse holds the speed record at distances up to a quarter mile, bred specifically for explosive short-distance bursts.
Key Findings
Auto-computed highlights from this dataset
🏆
Cheetah leads with 112 in All Time.
📊
Average value in All Time: 86 · median: 80.
↔️
Gap in All Time: Cheetah is 1.6× larger than Elk.
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Fastest Land Animals by Top Speed
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart⬡
Data Points
8
8 categories
·
1 year
↑
Top Value
112
Cheetah
Top Speed (km/h) · All Time
◈
Metrics
1
Top Speed (km/h)
◷
Period
All Time
Single year snapshot
Category Rankings
Ranked by All Time value · vs. All Time| # | Category | All Time | All Time | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Cheetah | 112 | 112 | +0% |
| 🥈 | Pronghorn Antelope | 98 | 98 | +0% |
| 🥉 | Springbok | 88 | 88 | +0% |
| 4 | Wildebeest | 80 | 80 | +0% |
| 5 | Lion | 80 | 80 | +0% |
| 6 | Thomson's Gazelle | 80 | 80 | +0% |
| 7 | Quarter Horse | 77 | 77 | +0% |
| 8 | Elk | 72 | 72 | +0% |
Statistical Summary — All Time
112
Maximum
72
Minimum
86
Average
80
Median
What This Data Shows
Auto-generated trend summaries per category
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Full Data Table
8 records across 1 yearData Sources & References
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