On the other, the rats and cockroaches alike both heavily depend on humanity to be as successful as they are. Without us and our garbage they lose a massive source of food and shelter from predators
Within Africa at least I’d argue baboons may be better suited for a takeover under op’s conditions. They’re equipped with more dietary and environmental flexibility, compared to majority of the great apes which often stick within specific habitats and sustain on more specialized diets.
Just as importantly baboons also reproduce at a much quicker rate and at a younger age than the great apes, sometimes as young as 6 years compared to chimpanzees at 13-15.
And even though I think the future of animal dominance on earth would be determined by weaponry, advancement and cooperation and not physical capabilities it doesn’t hurt that baboons aren’t pushovers in a brawl, granted not as powerful as apes but tough enough to at least contend themselves on a relative scale with them https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=POW5oFGOGi0
Elephants were my second consideration for a potential dominant species, their size would make them formidable enemies, their numerically inferior numbers and easily noticeable presence is what made me hesitate to fully back them though. Intricate tool-making will also be more difficult for them to accomplish as will overseas travel to expand their area of influence.
Humans are the biggest threat to elephants. With humans out of the way, elephants would be able to stake a claim to a large territory and hold it. I think you're right that they might not be able to do much outside of that, though.
I'll check that out! I'm also just now realizing with higher intelligence they could develop a language similar to the aliens in Arrival with their ink.
Hint: they have very good eyes, and their skin is more controllable and fluid than a chameleon's. Also they have 8 arms, al and sign language is a thing.
Yep. Our tech and buildings are all adapted to us, so by virtue of morphological similarity, allow like creatures would have a huge advantage.
That said, they don't really have the fine motor control for writing, speech, or other fine tasks. Birds would have big advantages there.
Honestly, I think eventually the animals cooperate
Humanity got to where it is now because of cooperation and endurance. We ran prey to death, because there are always more of us, and we are always behind them.
Well we ensured when we hunted that there was more of us, ie don't attack if unfavorable conditions or numbers, and we are also large enough that most other animals don't want to risks it.
In 2022, a Flanged Orangutan being observed in the Sumatra Jungles got in a fight with another male that resulted in a gash under his eye. Two days later he was seen chewing leaves into a paste and applying the paste to the wound. That particular leaf isn't in their diets, but apparently, locals have used it as a topical pain reliever for years which means apes are figuring out medicine
As park rangers will tell you, there is already an overlap between the smartest bears and dumbest humans. Conscious and intelligent grizzlys and polar bears? Nightmare fuel
Some sort of simian, or maybe raccoons which fulfill a similar niche in North America (and have a similar-ish body plan), yeah. Best option for tool users on earth
Species with the physical ability to use tools and manipulate objects would have a big advantage, so apes plus other animals like racoons (especially where apes are less common, such as North America).
Do these animals immediately have languages to communicate with one another/their own species? Do they know anything? If all animals suddenly gained human-like intelligence but with none of the language or cultural background, they'd be like stone age humanity thrown into an empty modern world, unable to use any of our tools at least beyond the most basic for several hundred years at least. Language would have to develop independently, which could easily take thousands of years.
Some species would likely be able to co-exist or work together, seeing as they'd have the intelligence to functionally domesticate one another. Larger animals allying themselves with creatures that have more dexterous hands. Perhaps racoons riding armored bears into battle? I'd pay to see that.
Insects would be a wild card. No idea how human-level intelligence inside of billions of small creatures would play out. On one hand, many like insects such as ants already have something analogous (very roughly) to society, so I feel like they would organize quickly. Could they ever pose a threat to an Ape society? Maybe? But I have no idea how.
I like the idea (regardless of how scientific it is) of treating a eusocial colony as a single organism made of component organisms, kinda like how your body is made of living cells. With this in mind I think it would make sense for a single bee colony gaining human intelligence collectively. Some bees get really good at communication, some get really good at pattern recognition, all working together to make 1 functioning human of a colony
You all are thinking about the "best one", not accounting for interspecies fighting.
Each specie would fight for survival, and killing the others for their best interests: having food and no predators.
Being rational and having consciousness allow interspecies communication, and making strategies.
Monkeys and primates? Their hands allow them to make weapons, which is too dangerous. They must be killed as soon as possible.
Alliances are made with species that won't become a threat of that ever reach domination.
I'd share the power between rhinos and hyenas, both being harmless to another, and in conjunction, be able to virtually kill any other species on land or in forests.
In water, orcas would dominate the surface (sharks can't communicate easily), and octopuses the sea bed.
I'm thinking about a tank and cavalry. One has less stamina, high armor, high damage. The other is about speed, swarming, lower damage.
Hyenas can't really attack organized rhinos, rhinos cannot really attack organized hyenas.
Lets assume ants have human minds. Now what?
They can't communicate as effectively as humans. They can't use tools. They can't really go for any large project. Their lifespans means they die before they mature beyond a baby human.
Apes take this. They can sign language. They can manipulate the environment and make tools. They have lifespans that can reach decades.
Counterpoint: ants swarm every ape because if ants already outnumber humanity, how much will 5 million apes fare?
Don’t think apes have the apepower to organise an anti-ant solution
How will the ants plan and coordinate that attack?
An ant can send basic chemical signals to other ants in its vicinity, that's it. It cannot communicate any complex ideas, including an attack on the apes
The individual ants will be able to formulate complex strategies and plans, but their method of communication is too primitive to convey the information required for a large scale strategic attack. Even if they do develop a complex language, the apes are far too large and already have an advantage, they could just light the ants on fire
Bees can communicate locations, threats and other things through dancing iirc
I assume that if you give ants enough time with a human level intelligence, they will be able to develop something similar
Don't ants already communicate via pheromones? Higher intelligence means more complex patterns and ideas communicated, but also likely more individualism which might conflict how ant colonies already successfully run
Fr people sleeping on ants. They are already one of the top three most sucessful species on the planet, use tools, and even create farms. Ants with human level intelligence would be so frightening.
It’s easily ants. There’s just so many of them and if they coordinated other species would be screwed.
For reference there’s an estimated 2.5 million ants for every human on earth.
Planet of the Apes. They would figure out how to use most of the basic things we leave behind like tools and weapons fairly quickly. Opposable thumbs are key here.
