Zee Media Bureau/Ritu Singh
Washington: All of you must be knowing that cheetah is the fastest land animal. But now the Cheetah has been beaten to the title of fastest animal in the world by the tiny Californian mite.
It has been found that this mite is the fastest terrestrial animal keeping a pace equivalent to that of a human running 1,300 miles per hour.
The mite scientifically known as Paratarsotomus macropalpis is smaller than a single sesame seed-and can run up to 322 body lengths per second. By this measure it isn`t exactly covering much ground but it clocks in about 20 times faster than a cheetah, as per the findings.
The mite is local to Southern California and is often found running along rocks or sidewalks, although little is known about its habits or food sources.
The previous record-holder, the Australian tiger beetle, only reached 171 body lengths per second, while a cheetah running at 60 miles per hour attains only reaches 16 body lengths per second.
Samuel Rubin, the student who measured the mite`s speed, says the finding was "so cool"-but could also be useful.
He further said that looking deeper into the physics of how they accomplish these speeds could help inspire revolutionary new designs for things like robots or biomimetic devices.
