Which of the animals could take over the world after the death of mankind?

So, let's imagine that this happened - a giant meteorite fell on Earth, a nuclear war broke out, or an unknown virus killed all people. The trace of humanity was suddenly erased and a new era of "masters of the planet" began. Who will become them and how will their population develop in such conditions? We made several assumptions about this and selected the 10 most likely candidates for survival and evolution. Sit comfortably, now we will tell you about them ...

10 PHOTOS

1. Rats

Perhaps they were the first ones you thought of when you read the title of this collection. These rodents have a fairly well-developed intellect and the ability to create and organize social structures, so they could well replace humanity. According to scientists, after the rats enjoy their permissiveness and all human provisions are destroyed, they will begin to slowly but surely evolve. And if, in addition to everything, the cause of the death of mankind is somehow connected with radiation, then they will also mutate, which will give them practical ideal conditions for development.

2. The Bears

In conditions where the whole world is dominated by a human individual with his guns and other methods for protecting and killing animals, any other predator is unlikely to have a chance to defeat him. But if we are talking about the apocalypse, where there will be no trace of humanity, then the bears may well become the new rulers of the world. So, at least, scientists think.

And all because with the disappearance of man, the number of herbivores will increase, which will significantly expand the menu for predators and make them an order of magnitude stronger. After all, it was wealth and abundance that at one time made a reasonable modern man out of simple “predator-primates”.

3. Dogs

Already now, in some large cities of the planet (such as Mumbai), feral dogs capture entire areas, not even allowing accidentally lost people to set foot there. Thousands of cases of dog attacks on humans are known, and many of them are fatal. What to expect, speaking of the apocalypse? Most likely, dogs will begin their struggle for dominance and subsistence against rats (which sounds much more real than against humanity).

In general, such a global catastrophe could provoke a massive increase in the dog population, and this would lead to curious consequences.

4. Ants

"Small, yes daring!" - so you can say about these insects. Don't look at their size, pay attention to their number! If all people and all ants could be placed on the scales, then the weight of the latter would significantly exceed ours. In addition, ants significantly outperform other animals in terms of intelligence. They are controlled by the hive mind and have already learned how to grow various types of mushrooms and even keep aphids as livestock. Moreover, many ants use military tactics in their actions, such that one can easily draw a parallel between humanity and their wars.

5. Pigs

Pigs are not as simple and not as stupid as they might seem at first glance. Their intelligence and brain structure are very similar to those of humans, they also have an unsurpassed long-term memory and a unique ability to learn quickly. According to some estimates by scientists, pigs are much more intelligent than the same dogs, which puts them in a relatively close step to the creatures that dominate the modern world - people.

6. Octopuses

It is enough just to carefully look at octopuses to understand that they are capable of taking over the world! To begin with, the brain of an octopus is much larger relative to body size than that of a human. The lenses of the octopus eyes are very similar to the human, which is why they see about the same as we do. Also, a certain superiority of the octopus is that it has 8 tentacles (and a person has only 2 arms) and they are much more functional. Octopuses are able to learn by simply observing and this also becomes a good basis for the formation of a large population on the bones of the human race.

Some scientists genuinely wonder why octopuses have not yet taken over the world and overthrown humanity. So be warned - you should beware of them!

7. Raccoons

Raccoons, like many other members of the animal genus in this collection, are highly intelligent and have complex social structures. If it happens that humanity becomes extinct, they will be forced to make an evolutionary leap and perhaps even mutate.

In this matter, raccoons are somewhat similar to rats: it will take them a long time to evolve like a person, but these years will fly by…

8. Cockroaches

These little creatures with many legs are actually capable of surviving not just an apocalypse, but a whole nuclear war! 10% of all cockroaches are not susceptible to lethal doses of radiation, and this already says a lot. In addition, they develop and multiply at a breakneck pace. In just 1 decade, cockroaches have managed to develop immunity to toxic disinfectants (and this is the same as that humanity would be resistant to potassium cyanide).

Can cockroaches reach the same scale of development as humans? Hardly. But give them a couple of million years to develop and who knows how it will end ...

9. Monkey

Of course, monkeys cannot boast of a large population, because there are not as many of them as, for example, the same dogs. But if it suddenly happens that the virus kills all people, but this does not affect the monkeys, then you won’t have to wait long! With their intelligence and abilities, they will quickly become a quality replacement for humanity. Primates are highly trainable creatures with human-like social hierarchies. All they lack for rapid development is the complete absence of people on the planet.

10. Wolbachia

This is a parasitic bacterium that has every chance to control humanity without even waiting for its death. They live inside the cells of insects (almost 2/3) and arthropods and their power are simply amazing! For example, they can change the sex of a creature from male to female, thereby increasing their chances of breeding; they are able to kill the embryo of the future male, changing the seed in such a way that it will only be capable of conceiving females; they can integrate into the host's DNA, causing various mutations in that host.

In general, Wolbachia is not dangerous to humans, because does not have intellectual abilities, but in a post-apocalyptic world, she may not need them at all ...