What has been the most successful animal ever?
Clive Tiney
Haxby, North Yorkshire, UK
Firstly, we need to define what we mean by successful.
Advertisement
Humans are probably the most successful at colonising the planet, but we haven鈥檛 been around for long when compared with the coelacanth, a type of fish that evolved more than 400 million years ago, or even monotremes, . Such longevity might be a definition of success.
Brown rats have managed to colonise almost everywhere that humans have with very little effort, perhaps that is another definition. Of course, so have the bacteria in our guts.
Secondly, we should add the words 鈥渟o far鈥� to the question. Humans may be successful now, but our success has been so destructive to the planet鈥檚 ecosystems that we may not be around for much longer.
Geoffrey Clark
Douglas, Isle of Man, UK
By many metrics, the most successful animal species is Homo sapiens: it has conquered the world and can fly around it in a matter of hours; it can live at the polar regions and the equator; plus, it is able to dive the depths of the sea, climb the highest mountains and even go to the moon.
Yet, in so doing, we have driven to extinction many species and will probably do more harm in the next 30 years or so because of the pollution we have created. We may even render Earth almost uninhabitable, at least for our own species. Is this success? Many dinosaur species lived millions of years longer than H. sapiens has so far managed.
As for individuals, a clam was found in the Arctic that was 507 years old, making it the oldest known animal except for colonial ones, such as corals. This may be counted as 鈥渟uccessful鈥�, if sitting in one place in the sea for that time, just filtering nutrients without dying is a success. We might also consider the called Methuselah, in California, which is nearly 5000 years old and just stands there, getting older.
The tardigrade is another successful species, in that individuals can lie dormant for years, even in space, yet with a little water they will come back to life.
Bryn Glover
Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire, UK
Another way to look at this question is to say that every animal is equally successful, as each represents its own equal pinnacle of development from the last universal common ancestor.
GodthelpHendrik
via Twitter
Rats and house mice. These have expanded into every part of the world and nearly every environment, riding the coat-tails of humans.
James_LeePT
via Twitter
House cats, for realising they can get humans to do everything for them, so they can just chill.
To answer this question 鈥� or ask a new one 鈥� email lastword@newscientist.com.
Questions should be scientific enquiries about everyday phenomena, and both questions and answers should be concise. We reserve the right to edit items for clarity and style. Please include a postal address, daytime telephone number and email address.
麻豆传媒 retains total editorial control over the published content and reserves all rights to reuse question and answer material that has been submitted by readers in any medium or in any format.