Skip to content
FastestThings

Snakes

Horned adder

Tingle's 2020 table reprints Hoffmann 1988: 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h) for Bitis caudalis, with no details on the conditions. The figure is estimated.

A horned adder can travel about 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h), an estimate.

Also known as Bitis caudalis
Post on X (opens in a new tab)

Top speed

Published as 5.5 km/hPublished as 5.5 km/hPublished as 5.5 km/h

Jessica L. Tingle 2020, Integrative and Comparative Biology, Table 3 and the travel-speed discussion. Bitis caudalis is 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h). The notes say there are no details on conditions, two individuals apparently, and an unknown number of trials. Hoffmann 1988. Qualifier estimated. Travel, not a strike.

EstimatedIntegrative and Comparative Biology (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 1.1× walking paceConstant · A typical walking pace, 5 km/h
  • 15% of Usain Bolt's 100 m world-record paceSourced · Usain Bolt, 100 m in 9.58 s. World Athletics, Berlin 2009. Averaged over the race
  • A football field in 1 minConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Quick answers

People also ask

How fast can a horned adder travel?

A horned adder can travel about 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h), an estimate.

Is that figure claimed or verified?

Horned adder is labeled Estimated. Calculated or approximated rather than directly timed.

What is the source?

The figure cites Integrative and Comparative Biology, “Facultatively sidewinding snakes, Table 3, horned adder.”

Where does Horned adder rank?

Horned adder is 3rd of 7 on Fastest Snakes.

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

Tingle's 2020 table reprints Hoffmann 1988: about 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h) for the horned adder, Bitis caudalis, with no details on the conditions. The figure is estimated.

Species
Bitis caudalis
Speed
3.4 mph (5.5 km/h)
Source
Hoffmann 1988

  1. 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h), conditions missing

    Hoffmann's 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h) is faster than the sidewinder's 2.3 mph (3.7 km/h) mat trial, and Tingle says it without the surface or the temperature. An estimate without conditions is weaker than Secor's mat trial. The page says so by keeping the gap.

  2. A sidewinding adder

    Bitis caudalis can sidewind. The 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h) cell is locomotion, not a strike. Field's horned viper at 0.808 mph (1.3 km/h) is a different species with a described floor and temperature. They are not one snake.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 5.5km/h3.4mph1.5m/s3.0knRanked figure

    Jessica L. Tingle 2020, Integrative and Comparative Biology, Table 3 and the travel-speed discussion. Bitis caudalis is 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h). The notes say there are no details on conditions, two individuals apparently, and an unknown number of trials. Hoffmann 1988. Qualifier estimated. Travel, not a strike.

    The missing conditions are why the qualifier is estimated. A strike speed is not in the cell.

    Estimated
    Integrative and Comparative Biology (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Species
Bitis caudalis
Speed
3.4 mph (5.5 km/h)
Source
Hoffmann 1988, via Tingle 2020

Context

Background

Tingle's 2020 review, Table 3, says 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h) for Bitis caudalis and attributes it to Hoffmann 1988. The notes on that cell say there are no details on the conditions, two individuals apparently, and an unknown number of trials. The figure is 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h), qualifier estimated.

The number is travel speed. The review does not say a strike for this species, so no strike is given. Unnamed speeds from other trials are not added beside this cell.

Head to head

Compare Horned adder

Open the speed race

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.