Humans: Having reached a record speed of 37.6km/h, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt (pictured, centre) is the fastest man on Earth today. The human weightlifting record for the ‘clean and jerk’ lift is 263kg. One of the greatest recorded human endurance performances was Scott’s Antarctic expedition, which saw Scott and his team man-haul their gear for 2500km from the Antarctic rim to the South Pole and back over 159 days.

The red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) can leap 12.8m, which is significantly further than Mike Powell’s human long-jump record of 8.95m. The red kangaroo’s maximum jump height is 3.1m, which is well above Javier Sotomayor’s human high-jump record of 2.45m.

The Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a marathon flyer. It completes the longest annual animal migration. Each year they breed in the Arctic and then fly 80,000km to the Antarctic and back. Living for up to 34 years, an Arctic tern could fly 2.4 million kilometres over its life, equivalent to travelling to the Moon and back three times.

The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is said to be able to lift 300kg with its trunk, and to easily carry 820kg of logs. This can be compared to the weightlifting abilities of the grizzly bear, which can lift 455kg and the gorilla, which can lift up to 900kg.

Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) can reach speeds of up to 35.3km/h, making them slightly slower than Usain Bolt. But they have great endurance, and can maintain speeds of about 16km/h for more than 18 hours at a time.

The North African ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus) is the world’s fastest running bird. It can reach speeds of up to 64km/h.

Thoroughbred racehorses (Equus caballus), such as those pictured here at the 2011 Melbourne Cup, have reached a maximum recorded speed of 88km/h. It was achieved by an American quarter horse, a breed known for its ability to reach high speeds over short distances. Horses have been recorded maintaining speeds of up to 48km/h for 10 minutes at a time while carrying jockeys weighing about 59kg.

The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is a North American mammal that can reach speeds of up to 93km/h. Herds of pronghorn have been recorded maintaining speeds of about 64km/h for more than 30 minutes at a time while galloping across the high prairies of Wyoming, in the central-western USA.

The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is the fastest running animal. It can reach speeds of up to 104km/h. Over a distance of 200m, the cheetah has been timed at 6.9 seconds. This beats racehorse Black Caviar’s 9.98 second record, the greyhound record of 11.2 seconds and Usain Bolt’s record of 19.19 seconds.

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrines) is the fastest animal on Earth. Radar tracking has detected they reach speeds of 185km/h; optical tracking detected 259km/h; however their fastest speeds were recorded by accelerometers attached dorsally, which showed they dive-bomb at speeds of up to 325km/h.