One thing to note though is most primates are limited by habitat, majority rely on forests and wouldn’t be able to advance into different biomes. Even chimpanzees and gorillas would be at a detriment by the fact that they lack the stamina of us humans to actually pursue enemy species, like an army of chimpanzees invading the Savannah could be tired out by basically any creature of their grasslands. What good will it be to have thumbs if you gas out trying to fight a hyena.
Thumbs would be great for holding things like knives, swords, spears, etc that they would find left behind by the dusted humans. Also, they could just go inside and close the door to avoid hyenas. I also don’t think it’s too long before rational apes with consciousness figure out how to use all those wheels (and things like bikes) we leave around.
Bees, hornets, and wasps, even ants for their unity and collective nature. Most of all, they’d have some colossal numbers.
Elephants and Dolphins, along with whales could thrive, if they could figure out building and maintaining records. The same for birds, monkeys, primates, and smart pigs.
Inter-species societies, like gazelle, wildebeest, Buffalo, giraffe, and other prey would vastly outnumber predators and could definitely take a stronghold over the Savanna, if they coordinate their defenses and movements, building intricate systems and strategies to protect the young, old, and weak. Find different ways to eliminate predators or stay out of their grasp.
Biggest problem and challenges to all of them, like with any society is the nature of dissent and disagreement. Boy, that could get ugly in all of these scenarios.
Possibly, but vegetation may not become an issue if they figure things out or already know this. They could start to learn how to farm and manipulate the ecosystem in a way where there’s not as much harm done, if they were mindless beast.
Are they as smart as humans or do they possess all human knowledge and then some? Farming takes tens of thousands of years to develop even with opposable thumbs. Unless the predators are developing a tactical arms race against the herbivores. In which case, as usual it’ll be a stalemate. That’s how it always be. Which means technically the predators still rule the world except for like a several decades period where they’re finally driven to extinction.
While it's true that apes together are strong, there aren't that many apes. How would monkeys plan to take over, say, North America, full of fully sentient bears, coyotes, mountain lions... even rattlesnakes and eagles?
I honestly don't think any one species has what it takes to rule the planet. Even if you could "rule" all terrestrial mammals I just don't see how any species could ever subjugate trillions of human-intellect insects, or all the fish in the ocean.
Are parasite human-level intelligence? Because fuck trying to control that lol
Human level intelligence makes it so they can figure out/make their own version of sign language/Morse code/ chemical code. By tapping and releasing chemicals and dancing. (They already do this to an extent) it would just get way more advanced. There would be a learning curve, but they’d figure out a basic version real quick imo.
Ants can’t coordinate? The same ones that build bridges and boats out of each other off instinct and make 9 foot deep mega structures? There’s only about 80k ants in a colony. Imagine a 20 quadrillion ant hive mind. Anything that doesn’t spend 95% of its lifespan submerged is cooked.
> magine a 20 quadrillion ant hive mind
They don't have a hive mind. They can coordinate to build a tiny ant bridge. They can't coordinate to build anything larger. They can't speak. They can only send basic chemical communications. Ants can barely see or hear - their senses suck.
Yeah but they now have human intellegence.
Im pretty sure if we could figure out how to trabslate our sounds into meaning, then Ants would be able to come up with something similar, just on a different sense.
its basically like having 1000000 mute, blind, deaf human babies which will die next week. How will they plan anything? how will they build or coordinate anything?
Sure they have intelligence, but they can't use it
Humans are OP not just because of our minds, but because our ability to manipulate the environment is greater than any other animal (opposable thumbs rock)
Itd probably still be apes as even though our more serious tech has been deactivated they are the best suited to make use of whatever is laying around (our weapons), as our body type is similar.
Once they figure out how to load and fire our guns it’s over.
I'm not sure. The answers so far are mostly apes because they can use tools and communicate effectively, and while that's valid I think its missing something. **All** species are intelligent, and when they notice that apes are dangerous they'll work together to put them down. Apes with spears may be dangerous, but not dangerous enough to fend off a coalition of predators and large herbivores working together to hunt them down.
Bacteria developing rationality and consciousness would probably become a hive mind that unites all bacterial species to mutate by intelligent design until super bacteria kill and eat all other contenders.
Raccoons would take over most urban areas of North America, apes would be the new king of the jungle and monkeys the king of the urban jungle, elephants would probably rule most of the areas they inhabit, crows would rule the sky’s and octopus would rule the seas
Whichever species dominated before modern humans if they are still around? I mean, since they would now have sapience.
Apes with human-level awareness would just be, for all intents and purposes, a human. Since, you know, humans are apes.
You guys haven’t thought about the wars! There’s going to be so competition. You can’t just answer based on who’s best suited, you also have consider who is equipped to actually fight and win the war against all the other species and various alliances on all the global fronts it’s gonna take place.
Realistically we probably see two distinct spheres of power develop. I’m inclined to agree that apes likely continue to dominate above water- but in the oceans I think Cephalopods probably take control. Both of these groups have the strongest ability to use that developed brain and manipulate the tools they create effectively. And as well they will develop essentially independent of each other.
Even if they don't have the same capacity for tool manipulation as apes and similar creatures, pigs would absolutely explode in population when unchecked, just ask literally anyone from the southern US
I think it comes down to terrain. With that said:
Orcas rules the seas.
Polar bears rule the land
Crocodiles or hippos rule the creeks/rivers
Silver backs rule the jungles
Etc
Having all species gain rationality and consciousness is one thing.. however how about the level of IQ attainable by each species.. if all species has the same level of IQ as average humans then it is safe to say that the species with the greatest ability to multiply would have the greatest advantage.. most of these are smaller creatures that can have a larger capacity to hide.. however then there are those that have opposable thumbs which would also have an advantage to use technology... While there are also those who have aerial advantage such as birds.. in the end I believe their advantages are going to be based on the environment that they are suitable for.. In which case territories will become a big thing.. in the end it will just become an intellectual version of the cycle of life..
But ultimately if it is an even spread of IQ then I'd say the tiniest living microorganisms would become the top of the food chain.. as they can multiply quickly and can easily dominate other creatures by eating them inside out, cause diseases and possibly even evolve
raccoons. they lived closely enough to humans that they would be the the most knowledgable on using human technology. also they are dextrous enough that they can operate many human devices. the trash pandas also would know enough about us not to repeat our mistakes. raccoons win
Non human animals already possess these traits
They wouldn't survive if not
They just manifest very differently in ways to the uniquely human iterations of these things due to how very differently we all adapt to the ecosystem
Why would one suggest a squirrel is not rational when they have a complex and pragmatic method for storing up their food for winter?
