Thanks for all the feedback guys! So fascinating (although somewhat tangential) facts aside re: speed and stamina and whatnot, it seems like my question about endurance (read: toughness), healing-ability and strength has been answered as being a combination biomechanical arrangement, sheer mass and volume and tissues, and more universally high-level of athleticism.
As stated before, it’s great to hear about all of these different animals and where they beat us hands down. But these are normally animals which have specialized adaptations that make them terrific at one thing or the other (e.g. a crocodile’s immune system). What I’m really looking for is whether or not MOST other mammals have a major difference with how we are built that gives them these subtle advantages even without specializing in a specific aspect.
So to oversimplify: do most other mammals have better muscles than us? Have better immune systems and healing rates? Are generally able to take more punishment? Or is it a case of every species is unique, and specific adaptations for each species play a larger factor?
Bears have tremendous stamina and could probably run down a human over long distance if that human isn’t out with a slower friend. Brown and black bears can range over 20 miles nightly in search of food. Polar bears can travel hundreds of miles non-stop, often having to so in the water to keep from overheating even in sub-zero temperatures.
Unless I missed it, nobody’s mentioned the very obvious difference in healing – some animals can regrow severed limbs. Some can even be chopped up, and all the pieces regrow bodies.
Re: the healing thing. I’m always amazed at how quickly dogs and cats recover from spay surgeries. That’s a major operation, and typically they act like nothing much happened by the next day. We recently took in a young shepherd mix that was dumped near our house, and got her spayed. I had to restrain her from galloping around three hours after the surgery, and by the next day it was hopeless. I know most dogs react similarly, and yet when I was working as a vet tech, I can’t remember a single complication from a spay.
The orangutan beat the sumo wrestler in that tug-of-war not because she was stronger, but because she was smarter. They each had a raised piece at the edge of their platform to brace against. She stayed down low, so she could effectively brace herself against it, but he very stupidly stood up, so he could be pivoted around it. Without that brace, and with reasonable strategy on both sides, the sumo wrestler would have won every time, because strength doesn’t matter in a tug-of-war, weight does.