Stuart Blackman takes a look at the contenders for the slowest animal in the world and just how fast snails actually are
One could argue that the slowest animals are those that spend their lives rooted to one spot: barnacles, sponges and mussels, among others.
What is the slowest animal?
But if we confine ourselves to mobile animals big enough to be seen without a microscope, then slugs and snails must be in the, erm, running for slowest animals.
The winner at the 2019 World Snail Racing Championships only clocked 3.4mm per second (0.012kph). Even tortoises seem like hares in comparison.
For the title of slowest mammal, sloths, which navigate the treetops at about 0.24kph, will always be hard to lose to, although they are faster in water than on land.
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