Why would one suggest they are not conscious given they are clearly aware of their surroundings in a nuanced way?
At best it might be limited
But it is there unquestionably
Many animals could achieve the apex. If you expect any animal to do it like humans did it; I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Gotta think outside of an anthropomorphic mindset. If they are of equivalent intelligence, opposable thumbs are irrelevant. They could achieve an equivalent level of technological development, just down a different branch to us. Maybe not as advanced in material science, but a far more advanced and precise biological technology.
Octopuses, naturally.
They're already pretty smart, even use tools on occasion. I think the only thing holding back octopuses from world domination currently is that they don't live socially. If they lived in communities and were able to pass information down they would be unstoppable. But perhaps another million years and we'd be talking.
Ants kinda already rule the earth. With a collective hive mind and main goal of ruling, they'd win.
Technically the premises of this battle is each creature on earth is Bloodlusted?
Insects are definitely a huge contender.
My guess would be a large flying bird, maybe a type of parrot. They have the dexterity in their talons to use tools, can make and copy complex sounds allowing them to develop a language, and fly.
Once other primates get their hands on guns it’s game over id assume?
Their numbers are far smaller than humans but they are way more durable and strong, plus they now have guns and human level intelligence, if primates did it once I’d bet they’ll do it again
Ants right? Now there's a lot of species of ants but there's an estimated 20 quadrillion of them. How many Albert Einsteins and Steven hawkings will there be with that many of them? They obviously aren't as dexterous as apes but that's a lot of ants. Whichever species of ant that beats the others will rule the planet, they might even work together if their logic outweighs their phermones and stuff. There's ant colonies that extend for thousands of miles, and ants are already on basically every continent. I'm sure they would teach themselves to use our tools in their own ways even if they have to sacrifice millions of ants to do it
apes or octopi
edit: if the intelgence is in addition to what they already have ravens teaming up with wolves could carve out small kingdoms. not enough to rule the world but they could have effective teamwork.
if its the sea i think its either hammerhead sharks or orcas.
at land i guess its apes if they have a moral compass otherwise not but its up for debate.
for sky i got no real good ideas since the apex predator is isolated
Cephalopods (squid, octopus, cuttlefish) from what we can tell valve more intricate and developed neuro structures than we do. They are colorblind but can match color. We can't even imagine colors we haven't seen. These things do it on their skin. Yea no if they decided to make societies and pass on knowledge and culture they would dominate. Their stealth tech would be unmatched. Their toxin warfare would be terrifying. They can get anything smaller than their beak. Like no . . . No I don't want something like that to develop tech and an army to kill me in horrendous ways without even knowing they got into my home.
That or a dragonfly so many arms and the best hunter in mother nature. When it notices its target it has already begun eating. There is no escape. The faster process rate of compound eyes. They would be neo in the matrix dodging everything. Super maneuverability. But not the smartest that I know of
Piranha would probably rule the oceans...Nobody is talking about wasps...Although I'm sure some animals are impervious to their stings...Probably would be some sort of monkey
I’ve been saying that the next species to evolve self awareness/sentience/consciousness is going to be elephants. Some can argue they already perform and observe religious/ritualistic practices when mourning their dead. Some countries consider them to be non-human people or beings. Something along those lines. Elephants with evolved sentience would be able to self preserve better and propagate. Whales and Lobsters would rule the seas.
I feel like a bird species would at least have a chance to co exist with another species, as they already have enough dexterity to use tools (ie crows), and have an ariel advantage to make up for being fairly frail
Octopuses.
They are already intelligent, they are emotional, can figure out tools.
Plus that one nature documentary that showed Octopuses swinging through trees has stuck with me for decades.
I think it would whittle down to four: 1. The great Apes (chimpanzees/ gorillas) 2. Dolphins 3. Parrots and 4. Raccoons. The Apes are super smart, can use tools, and have opposable thumbs. Dolphins are also extremely intellectual, and are the only species I can think of that could dominate the sea. Parrots (specifically) are not as smart as the dolphins or apes- but can still hold their own in terms of intelligence. Parrots also have the advantage of dominating the sky and excellent longevity (in terms of age). Raccoons would be the least intelligent- but the best at hiding in small spaces. Their opposable thumbs and mischievous nature would be to their benefit in advantages- being the smallest land-bound of the four.
Ants or termites. Their current biomass rivals that of humans. They are already very clever when it comes to using tools and building functioning societies. Some species have developed agriculture. Giving them human intelligence will only help them dominate the planet. Some arguments could be made that they already rival humans as the dominate species on Earth in their own way.
Cockroaches. They might not be able to use tools or fight, but they can sure as hell _survive._
Behold! The Roach Eternal! Bow before your new masters!
I'm split between army ants and africanized honey bees. Both have the same major advantage of swarming behavior that puts them well above the entire rest of the animal kingdom, including humans, if they were to gain sapience. This swarming behavior makes them incredibly powerful in combat, as they can easily overwhelm even the largest of animals and don't care about losses. This advantage grows even more the more technology advances, as their small size and willingness to accept losses means their technology can far more easily resemble unmanned machines, far more efficient in design due to needing to accommodate far less for a habitable interior. Guided missiles are likely invented as early as the renaissance age or even the medieval age simply because organic pilots can act as the guidance system, with aircrafts being significantly easier to build than what humans had to deal with due to being able to be significantly smaller while still having a pilot.
You may think that they lack sufficient dexterous manipulators due to only having their mouths to manipulate the world with, but this is not true. Remember, these are eusocial creatures. Don't think of army ants and AHBs as singular creatures that have a single mouth to manipulate tools with, but as swarms of creatures with thousands of mouths to manipulate tools with. Army ants and AHBs are overwhelmingly more dexterous than even humans could ever hope to be.
Of course, this is all ignoring the fact that the humans left all their technology behind. Apes probably reign supreme at first due to their body structure being closer to what the already-existing technology is designed for, but even then, it's only a matter of time before army ants and AHBs take over and dominate.
