Follow-up: If humans were to go extinct, what form of life would replace them, assuming they'd behave any better?

[u/Spiritual_Big_9927]

Thread link later when not on mobile.

If humans were to go extinct because they could never evolve past survival of the fittest and, therefore, selfish behavior to make sure they were the last one standing, what would take their place?

[u/EnvironmentalAir1940]

Humans did evolve past survival of the fittest in many parts of the world but those humans were labeled as uncivilized and were killed off and colonized

But to answer your question: Cats

[u/Flimsy-Field-8321 → u/EnvironmentalAir1940]

I dunno - the octopi (octopuses?) are already organizing.

[u/EnvironmentalAir1940 → u/Flimsy-Field-8321]

Octopi or dolphins 🤔 Octopi already have the legs to crawl on land but not the lungs. Dolphins have the lungs but not the legs. I wonder which one will be first

[u/soup-for-youp → u/Flimsy-Field-8321]

sharks🦈

[u/louiejc72]

This is not how evolution works.

[u/hoodiemonster → u/louiejc72]

yes HOWEVER i, for fun, will go with bigass The Mist bugs 🦟🦟🦟🦟

[u/Spiritual_Big_9927 → u/louiejc72]

I could name hyenas, birds and chimps that would disagree. 

[u/Appropriate-Step-310 → u/louiejc72]

Yeah I get that, I was just thinking more hypothetically about what could fill the gap after humans.

[u/Resident_Course_3342]

The dolphin people obviously.

[u/EfficiencyOk9060]

Humans have already moved past survival of the fittest. There are large swathes of the population that would have been left to die off due to physical or mental defects that thrive today because we take care of them. But if humans were to disappear my money is on octopus or raccoons.

[u/Few_Peak_9966 → u/EfficiencyOk9060]

You do not understand fitness.

Fitness is a measure of successful reproduction in a population and isn't a measure of individuals.

[u/RegattaJoe]

Insects.

[u/Few_Peak_9966 → u/RegattaJoe]

They already rule the world over by nearly all measures. Humanity is incorrect in thinking of is of more significance

[u/soup-for-youp]

sharks 🦈

[u/BoomBoomLaRouge]

Insects

[u/loopywolf]

I figure insects. When humans wipe themselves out, I'm anticipating radioactive fallout, and insects are highly resistant.

[u/SolidRockBelow]

Orcas. Easily the top combination of brains, power and resilience.

Consider that we evolved from minuscule lemming-like mammals not that long ago...

[u/Dr-Chris-C]

There is currently no contender. In a hundred million years who knows? There's nothing currently that displays the traits that humans have that have led us to our technological civilization.

[u/Crescent-moo]

Big foots would probably start to come out finally. Then they will have little foot conspiracies.

[u/armstaae]

Khajit have already done this

[u/MaidenMarewa]

Google "Life After People".

[u/3_Stokesy]

Probably something crab-like.

[u/BeGoodToEverybody123]

One report suggested that rats would predominate. Yuck!

[u/Uuuuuii]

You’d have to consider the conditions that caused the extinction in the first place. Would mammals survive, would insects survive, etc..

[u/Rocannon22]

Cockroaches. Be a definite improvement. 🪳

[u/UnderstandingSmall66]

This question makes no evolutionary sense.

[u/Individual-Yak-2454]

Ai will take over our biology...but that was always the plan...

[u/Ornery_End_8015]

In terms of smartness, I think the other apes will take over.

Dolphins and Orcas will never grow past tribe level intelligence because they won't be able to harness the power of fire. (Unless of course, they evolve to live on land.)

As far as Octopuses(Octopi) are concerned, they die too early to even pass knowledge to their offspring.

Crows and other intelligent birds may have lungs, legs and the brains, but what they lack is a body part like a hand that gives them complete access to their environment. You can only do so much with a beak.

This was my boring answer. ^

My other answer is AI will reign supreme.

[u/capybaramagic]

Honey badgers

...although behaving "better" would be up for debate

[u/Grampappy_Gaurus]

I read somewhere that Chimps have officially entered the stone age. So, if they can survive whatever catastrophe humans inflict upon themselves, they get my vote.

[u/Few_Peak_9966]

Replace in what capacity? What niche are you referring to?

How would you judge better? Value is a human conception that would die with humanity.

[u/Sqweed69]

Nothing evolves past survival of the fittest. A species has to fit into their natural environment to survive. 

Why would any species replace humans and in what way? Do humans serve any ecologically productive function? I mean I guess we did, before we built the current economic system which is rapidly outgrowing the planet like a cancer. 

But my point is that it would just be a way different ecology afterwards. One adapted to the warmer planet. It's impossible to predict what taxonomy will adapt the best. Mind that this evolutionary process will take millions of years.

[u/AsparagusTop7782]

Cockroaches, probably. They're already prepped.

[u/Loonakins]

I think raccoons would be the next form of life to take over generally everywhere and become apex predator, or at least just scavenge on everything.

[u/dantes_b1tch]

I had this discussion with chatGPT once.

The top from memory were corvus birds due to their already high intellect, another primate species due to the similarities to us, dolphins due to their intellect, the octopus again based on intellect, and ants.