Question 5: the correct answer is Cheetah. Did you get it right? Award yourself 1 point.
Question 6 of 10
Which of these animals is NOT an insect?
Why, in question 5: What is the fastest land animal over a short sprint?
The answer is the cheetah. In short bursts, it can reach about 100 kilometres per hour, faster than any other land animal. The ostrich is the fastest bird on land and the horse can sustain long distances, but none reaches the cheetah's top speed.
Built for acceleration
The cheetah's body is light and long, with a very flexible spine that stretches and bends with every stride, like a spring. Its long tail acts as a rudder on turns, and its claws, which do not fully retract, grip the ground like the studs of a football boot.
Such speed comes at a price: the cheetah can only sustain its top speed for a few seconds, usually over a few hundred metres. If it doesn't catch its prey quickly, it gives up and needs to rest before trying again.
The cheetah also differs from the other big cats in another way: it does not roar. Instead, it makes high-pitched chirping sounds similar to a bird's chirp, and it purrs.
Today only a few thousand cheetahs remain in the wild, almost all in Africa, and the species is considered vulnerable. Loss of territory and conflict with livestock farmers are among the main threats.