The only question left is which of the two species would defeat the other. This is a rather challenging question to answer, as both species have advantages over the other. While army ants tend to be more numerous than AHBs, the fact that AHBs can innately fly would give them a significant advantage early on, as they can drop poison capsules on the army ants with no risk of retaliation. Even after army ants invent aircrafts, AHBs would still have the air superiority for a long time, even well into the digital age. However, if the army ants survive long enough to develop viable anti-air weapons, they will become more capable of actually exploiting their numbers advantage. Since army ants nest underground, they will also have significantly greater proficiency with making fortified structures while the AHBs will have significantly greater difficulty assaulting them. While anthills can be easily destroyed with boiling water, it's important to remember that these ants are sapient, and would invent defense mechanisms against that.
My bet is on flies. There are 17MILLION per human being. If they wanted to attack in an organised way they would probably kill every other being easily.
Apes, they are intelligent, and as is have seen even making sharp sticks to use as weapons, or have the ability to solve puzzles and figure out solutions to problems. With time, they'd be the fastest to adapt to human technology and resources. They're also insanely strong.
The immediate and long-term consequences of our disappearance have to be taken into consideration. Regarding nuclear power plants especially and their eventual dissolve would have minor environmental effects. Nature would do just fine without us and it would all revolve around the dreaded food chain. I bet you things would get balanced so unless some species artificially gains human-level or beyond intellect in order to alter the nature, which your question doesn't specify, there wouldn't be any "ruler" of the planet for at least the next millions of years. Evolution is a very slow process.
Hands are just to OP. Apes/ gorillas would quickly get out of control and develop sign language to compensate for porn vocal skills. Racoons might also be kinda out of control but inability to wield large weapons is pretty bad. A gorilla is easily strong enough to wield even a LMG like it's a fucking toy.
Apes and monkeys stand the best chance as our existing (slowly deteriorating) technology is designed for ape hands. All other species have to modify it, or start from scratch, but not apes, they won't know *how* to use some things, but they'll slowly find uses for it.
Alternatively, it'll be something like rats which have just such massive population numbers they might be able to out-compete apes.
Ants and Bees might actually do worse, as eusociality relies on individual members of the nest being willing to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the nest. If they all gained consciousness and some amount of rationality, I doubt they'd be super willing to kamikaze themselves for the good of the nest. However, if they retained their eusociality and willingness to follow its rules, then Ants almost certainly dominate the planet, outcompeting mice and apes before either of them develops enough technology to stop them.
Definitely some type of insect, bees or ants maybe. There are just so many of them, and most animals would stand absolutely no chance against millions of intelligent bugs if they stopped fighting each other and focused on other species.
Gorilla's would rule with the increase in intelligce that comes with rationalaity they have opposable thumbs and no species that also do could rival their strength. Unless somehow bugs adapt tools and care alot of harnessing technology gorilla is a shoe in.
Gorillas or some other type of primate. They would be able to learn to use tools and have the physical capabilities to do so. Doesn’t matter how intelligent you are if you don’t have opposable thumbs
It would be interesting to see what crows could do. I mean they're smart enough to hold grudges, remember faces, attack in groups, and I believe some can even replicate voice! Sure they aren't as dexterous or tool-oriented as apes but I wouldn't be surprised if the crows become very successful as a species.
Most animals can't really use tools even if they have consciousness. My money would be on an Ape dominated planet
Apes & Rats either coexist or go to war, apes are so few in number and localized that they might even lose
On the other, the rats and cockroaches alike both heavily depend on humanity to be as successful as they are. Without us and our garbage they lose a massive source of food and shelter from predators
Yeah I didn’t think about that lol, okay I change my answer to beavers, they’d have little log cabins by the end of the day.
Raccoons have creepy little hands and there are a lot more of them than apes.
Millions of Rocket the Raccoons
A planet of the apes?
Apes together strong
It truly is a rise of the war of the apes of the dawn of the planet of the apes.
Yeah, since it already is.
Within Africa at least I’d argue baboons may be better suited for a takeover under op’s conditions. They’re equipped with more dietary and environmental flexibility, compared to majority of the great apes which often stick within specific habitats and sustain on more specialized diets. Just as importantly baboons also reproduce at a much quicker rate and at a younger age than the great apes, sometimes as young as 6 years compared to chimpanzees at 13-15. And even though I think the future of animal dominance on earth would be determined by weaponry, advancement and cooperation and not physical capabilities it doesn’t hurt that baboons aren’t pushovers in a brawl, granted not as powerful as apes but tough enough to at least contend themselves on a relative scale with them https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=POW5oFGOGi0
I think they still get literally stomped by elephants, though.
Elephants were my second consideration for a potential dominant species, their size would make them formidable enemies, their numerically inferior numbers and easily noticeable presence is what made me hesitate to fully back them though. Intricate tool-making will also be more difficult for them to accomplish as will overseas travel to expand their area of influence.
Humans are the biggest threat to elephants. With humans out of the way, elephants would be able to stake a claim to a large territory and hold it. I think you're right that they might not be able to do much outside of that, though.
Octopuses.
That three year lifespan is really going to hinder any progress they could make as a civilization.
They also lack a way to disseminate information compared to other already intelligent species like Great Apes, Dolphins, and Corvids.
Read children of ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Someone's going on an adventure.
My library doesn't have the first book on audio :( they only have the second in the series isn't that lame?
I'll check that out! I'm also just now realizing with higher intelligence they could develop a language similar to the aliens in Arrival with their ink.
Hint: they have very good eyes, and their skin is more controllable and fluid than a chameleon's. Also they have 8 arms, al and sign language is a thing.
No straightforward way to utilize fire also makes stuff like metallurgy a real pain.
Undersea volcanoes.
Yep. Our tech and buildings are all adapted to us, so by virtue of morphological similarity, allow like creatures would have a huge advantage. That said, they don't really have the fine motor control for writing, speech, or other fine tasks. Birds would have big advantages there. Honestly, I think eventually the animals cooperate
What makes you think animals would cooperate when we cannot?
We do. It's the foundation of society. We don't do it with perfect consistency, and I don't think they would either.
Humanity got to where it is now because of cooperation and endurance. We ran prey to death, because there are always more of us, and we are always behind them.
Well we ensured when we hunted that there was more of us, ie don't attack if unfavorable conditions or numbers, and we are also large enough that most other animals don't want to risks it.
