01. Cheetah

The cheetah achieves by far the fastest land speed of any living animal—between 112 and 120 km/h (70 and 75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in three seconds.

02. Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over 322 km/h (200 mph) during its characteristic hunting stoop (high speed dive), making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom.

03. Great white shark

In 2005, a great white shark entered the record books by completing the longest shark migration ever recorded. Named Nicole by researchers, the shark made a 12,400-mile (20,000-kilometer) marathon circuit from Africa to Australia. The journey, which lasted nine months, also included the fastest return migration of any known marine animal.

04. Impala

The impala, an African antelope with long, slender legs and muscular thighs, also gets high marks for its leaping abilities. When frightened, an impala will spring into action, bounding up to 33 feet (10 meters) and soaring some 10 feet (3 meters) in the air. This skill is apparently more than just defensive. Impalas have been observed jumping around just to amuse themselves.

05. Sooty Shearwater

They are spectacular long-distance migrants, following a circular route. These marathon migrators traverse nearly 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) each year, from New Zealand to the Northern Hemisphere, in search of food. Recent tagging experiments have shown that birds breeding in New Zealand may travel 74,000 km in a year, reaching Japan, Alaska and California, averaging more than 500 km per day.