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Now that the and have disappeared from our screens, let’s get back to watching animal videos.

But seriously, have you ever paused to think about the athletic abilities of Australian wildlife?

In my research as an ecologist, I’m constantly amazed by the strength, speed and resilience of our native animals. Their prowess is testament to the wonders of evolution, and the necessity of species having to adapt to challenging and changing environments in order to survive.

Let’s take a closer look at some of our best competitors and how might they fare, against humans and overseas entrants. On your marks, get set… swim, hop, dig, dance, glide!

Swimming

Australians are renowned for being strong swimmers. But what is the fastest swimmer in the animal kingdom?

On this there is . Some suggest it’s the , clocking in at about 30km/hr. That’s impressive, but much slower than oft-cited (but inaccurate) claims it can travel at .

For perspective, the fastest human to swim the 50 metres freestyle is American , completing this in a time of 20.16 seconds. That’s roughly 9km/h – faster than many people jog, but still no match for a sailfish.

As in humans, . Larger species that challenge sailfish for the fastest swimmer title include blue or black marlin. Shorter, torpedo-like bluefin tuna are also in contention. All are found in Australian waters, though not exclusively.

Sprinting, long and high jump

Aussie icons, red kangaroos can reach . But they are no match for cheetahs, which can move at .

Long jump is surely the kangaroo’s main event. Red kangaroos can . Amazingly, this might not be enough to clinch gold. .

Kangaroos can clear , so would perform well in the high jump. But they’d finish behind , which can jump over 7m in the air, just for kicks.

Scaled for body size, though, both species would be embarrassed by a tiny insect known as a . It jumps to heights of more than .

Battles of strength

African elephants can lift and weaver ants more than .

But relative to size, a truly impressive champion is . At just a centimetre long, these diminutive powerhouses can pull more than 1,100 times their own body weight, roughly equating to an .

And yet, horned dung beetles might still only claim silver. Another invertebrate Aussie, the , is perhaps the world’s strongest animal. It can pull more than 1,180 times its weight.

Packing the fastest, deadliest punch

In terms of combat sports, bigger is not always better.

Peacock mantis shrimps – invertebrates found in Australian marine waters and elsewhere – have the swiftest and most powerful punch in the lightweight crustacean division.

They kill prey by punching them with strong, club-like appendages. , akin to the speed and force of a .22 calibre bullet being fired.

So powerful is the punch, it that breaks up and .

Tantalising contests

What about a digging contest? Eastern barred bandicoots . How would that stack up against , which can disappear almost instantly into desert sands? Or the expert excavations of and aardvarks that can dig more than ?

In terms of free-diving and flying, there’s really no contest. can dive nearly 3000m and peregrine falcons can reach . These animals are found across the globe, however – not just in Australia.

Australia’s largest gliding marsupial, the , can . But gliding gold would surely go to the giant flying squirrel, which can .

I’d love to see a shooting contest between Australia’s and Madagascar’s panther . But finding the right arena for both aquatic and land-based sharpshooters would be tricky.

is now legendary, but a breaking (break dancing) contest between a , (a type of nudibranch) and a might genuinely break the internet.

Appreciating wildlife athletes

So who would win a global contest for the best wildlife athlete overall?

If the competition was on land and focused on running, jumping, strength and climbing, it’s hard to go past the overall abilities of a .

Many amazing wildlife athletes are . Others are .

They include the incredible oolacunta – also known as the desert rat kangaroo. It’s powers of endurance in the desert are the stuff of folklore. As legendary Australian mammalogist :

Its speed for such an atom, was wonderful, and its endurance amazing … when we finally got it, it had taken the starch out of three mounts and run us 12 miles; all under such adverse conditions of heat and rough going, as to make it almost incredible that so small a frame should be capable of such an immense output of energy.

Let’s celebrate wildlife and their athletic abilities and .