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They already have. :) As a somewhat unrelated aside, I think that if we bite the big one as a species, Waschbär (raccoons) might inherit the Earth. They have t
by M_Grey 10y ago
They already have. :)
As a somewhat unrelated aside, I think that if we bite the big one as a species, Waschbär (raccoons) might inherit the Earth. They have that combination of clever "hands", social structures, omnivorous diets that could make it work for them. Still, beneath it all, the water bears will secretly rule, through freeze and thaw.
- TeMPOraL 10y agoSo if the warning is "beware of the Sea People"[0], maybe we really should be wary of the water bears? [0] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12767821 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12767821
- M_Grey 10y agoThis is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but a water bear.
- mrfusion 10y agoMore so than apes though?
- M_Grey 10y agoApes are too restricted in their habitats compared to something like a racoon, and anything which takes us out, is likely to do the same for them... even assuming they survive our influence on their environment over the next few decades. Raccoons meanwhile, have adapted to us.
- mrfusion 10y agoGood point. I've given this issue a lot of thought for some reason. I had crows and elephants on my list. But raccoons actually make a lot of sense.
- M_Grey 10y agoCrows are amazing creatures, but they lack the advantage of hands, and I think that really matters in the long run. If something is going to take our place, they probably need to be adept tool users, so the same issue is there for Elephants, plus they lack the ability to rapidly adapt to new environments and food sources. Maybe Octopodes will make a surprise "come from underwater" victory though, who knows? I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks about this kind of thing by the way.
- mrfusion 10y agoI figured crows feet would evolve to be hand like but that would take a while. I believe elephants can manipulate the ends of their trunk like fingers plus having tusks to hold things against. In any case I'm putting my money on racoons now.
- M_Grey 10y agoGood point about Elephants, I didn't consider that. Thanks for the enjoyable and informative exchange.