The usual “crawling like a snail” comparison is really justified - snails are considered the slowest animals on the planet. But it turns out that a slow-moving person can also be compared with moles, sloths, and even virgin possums - the speed of these creatures is low.
In our selection today - Top 10 slowest animals in the world. It should be noted that their unhurried manner of movement is very suitable for the existing way of life.
10. Gavial
A remarkable feature of this variety of crocodiles is a long narrow muzzle, almost 5 times the body length in childhood. On land, the gavials are unable to move at speeds in excess of 5 km / h, while in water they accelerate to 8-10 km / h.
9. Snakes
Snakes give the impression of dexterous and swift animals, but when moving in a straight line they rarely "give out" more than 10 km / h. Water snakes are much quicker than their slow terrestrial counterparts.
8. Virgin Opossums
These little frogs, with all the desire, are not able to exceed the speed threshold of 7 km / h. Therefore, they do not run away from predators, pretending to be dead, and even emitting an unpleasant odor.
7. Whale Sharks
A ten-meter shark swims at a speed of about 5 km / h. These giants feed on plankton, chasing which makes no sense. By the way, such slowness makes the whale shark safe for humans.
6. Moles
Small builders of large tunnels move at a speed of about 5-7 km / h. But moles work quite quickly - to dig a meter-long tunnel, the animal needs only 6 minutes.
5. Field Mice
The slowest rodents in the world have a body length of just over 10 cm. Naturally, with such modest dimensions, moving at a speed of more than 4-5 km / h is almost impossible.
4. Greenland polar sharks
The cold waters of the northern seas clearly reduce the swiftness of their cold-blooded inhabitants. Huge sharks, weighing about a ton, move smoothly and slowly, as if sleeping on the go. Their speed is about 1.5 km / h.
3. Land turtles
Sea turtles move much faster than land turtles - at speeds up to 35 km / h. The land is rather clumsy and slow, they move at a speed of not more than 900 meters per hour.
2. Sloths
These animals fully justify their name. Even if you want to go down the branch, sloths do not slide down the trunk, but simply fall down. On the ground, sloths literally crawl on their belly at a speed of about 150 meters per hour. However, many of them are good swimmers, developing speeds of up to 4 km / h in water.
1. Snails
To overcome the distance of half a meter, the snail will take an entire hour. Although, given the size of this slowest animal on Earth, such a speed is entirely justified. But the special mucus allows snails to easily move along a vertical surface.