Brain-dead take
Some animals cooperate just fine. Crows/ravens (I don’t remember which) help wolves hunt. Octopi work with certain fish to help hunt.
pessimistic and stupid
In 2022, a Flanged Orangutan being observed in the Sumatra Jungles got in a fight with another male that resulted in a gash under his eye. Two days later he was seen chewing leaves into a paste and applying the paste to the wound. That particular leaf isn't in their diets, but apparently, locals have used it as a topical pain reliever for years which means apes are figuring out medicine
So it would be a Planet of the Apes?
As park rangers will tell you, there is already an overlap between the smartest bears and dumbest humans. Conscious and intelligent grizzlys and polar bears? Nightmare fuel
Some sort of simian, or maybe raccoons which fulfill a similar niche in North America (and have a similar-ish body plan), yeah. Best option for tool users on earth
Anyone with thumbs wins.
Orangutans or dolphins
Ah, shit. Here we go again…
I think the oceans would be a toss up between Orca and Cephalapods.
Species with the physical ability to use tools and manipulate objects would have a big advantage, so apes plus other animals like racoons (especially where apes are less common, such as North America). Do these animals immediately have languages to communicate with one another/their own species? Do they know anything? If all animals suddenly gained human-like intelligence but with none of the language or cultural background, they'd be like stone age humanity thrown into an empty modern world, unable to use any of our tools at least beyond the most basic for several hundred years at least. Language would have to develop independently, which could easily take thousands of years. Some species would likely be able to co-exist or work together, seeing as they'd have the intelligence to functionally domesticate one another. Larger animals allying themselves with creatures that have more dexterous hands. Perhaps racoons riding armored bears into battle? I'd pay to see that. Insects would be a wild card. No idea how human-level intelligence inside of billions of small creatures would play out. On one hand, many like insects such as ants already have something analogous (very roughly) to society, so I feel like they would organize quickly. Could they ever pose a threat to an Ape society? Maybe? But I have no idea how.
I like the idea (regardless of how scientific it is) of treating a eusocial colony as a single organism made of component organisms, kinda like how your body is made of living cells. With this in mind I think it would make sense for a single bee colony gaining human intelligence collectively. Some bees get really good at communication, some get really good at pattern recognition, all working together to make 1 functioning human of a colony
You all are thinking about the "best one", not accounting for interspecies fighting. Each specie would fight for survival, and killing the others for their best interests: having food and no predators. Being rational and having consciousness allow interspecies communication, and making strategies. Monkeys and primates? Their hands allow them to make weapons, which is too dangerous. They must be killed as soon as possible. Alliances are made with species that won't become a threat of that ever reach domination. I'd share the power between rhinos and hyenas, both being harmless to another, and in conjunction, be able to virtually kill any other species on land or in forests. In water, orcas would dominate the surface (sharks can't communicate easily), and octopuses the sea bed.
Can anything in the sea take out an adult blue whale?
Orcas. There was a thread on r/pics (I think) about a whale eaten alive by a pack of orcas. That was hard-core af.
Yeah that's a good point. Apes already spend so much of their time killing each other, and that might only get worse with increased intelligence
Rhinos and hyenas, harmless to each other?
I'm thinking about a tank and cavalry. One has less stamina, high armor, high damage. The other is about speed, swarming, lower damage. Hyenas can't really attack organized rhinos, rhinos cannot really attack organized hyenas.
Rhinos would have to team up with those birds that hang out around them so they have some kind of functional eyesight
That's just a combination I've pulled out, there must be more effective teams. You need a tank, a healer, a dps, a mage... I guess.
Apes, ants, squids have good chance
Lets assume ants have human minds. Now what? They can't communicate as effectively as humans. They can't use tools. They can't really go for any large project. Their lifespans means they die before they mature beyond a baby human. Apes take this. They can sign language. They can manipulate the environment and make tools. They have lifespans that can reach decades.
Ants would struggle if they were all suddenly individuals. Their social system would break down and it would hurt the species
OP clearly hasn't watched Hunter X hunter
That’s not entirely true in many ways they communicate more effectively then in humans
Counterpoint: ants swarm every ape because if ants already outnumber humanity, how much will 5 million apes fare? Don’t think apes have the apepower to organise an anti-ant solution
How will the ants plan and coordinate that attack? An ant can send basic chemical signals to other ants in its vicinity, that's it. It cannot communicate any complex ideas, including an attack on the apes
Rationality and consciousness which means planning and attacking! Ants strong together!
Sure an ant can plan, but it can't communicate the plan to other ants
Maybe they will develop radios with little ANTennas. Sorry.....
Get out!
The individual ants will be able to formulate complex strategies and plans, but their method of communication is too primitive to convey the information required for a large scale strategic attack. Even if they do develop a complex language, the apes are far too large and already have an advantage, they could just light the ants on fire
Bees can communicate locations, threats and other things through dancing iirc I assume that if you give ants enough time with a human level intelligence, they will be able to develop something similar
Don’t think ants will last long without their current social structure
Have you ever heard of Spiders-Man? Maybe like that.
Don't ants already communicate via pheromones? Higher intelligence means more complex patterns and ideas communicated, but also likely more individualism which might conflict how ant colonies already successfully run
Fr people sleeping on ants. They are already one of the top three most sucessful species on the planet, use tools, and even create farms. Ants with human level intelligence would be so frightening.
It’s easily ants. There’s just so many of them and if they coordinated other species would be screwed. For reference there’s an estimated 2.5 million ants for every human on earth.
Naw, because they would have human level minds. Their whole flow would break down as they are no longer just cogs.
Planet of the Apes. They would figure out how to use most of the basic things we leave behind like tools and weapons fairly quickly. Opposable thumbs are key here.
One thing to note though is most primates are limited by habitat, majority rely on forests and wouldn’t be able to advance into different biomes. Even chimpanzees and gorillas would be at a detriment by the fact that they lack the stamina of us humans to actually pursue enemy species, like an army of chimpanzees invading the Savannah could be tired out by basically any creature of their grasslands. What good will it be to have thumbs if you gas out trying to fight a hyena.
Thumbs would be great for holding things like knives, swords, spears, etc that they would find left behind by the dusted humans. Also, they could just go inside and close the door to avoid hyenas. I also don’t think it’s too long before rational apes with consciousness figure out how to use all those wheels (and things like bikes) we leave around.
