Which organism, other than humans, has the most potential to take over the planet?

Q: Which organism, other than humans, has the most potential to take over the planet?

Krishna: There is no other organism which can come close to human beings with regard to brain power. So as long as human beings exist, we cannot think of any other organism gaining power.

But when human beings disappear due to some catastrophe and assuming that some other living beings could survive it, let us ‘imagine what could happen’.

After millions of years of our disappearance , which animal or group of animals would “take over” as the dominant species?

The world is now and always has been dominated by bacteria despite the nominal end of the “age of microbes” some 1.2 billion years ago. This is one possible scenario at least for a ‘brief period’.

Under the microscope: Art work by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa

http://www.kkartfromscience.com

The Planet of the Apes imagines that our closest primate relatives could develop speech and adopt our technology if we gave them the time and space to do so. However, non-human primate societies are unlikely to inherit our dominance of the earth, because the apes are likely to precede us to extinction. We are already the only living hominid that’s conservation status is not endangered or critically endangered and the kind of global crisis that would extinguish our species is unlikely to spare the fragile remaining populations of the other great apes.

Will another, more distant, relative (primate, mammal, or otherwise) develop intelligence and human-like society? That too seems unlikely. Of all the species that were arguably dominant animals at some stage in the history of the Earth, humans are alone in their remarkable intelligence and manual dexterity. It follows that such traits are neither requirements for being dominant among animals, nor particularly likely traits to evolve. Evolution does not favour intelligence for its own sake, but only if it leads to higher survival and reproductive success. Consequently it’s a profound mistake to imagine that our successors are likely to be especially intelligent or social creatures, or that they will be capable of speech, or adept with human technology (1).

Scientists also think rats, bears, dogs and some other mammals are also capable of dominating earth.

Insects can take over earth too! This is because they have survived many environmental changes and are adapted in different ways. Insects possess an amazing diversity in size, form, and behavior. They have exoskeleton and carry on high rate of reproduction. They can reach so many different kind of food. They have adapted specialized mouth parts to suit the feeing habits .

Insects represent more than half of the world´s biodiversity and are thus considered to be the most evolutionarily successful group of terrestrial organisms in the history of life (2). The remarkable explosion of different insect lifestyles is due to their ability to colonise highly diverse niches. Insects survive both hot and arid conditions as well as temperatures far below zero. Since insects are not able to regulate their body temperatures, the success of these organisms has been associated with the appearance of a series of adaptations for survival in the face of desiccation and freezing. One of these adaptations is the accumulation of high levels of alcohols such as glycerol or sorbitol in specific organs.

What if a completely new organism evolves that can match us in mental capabilities? This is another scenario.

These are all only speculations. When several factors decide outcomes, they follow the interplay of scientific rules and routes and exactly fit into the reaction realities.

So , it is difficult to make our educated guess work hit the bulls’ eye.

Footnotes:

1. What species would become dominant on Earth if humans died out?
2. The secret to the success of insects