Most successful species

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Rikkitic

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#239333 12-Jul-2018 14:39

My mind was wandering, as it does, and it occurred to me to wonder which was the most successful species on earth? The obvious answer would be us, or maybe cockroaches, but I think it is actually cats.

These are truly amazing animals. Cats are everywhere on earth, every city, every climate, every continent, every environment. They have even gone into space! They thrive by winning our affection and training us to serve their every whim, but they also get by quite well without us. To cats, we are a luxury, but definitely not a necessity. I don't know any population figures offhand, but I'm pretty sure they also outnumber us.

So are cats the most successful species on earth? What do others think?

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#2055126 12-Jul-2018 14:59

Sheep.

Here we are in NZ. Pretty much the most desired destination for immigration on the planet and sheep out number us almost ten to one.

Not only that, they get the best views in our beautiful country and free haircuts!

Fred99

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#2055159 12-Jul-2018 15:48

Pelagibacter ubique, apparently.

They outnumber us by about 40 billion billion to one.

Rikkitic

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#2055217 12-Jul-2018 17:18

Yeah, okay, but I was actually thinking of something a little bigger.

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tdgeek

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#2055248 12-Jul-2018 18:16

Cats do rock. Affectionate, but also independent. My gripe is feeding time. She knows its feeding time so meows. When I am going to feed her she meows LOUDER! Why?????

Dynamike

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#2055252 12-Jul-2018 18:23

I’d say Rats and Mice.

tdgeek

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#2055254 12-Jul-2018 18:29

Dynamike: I’d say Rats and Mice.

Success. Id say those at the top of the food tree. Humans. But domestic cats also, and for them its all provided. Food, water, shelter, warmth, affection when required.

They have it made. The old saying is I'd like to come back as a cat owned by a rich widow. And there have been cases they are in the Will.

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Fred99

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#2055255 12-Jul-2018 18:30

Rikkitic:

Yeah, okay, but I was actually thinking of something a little bigger.

OK. How big - and what's your measure of success? Last creature standing at the end of the game, the one who gets the happiest player certificate, or the ones with the most members on their team (before we kill 'em) ?

A quick google tells me that we probably outnumber cats 10:1 globally.

I prefer owls - and I'm damned annoyed that I'm not allowed to keep one as a pet - not even an introduced German owl.

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#2055261 12-Jul-2018 18:44

tdgeek:

Id say those at the top of the food tree. Humans.

Yeah... kind of...

But nah - plenty of organisms eat us, many of them can kill us, a few of them couldn't even survive if we weren't there as a food source.

Rikkitic

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#2055265 12-Jul-2018 18:50

Holy Harry Potter! Why are you not allowed to have an owl? I didn't know that.

Rats and mice are survivors, but they are not generally loved as pets (except by a few odd types). People don't (intentionally) feed them or invite them to curl up in front of the fire, or buy expensive pills for them when they are unwell. Cats beat rodents. They also eat them.

I don't think there is one single measure of species success. The ability of cats to appeal to humans and take full advantage of that counts for a lot. Also the fact that cats will do perfectly well when we are no longer on the scene to wait on them. They are clever and resourceful. And they are not banned as pets. They win in my book.

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Fred99

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#2055270 12-Jul-2018 19:05

Rikkitic:

Holy Harry Potter! Why are you not allowed to have an owl? I didn't know that.

I didn't either, until I caught a small hungry German (little) owl in the park - it could fly but not very well, so I thought it was better to rescue it before a dog ate it.
Beautiful creature, it calmed down and sat on the car seat while I drove around, was happy for me to pick it up, seemed to be aware I wasn't going to hurt it.
Bird rescue centre informed me that you're not allowed to keep them, but you could apply to "foster" injured owls (and other birds).

Here's a photo I took of it on the ground before I caught it. Its wing (drooping) wasn't broken - it was just hungry and tired.

kryptonjohn

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#2055296 12-Jul-2018 19:36

Owls are definitely cool, and the geeks of the animal world as well as being a raptor. What a combination!

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#2055613 13-Jul-2018 10:29

Ants do pretty well, global population ranging from 10,000 trillion to a quadrillion (a million trillion).

Ants control every millimetre of the Earth’s surface wherever they live, which is most places.

14,000 known ant species, the most domineering ones are those that are so well adapted that they are capable of moving freely around the world forming giant colonies of billions of individuals.

The Argentine ant, has spread from its South American origins to every continent except Antarctica and have colonies that stretch up to 6,000km along the coastlines of the Mediterranean, California in the US, and western Japan.

This view is my own and not that of Chorus.

^Mike

Rikkitic

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#2055658 13-Jul-2018 10:57

I suppose I should have excluded bacteria and insects. I was thinking warm and fuzzy at the time. Cats who grow up with people tend to like them. I'm not sure ants even notice us, unless we leave sugar out for them.

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#2055662 13-Jul-2018 11:09

tdgeek:

Cats do rock. Affectionate, but also independent. My gripe is feeding time. She knows its feeding time so meows. When I am going to feed her she meows LOUDER! Why?????

0600-0630 feed me one can, 0430 feed me half a can, 2200 feed me half a can and low and behold if you do not.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

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#2055667 13-Jul-2018 11:16

Mosquitoes

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