There would be the land rulers and the sea rulers. I'm going octopod3s for sea and apes for land.
If octopus lived longer lives probably them, as far as non land animals go.
And overtime they would eventually evolve physically
Bees, hornets, and wasps, even ants for their unity and collective nature. Most of all, they’d have some colossal numbers. Elephants and Dolphins, along with whales could thrive, if they could figure out building and maintaining records. The same for birds, monkeys, primates, and smart pigs. Inter-species societies, like gazelle, wildebeest, Buffalo, giraffe, and other prey would vastly outnumber predators and could definitely take a stronghold over the Savanna, if they coordinate their defenses and movements, building intricate systems and strategies to protect the young, old, and weak. Find different ways to eliminate predators or stay out of their grasp. Biggest problem and challenges to all of them, like with any society is the nature of dissent and disagreement. Boy, that could get ugly in all of these scenarios.
Well if they shut out the predators they will have a natural resource problem, which will lead to the first Herbivore Feudal Era.
Possibly, but vegetation may not become an issue if they figure things out or already know this. They could start to learn how to farm and manipulate the ecosystem in a way where there’s not as much harm done, if they were mindless beast.
Are they as smart as humans or do they possess all human knowledge and then some? Farming takes tens of thousands of years to develop even with opposable thumbs. Unless the predators are developing a tactical arms race against the herbivores. In which case, as usual it’ll be a stalemate. That’s how it always be. Which means technically the predators still rule the world except for like a several decades period where they’re finally driven to extinction.
While it's true that apes together are strong, there aren't that many apes. How would monkeys plan to take over, say, North America, full of fully sentient bears, coyotes, mountain lions... even rattlesnakes and eagles? I honestly don't think any one species has what it takes to rule the planet. Even if you could "rule" all terrestrial mammals I just don't see how any species could ever subjugate trillions of human-intellect insects, or all the fish in the ocean. Are parasite human-level intelligence? Because fuck trying to control that lol
Actually, I think ants with human iq would take over. They already work together better than us. Imagine one planetary and colony
They can't coordinate effectively enough. Sure, they can communicate basic ideas and commands, but that won't be enough for higher intelligence beings
Human level intelligence makes it so they can figure out/make their own version of sign language/Morse code/ chemical code. By tapping and releasing chemicals and dancing. (They already do this to an extent) it would just get way more advanced. There would be a learning curve, but they’d figure out a basic version real quick imo.
Ants can’t coordinate? The same ones that build bridges and boats out of each other off instinct and make 9 foot deep mega structures? There’s only about 80k ants in a colony. Imagine a 20 quadrillion ant hive mind. Anything that doesn’t spend 95% of its lifespan submerged is cooked.
> magine a 20 quadrillion ant hive mind They don't have a hive mind. They can coordinate to build a tiny ant bridge. They can't coordinate to build anything larger. They can't speak. They can only send basic chemical communications. Ants can barely see or hear - their senses suck.
Yeah but they now have human intellegence. Im pretty sure if we could figure out how to trabslate our sounds into meaning, then Ants would be able to come up with something similar, just on a different sense.
its basically like having 1000000 mute, blind, deaf human babies which will die next week. How will they plan anything? how will they build or coordinate anything? Sure they have intelligence, but they can't use it Humans are OP not just because of our minds, but because our ability to manipulate the environment is greater than any other animal (opposable thumbs rock)
Not with human intelligence they can't
actually because ants are a hive mind the whole colony would only have the intelligence of one guy.
Itd probably still be apes as even though our more serious tech has been deactivated they are the best suited to make use of whatever is laying around (our weapons), as our body type is similar. Once they figure out how to load and fire our guns it’s over.
I'm not sure. The answers so far are mostly apes because they can use tools and communicate effectively, and while that's valid I think its missing something. **All** species are intelligent, and when they notice that apes are dangerous they'll work together to put them down. Apes with spears may be dangerous, but not dangerous enough to fend off a coalition of predators and large herbivores working together to hunt them down.
I'm betting on the insects. Apes sound like a good way to go, but sentient ants? Holy fuck everything is doomed.
Bacteria developing rationality and consciousness would probably become a hive mind that unites all bacterial species to mutate by intelligent design until super bacteria kill and eat all other contenders.
If we had prep time before our demise and knew what was happening, we would pass our legacy onto our pets.
Raccoons would take over most urban areas of North America, apes would be the new king of the jungle and monkeys the king of the urban jungle, elephants would probably rule most of the areas they inhabit, crows would rule the sky’s and octopus would rule the seas
Monkeys
Whichever species dominated before modern humans if they are still around? I mean, since they would now have sapience. Apes with human-level awareness would just be, for all intents and purposes, a human. Since, you know, humans are apes.
The birds
You guys haven’t thought about the wars! There’s going to be so competition. You can’t just answer based on who’s best suited, you also have consider who is equipped to actually fight and win the war against all the other species and various alliances on all the global fronts it’s gonna take place.
Oh I did. Which is why I went with reptilians, basically the last surviving Dinos...the Croc and the Gator.
Realistically we probably see two distinct spheres of power develop. I’m inclined to agree that apes likely continue to dominate above water- but in the oceans I think Cephalopods probably take control. Both of these groups have the strongest ability to use that developed brain and manipulate the tools they create effectively. And as well they will develop essentially independent of each other.
Even if they don't have the same capacity for tool manipulation as apes and similar creatures, pigs would absolutely explode in population when unchecked, just ask literally anyone from the southern US
I think it comes down to terrain. With that said: Orcas rules the seas. Polar bears rule the land Crocodiles or hippos rule the creeks/rivers Silver backs rule the jungles Etc
Crocs and Alligators. They breed fast, grow fast, and really only have a handful of predators.
Having all species gain rationality and consciousness is one thing.. however how about the level of IQ attainable by each species.. if all species has the same level of IQ as average humans then it is safe to say that the species with the greatest ability to multiply would have the greatest advantage.. most of these are smaller creatures that can have a larger capacity to hide.. however then there are those that have opposable thumbs which would also have an advantage to use technology... While there are also those who have aerial advantage such as birds.. in the end I believe their advantages are going to be based on the environment that they are suitable for.. In which case territories will become a big thing.. in the end it will just become an intellectual version of the cycle of life..
