California Mite is the World’s Fastest Land Animal

The cheetah probably has no idea what just hit it. Used to the praise and admiration that has long been part of it's resume, the cheetah has been relegated to also-ran status.

The cheetah's title of "Fastest Land Animal" has been taken by a speedy upstart who happens to be a bit on the small side.

From Nature World News:

A mite called Paratarsotomus macropalpis is now the world's fastest land organism.

The creature is no bigger than a sesame seed and it can run up to 322 body lengths per second. Researchers use body lengths per second to measure how fast an organism moves relative to its body length. The current record-holder for running speed is the Australian tiger beetle.

By comparison, cheetahs run with a speed of 60 miles an hour or 16 body lengths per second. A human with the running capacity of the mite could run 1300 miles per hour.

I'm just speculating here, but if I could run 1300 mph, chances are pretty good there would be more than a few accusations of "juicing." That, and of course, running that fast would probably set my hair on fire.

The study team accidentally discovered the mite. They were actually studying the muscle biochemistry of animal legs.

The study team captured the mite's running spree on high-speed video camera. What was even more surprising was that the mite could run on concrete in temperatures  up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), a temperature that could kill most organisms. Researchers found that the mites were good at stopping and changing directions. Researchers hope that their research can help advance designs of bio-inspired machines.

As long as we're talking about things moving fast, check this out: