What animal, excluding birds, would have the highest terminal velocity if thrown out of an airplane?

A turtle?

Why exclude birds? It’s not like a bird would have the fastest terminal velocity. Birds create a lot of drag, which can be great for generating lift.

My bet would be a black marlin, tarpon, or whatever the longest shark is. I think it’s obvious that some fish would be fastest.

The snake wouldn’t be fastest unless you froze it as a rigid cylinder. In reality it would flop all around and create a bunch of drag.

danube steak wrote:

Rosie O'Donnell?

This maybe would have been considered clever in 1998.

Birds would actually have the lowest terminal velocity. They are extremely light for their size, which is a big factor given that this happens in real life where there is air resistance. I’d say something like a marlin. Upwards of a thousand pounds, no fur to create air resistance, and an already aerodynamic body.

elvid33 wrote:

Why exclude birds? It’s not like a bird would have the fastest terminal velocity. Birds create a lot of drag, which can be great for generating lift.

My bet would be a black marlin, tarpon, or whatever the longest shark is. I think it’s obvious that some fish would be fastest.

The snake wouldn’t be fastest unless you froze it as a rigid cylinder. In reality it would flop all around and create a bunch of drag.

Oh wow, I promise I didn’t read this before I wrote my post. We came to the same conclusions on almost everything lol.

Armadillo

elvid33 wrote:

The snake wouldn’t be fastest unless you froze it as a rigid cylinder. In reality it would flop all around and create a bunch of drag.

Not all snakes move in a sinusoidal pattern, there are some that keep their bodies in a straight line.

I think maybe a large tuna or perhaps a dolphin or something like that.

African Elephant

Blue Whale

White Rhinocerous

Alaskan Moose

joed|rt wrote:

Armadillo

If rolled up into a tight ball, yes. People are assuming that something like a marlin would continually fall nose first but that is not likely.

ienjoyracing wrote:

Birds would actually have the lowest terminal velocity. They are extremely light for their size, which is a big factor given that this happens in real life where there is air resistance.

The OP didn't say the animal was dead. If you threw at bird out of a plane if would fly. There are birds that can fly a lot faster than terminal velocity.

Probably a great white shark. Its got the right weight and is streamlined thru a fluid. Would absolutely rip on the way down.

Sharks, dolphins or any other animal shaped like a ballistic missile. They're the most aerodynamic with the least drag.

They actually drop small fish from planes quite often when stocking high mountain lakes. It is a delicate procedure because they have to get close enough so that the trout don’t dry out on the way down, but not so close that they can’t pull up and out of the cirque quick enough. If you could get a stocking schedule from the DOW, you could put a radar gun on them on the drop.