Animals can be slow for different reasons.
Heavy, stocky creatures like tortoises move slowly because of their size and weight.
Animals like snails have no joints, which limits their movement, while sloths have low energy and become exhausted quickly.
Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent
By clicking on "
I ACCEPT
", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners
I ACCEPT
And to better remunerate 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our "I accept for today" button in the banner below.
More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.
4. The Galapagos tortoise: 0.27 km/h
The Galapagos tortoise is one of the slowest reptiles: it only travels 4.5 m per minute.
Its bulky shell slows its progress.
3. Sloth: 0.21 km/h
The sloth is the slowest mammal: it covers only 3.5 m per minute on the ground.
Its food composed of leaves provides it with very little energy.
2. The squirrel snail: 0.05 km/h
The squirrel snail crawls with 83 cm per minute because it has only one sticky foot.
1. Slugs: 0.006 km/h
Slugs like the banana slug are among the slowest land animals, reaching speeds of 10 cm per minute.
The banana slug is therefore 45 times slower than the Galapagos tortoise!
But microscopic creatures like tardigrades might be even slower!
Find the magazine "Le Monde des Animaux" on newsstands and on monmag.fr (paper and digital versions, and subscriptions).
The World of Animals & Nature
is a magazine dedicated to wild fauna and flora from around the world.
Through captivating stories and sublime photographs, the magazine offers a real visual safari in the heart of nature.
Hobbies
Supervision of animals: A sense essential to survival
Hobbies
So-called “harmful” animals: Why are they so unloved?
Minute Animals
Animals
Tortoise
Galapagos
Speed
Race
Hobbies