The Fastest Animal in the World is Just Plain Batty

Many people still think the cheetah is the world's fastest animal, but it's really only the fastest land animal. Until recently, the correct answer was the swift, but now even people who said that are inncorrect -the fastest animal on earth is actually the Brazilian free-tailed bat. The cheetah can go up to 40 miles per hour. The swift can go up to 62 miles an hour, but the free-tailed bat blows them both out of the water, traveling an incredible 99 miles an hour. There is one challenger to the bat's title though -peregrine falcons can travel 186 miles per hour, but they can only go that fast while diving. So if you're going by overall speed, the falcon wins, but if you only count straight forward movement that could be used for travel -the bat is your safest bet.