The Fastest Land Based Animals in the World

Note that this list is for land based animals, so no birds or fish are included.

If birds were included, this list would be mostly those. The Peregrine falcon is universally accepted as the fastest animal in the world. It reaches its top speed when in a hunting dive, the stoop, in which it soars to a great height, then dives steeply at high speeds (200.00+ mph, 322 km/hr). See also the fastest birds list. Birds are not included in this list as I have limited it to just land-based animals (otherwise it would be mostly birds on the list, and not as interesting)..
If fish were included, the sail fish (68 mph, see World's Fastest Fish) would be high on this list.

Average Speed v Maximum Speed

The speeds used for the following table are based on measurements recorded over approximately quarter-mile distances. Exceptions are the lion, which was clocked in the act of charging, and the cheetah, which was measured over a 100-yard distance. You may also notice discrepancies between this list and the World's Fastest Mammals which have many of the same animals. This just highlights the difficulties in measuring speed, whether average or maximum speed is recorded, and averaged over what distance.

Many people consider the greyhound to be the second fastest animal. They are said to each average race speeds in excess of 18 metres per second (59 feet per second) or 63 kilometres per hour (39 mph), which would place then just outside the top 10. However, at maximum acceleration, a greyhound reaches a full speed of 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) within the first 30 metres, traveling at almost 20 metres per second for the first 250 metres of a race. The only other animal that can accelerate faster over a short distance is the cheetah, which can reach speeds of 109 kilometers per hour (68 mph) over 3-4 strides from a standing start.

Animal speed
(mph) speed
(km/hr) notes
1. Cheetah 70 113 In 2009, the Cincinnati Zoo's 8 year-old female cheetah became the world's fastest of all land mammals. Sarah covered 100 meters in a time of 6.13 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 6.19 seconds set by a male South African cheetah named Nyana in 2001. See video
2. Pronghorn antelope 61 98
3. Lion 50 80
4. Thomson's gazelle 50 80
5. Wildebeest 50 80
6. Springbok 50 80
7. Quarter horse 47.5 76
8. Cape hunting dog 45 72
9. Elk 45 72
10. Coyote 43 69
Sources

Natural History Magazine, March 1974.