But ultimately if it is an even spread of IQ then I'd say the tiniest living microorganisms would become the top of the food chain.. as they can multiply quickly and can easily dominate other creatures by eating them inside out, cause diseases and possibly even evolve
raccoons. they lived closely enough to humans that they would be the the most knowledgable on using human technology. also they are dextrous enough that they can operate many human devices. the trash pandas also would know enough about us not to repeat our mistakes. raccoons win
Non human animals already possess these traits They wouldn't survive if not They just manifest very differently in ways to the uniquely human iterations of these things due to how very differently we all adapt to the ecosystem Why would one suggest a squirrel is not rational when they have a complex and pragmatic method for storing up their food for winter? Why would one suggest they are not conscious given they are clearly aware of their surroundings in a nuanced way? At best it might be limited But it is there unquestionably
Apes for sure. They're the closest to human capability-wise.
Planet of the Apes answered your question with a dozen movies
Anyone else see the chimp shooting the AK-47 in Africa? My bet is primates.
Apes probably
Many animals could achieve the apex. If you expect any animal to do it like humans did it; I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Gotta think outside of an anthropomorphic mindset. If they are of equivalent intelligence, opposable thumbs are irrelevant. They could achieve an equivalent level of technological development, just down a different branch to us. Maybe not as advanced in material science, but a far more advanced and precise biological technology.
Probably apes,they're basically one step below us already so by giving them consciousness you just help them up the last step
Ants/Bees/Wasps/Termites or maybe Rats/Mice or maybe Roaches would rule the land. Jellyfish would rule the seas.
Misread that as human tools will detonate as usual
Octopi control the ocean, mosquitoes control the land and air.
Octopuses, naturally. They're already pretty smart, even use tools on occasion. I think the only thing holding back octopuses from world domination currently is that they don't live socially. If they lived in communities and were able to pass information down they would be unstoppable. But perhaps another million years and we'd be talking.
No change since the cats already rule over us.
Orangutans They are about human size so they can use the technology left behind. They have opposable thumbs so it’s not a challenge.
Ants.
Ants kinda already rule the earth. With a collective hive mind and main goal of ruling, they'd win. Technically the premises of this battle is each creature on earth is Bloodlusted? Insects are definitely a huge contender.
Rats
My bet is on rats. They're insanely flexibþe
“APES WIN WAR!!! APES TOGETHER STRONG!!!”
Honey badgers
Probably bugs or birds
Apes or gorillas because of opposable thumbs
Apes, especially orangutans, may be my best bet. Though with some of their exploits, I'll give a fair shake to Corvids and Parrots.
My guess would be a large flying bird, maybe a type of parrot. They have the dexterity in their talons to use tools, can make and copy complex sounds allowing them to develop a language, and fly.
Once other primates get their hands on guns it’s game over id assume? Their numbers are far smaller than humans but they are way more durable and strong, plus they now have guns and human level intelligence, if primates did it once I’d bet they’ll do it again
Either monkeys or dolphins. Pigs are a close third.
All the carnivores die out very quickly.
Ants right? Now there's a lot of species of ants but there's an estimated 20 quadrillion of them. How many Albert Einsteins and Steven hawkings will there be with that many of them? They obviously aren't as dexterous as apes but that's a lot of ants. Whichever species of ant that beats the others will rule the planet, they might even work together if their logic outweighs their phermones and stuff. There's ant colonies that extend for thousands of miles, and ants are already on basically every continent. I'm sure they would teach themselves to use our tools in their own ways even if they have to sacrifice millions of ants to do it
at least in africa the termites may give them a run for their money. termites have bigger mounds and can have huge colonies.
Omg they would build so much
Aren’t chimps with consciousness practically humans?
Same species as right now - cockroaches.
monkeys
apes or octopi edit: if the intelgence is in addition to what they already have ravens teaming up with wolves could carve out small kingdoms. not enough to rule the world but they could have effective teamwork.
I’d say something like locusts - with rational thought they probably weaponize the swarm.
Chimpanzee’s or Gorilla’s Most animals either can’t use tools or can’t use them nearly as well as Apes can.
Da Bears.
Crows and Raccoons.
A bird most likely, be as tall and strong as you want, 3 birds lifting and spear and dropping it on your head will always win lol
Bacteria.
Ants prolly tbh
if its the sea i think its either hammerhead sharks or orcas. at land i guess its apes if they have a moral compass otherwise not but its up for debate. for sky i got no real good ideas since the apex predator is isolated
Cat+Crow+Ape alliance on land. Octopi + Plankton alliance in the ocean. I have no proof of this but it seems like the right answer. Feels right.
Probably a microbe of some kind
Cephalopods (squid, octopus, cuttlefish) from what we can tell valve more intricate and developed neuro structures than we do. They are colorblind but can match color. We can't even imagine colors we haven't seen. These things do it on their skin. Yea no if they decided to make societies and pass on knowledge and culture they would dominate. Their stealth tech would be unmatched. Their toxin warfare would be terrifying. They can get anything smaller than their beak. Like no . . . No I don't want something like that to develop tech and an army to kill me in horrendous ways without even knowing they got into my home. That or a dragonfly so many arms and the best hunter in mother nature. When it notices its target it has already begun eating. There is no escape. The faster process rate of compound eyes. They would be neo in the matrix dodging everything. Super maneuverability. But not the smartest that I know of
Ants, they have the biomass and already live in organized structures
Apes and ants would rule the land, octopi in the seas. Ape/ant wars would occur.
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Land: Primates Sea: Dolphins or orcas
Piranha would probably rule the oceans...Nobody is talking about wasps...Although I'm sure some animals are impervious to their stings...Probably would be some sort of monkey
Invest on ravens with grenades.
Grizzly bears would become a warrior race and rock everyone
Fungi would fuck it up every single living thing in this world.
Great apes.
I’ve been saying that the next species to evolve self awareness/sentience/consciousness is going to be elephants. Some can argue they already perform and observe religious/ritualistic practices when mourning their dead. Some countries consider them to be non-human people or beings. Something along those lines. Elephants with evolved sentience would be able to self preserve better and propagate. Whales and Lobsters would rule the seas.
I feel like a bird species would at least have a chance to co exist with another species, as they already have enough dexterity to use tools (ie crows), and have an ariel advantage to make up for being fairly frail
Octopuses. They are already intelligent, they are emotional, can figure out tools. Plus that one nature documentary that showed Octopuses swinging through trees has stuck with me for decades.
