# fastest movment in the animal kingdom



## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

just wondering?

i thought it was the mantis shrimp


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Snake strike?


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

no way, jose, i just seen sh*t that would make snake

strike look like snail pace, i watching most extreme

right now something about apendenages or something

and dragon fly nymph is dam fast lip to it


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Trap-jaw ants.







Wish I'd have caught this thread sooner!

Trap-jaw Ants' Strike Fastest in the Animal Kingdom


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

BioTeach said:


> Trap-jaw ants.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice find bioteach!

145 mph

As compared to 50mph for mantis shrimp

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/apr...09-shrimp_x.htm

But note that moving fast underwater is a BIG deal.

snapping shrimp (pistol shrimp) get up to 65 mph

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...pingShrimp.html


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

hell yeah , i wonder how fast the mantis strike would be

in air, without all that resistance


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

MR.FREEZ said:


> hell yeah , i wonder how fast the mantis strike would be
> 
> in air, without all that resistance


Interesting question that I'm surprised they didn't consider!


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

im sure they'd never beable to test that but maybe

some math whizzz could calculate some approximate

stuff


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer (Aug 22, 2006)

HUMMING BIRD WINGS.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

check_ya_self said:


> HUMMING BIRD WINGS.


up to 500 inches per second

Who likes math?

:laugh:

500 inch/sec

500 x 60 x 60 inch/hour

500 x 60 x 60 feet/12 hour

500 x 60 x 60 miles/ 12 x 5280 hour

28 miles/hour

Did I do something wrong?


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## CrocKeeper (Dec 26, 2003)

_Odontomachus_ sp. have achieved
some fame for the speed of its mandibular snap,
which occurs in 0.33-1.00 millisecond, the fastest
animal movement known (Gronenberg et al.
1993).

I don't know where that falls in the miles per hour page...but it is funny that the National Geographic article posted also was an ant species......Odontomachus are native to the US.

Does anyone know off hand how fast geographers cones launch their harpoons?


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

What's up CK? Very interesting how ants are predisposed (it seems) to speedy movement...


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## CrocKeeper (Dec 26, 2003)

I agree.....makes you wonder how many unstudied insects have faster mechanisms.....

I still am planning a trip at ya in November.....actually looking forward to the much needed break from my daily grind my friend.....


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## Guest (Oct 19, 2006)

Fastest movement? Black Mambas are scary quick!


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## CrocKeeper (Dec 26, 2003)

"Fastest movement? Black Mambas are scary quick!"

It always tickles me how often any Dendroaspis are mentioned when it comes to speed...and while compared to ther snakes they are rather swift, they are all deliberate snakes...very alert snakes that stay aware of their surroundings....


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

CrocKeeper said:


> I agree.....makes you wonder how many unstudied insects have faster mechanisms.....
> 
> I still am planning a trip at ya in November.....actually looking forward to the much needed break from my daily grind my friend.....


Just let me know, that time should work out just right!


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## gar~spaz (Jul 21, 2006)

blink of an eye?


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

no way jose, a blinkin eye is a snails pace

compared to things like the mantis


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Now I need to see how fast an eye blinks, thanks a lot.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Hard to find mph estimates. Seems it varies too with age. Takes around 300 milliseconds but covers a short area. Interesting...


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

i was watching tv... and i think they said something about the stingers on jelly fish? i think it was a relative of the box jelly, extremely small... in australia...i know its the fastest cellular mechanism but somebody should look into that....


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

The word is nematocysts, they're like miniature harpoons!


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

For those that dont know, nematocysts are the stinging cells of jellyfish, corals, and anemones (which are all related in the phylum Cnidaria).

Here's a diagram.










http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/zoo432/flo...mnematocyst.mov

for a video of it.


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