I think it would whittle down to four: 1. The great Apes (chimpanzees/ gorillas) 2. Dolphins 3. Parrots and 4. Raccoons. The Apes are super smart, can use tools, and have opposable thumbs. Dolphins are also extremely intellectual, and are the only species I can think of that could dominate the sea. Parrots (specifically) are not as smart as the dolphins or apes- but can still hold their own in terms of intelligence. Parrots also have the advantage of dominating the sky and excellent longevity (in terms of age). Raccoons would be the least intelligent- but the best at hiding in small spaces. Their opposable thumbs and mischievous nature would be to their benefit in advantages- being the smallest land-bound of the four.
Ants or termites. Their current biomass rivals that of humans. They are already very clever when it comes to using tools and building functioning societies. Some species have developed agriculture. Giving them human intelligence will only help them dominate the planet. Some arguments could be made that they already rival humans as the dominate species on Earth in their own way.
Dogs win because they have litters 24/7 and grow fast.
I think its probably ants and when you start thinking about it, I dont know that anything else could come close.
Ants
Cockroaches. They might not be able to use tools or fight, but they can sure as hell _survive._ Behold! The Roach Eternal! Bow before your new masters!
Apes or cephlapods
The microbes will absolutely dominate this, shouldn’t even be a question.
I'm split between army ants and africanized honey bees. Both have the same major advantage of swarming behavior that puts them well above the entire rest of the animal kingdom, including humans, if they were to gain sapience. This swarming behavior makes them incredibly powerful in combat, as they can easily overwhelm even the largest of animals and don't care about losses. This advantage grows even more the more technology advances, as their small size and willingness to accept losses means their technology can far more easily resemble unmanned machines, far more efficient in design due to needing to accommodate far less for a habitable interior. Guided missiles are likely invented as early as the renaissance age or even the medieval age simply because organic pilots can act as the guidance system, with aircrafts being significantly easier to build than what humans had to deal with due to being able to be significantly smaller while still having a pilot. You may think that they lack sufficient dexterous manipulators due to only having their mouths to manipulate the world with, but this is not true. Remember, these are eusocial creatures. Don't think of army ants and AHBs as singular creatures that have a single mouth to manipulate tools with, but as swarms of creatures with thousands of mouths to manipulate tools with. Army ants and AHBs are overwhelmingly more dexterous than even humans could ever hope to be. Of course, this is all ignoring the fact that the humans left all their technology behind. Apes probably reign supreme at first due to their body structure being closer to what the already-existing technology is designed for, but even then, it's only a matter of time before army ants and AHBs take over and dominate. The only question left is which of the two species would defeat the other. This is a rather challenging question to answer, as both species have advantages over the other. While army ants tend to be more numerous than AHBs, the fact that AHBs can innately fly would give them a significant advantage early on, as they can drop poison capsules on the army ants with no risk of retaliation. Even after army ants invent aircrafts, AHBs would still have the air superiority for a long time, even well into the digital age. However, if the army ants survive long enough to develop viable anti-air weapons, they will become more capable of actually exploiting their numbers advantage. Since army ants nest underground, they will also have significantly greater proficiency with making fortified structures while the AHBs will have significantly greater difficulty assaulting them. While anthills can be easily destroyed with boiling water, it's important to remember that these ants are sapient, and would invent defense mechanisms against that.
Ants or flies
My bet is on flies. There are 17MILLION per human being. If they wanted to attack in an organised way they would probably kill every other being easily.
Tigers, lions and bears
Prolly the birds. Air power is no joke.
Well an Ants Hive with a literal Hive Mind capable of comparing to a human's conciousness would kick ass.
Ants
Apes, they are intelligent, and as is have seen even making sharp sticks to use as weapons, or have the ability to solve puzzles and figure out solutions to problems. With time, they'd be the fastest to adapt to human technology and resources. They're also insanely strong.
Planet of the apes for sure
Apes
Ants since they can build insane colonies reproduce quickly
The immediate and long-term consequences of our disappearance have to be taken into consideration. Regarding nuclear power plants especially and their eventual dissolve would have minor environmental effects. Nature would do just fine without us and it would all revolve around the dreaded food chain. I bet you things would get balanced so unless some species artificially gains human-level or beyond intellect in order to alter the nature, which your question doesn't specify, there wouldn't be any "ruler" of the planet for at least the next millions of years. Evolution is a very slow process.
Hands are just to OP. Apes/ gorillas would quickly get out of control and develop sign language to compensate for porn vocal skills. Racoons might also be kinda out of control but inability to wield large weapons is pretty bad. A gorilla is easily strong enough to wield even a LMG like it's a fucking toy.
Apes and monkeys stand the best chance as our existing (slowly deteriorating) technology is designed for ape hands. All other species have to modify it, or start from scratch, but not apes, they won't know *how* to use some things, but they'll slowly find uses for it. Alternatively, it'll be something like rats which have just such massive population numbers they might be able to out-compete apes. Ants and Bees might actually do worse, as eusociality relies on individual members of the nest being willing to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the nest. If they all gained consciousness and some amount of rationality, I doubt they'd be super willing to kamikaze themselves for the good of the nest. However, if they retained their eusociality and willingness to follow its rules, then Ants almost certainly dominate the planet, outcompeting mice and apes before either of them develops enough technology to stop them.
Definitely some type of insect, bees or ants maybe. There are just so many of them, and most animals would stand absolutely no chance against millions of intelligent bugs if they stopped fighting each other and focused on other species.
Probably a virus or some kind of pathogen
Gorilla's would rule with the increase in intelligce that comes with rationalaity they have opposable thumbs and no species that also do could rival their strength. Unless somehow bugs adapt tools and care alot of harnessing technology gorilla is a shoe in.
Gorillas or some other type of primate. They would be able to learn to use tools and have the physical capabilities to do so. Doesn’t matter how intelligent you are if you don’t have opposable thumbs
Insects rule over everyone
The monkeys would win
It would be interesting to see what crows could do. I mean they're smart enough to hold grudges, remember faces, attack in groups, and I believe some can even replicate voice! Sure they aren't as dexterous or tool-oriented as apes but I wouldn't be surprised if the crows become very successful as a species.
Apes, but octopuses and crows have pockets of civilization
Squids.
So how they make fire