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Evolution: A Lighthearted Question

Planet_Pluto · 2011-08-26 07:30:24

Just for the heck of it....Pretend that evolution never provided the Earth with primates.Based on that premise, which present day animal do you think would (after a gazillion years) become the dominant species (with 'advanced' societies, etc)?My first though was the octopus. They are very smart and very good at manipulating their environment. Unfortunately, they don't live long enough to really 'pass things on' to their offspring, so that would hamper their ability to build on the accomplishments of previous generations. Plus, just being underwater would be problematic (which is why I'm not picking dolphins either). Sure, sea creatures could evolve to be able to survive on land, but in that time I'm thinking critters that are already on land would be evolving as well and I'm not sure they could ever be caught up with.So, all in all, and also considering I certainly don't know every creature on the planet........ I'm going with Raccoons.Raccoons are incredibly smart (just look at how 'creative' they can be when trying to get into a secured garbage can or into a vacant building). They have the ability to survive in harsh conditions (both hot and cold). They appear to have somewhat stable 'family units' (at least during the early parts of raising offspring). They already have little 'hands' that they can use to manipulate (and possibly build) things. So, there's my answer. Take people and their predecessors out of the equation, add X-millions of years, and there's your king of the mountain. The Raccoon.What say you?EDIT: Oh yeah, and Raccoons can eat just about anything, which can come in useful.

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The-Apostle

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#51 The-Apostle

Member since 2004 • 12197 Posts

I don't really believe in evolution (as I'm sure everyone knows) but I'm going to answer the question anyway. I'm going to say if evolution were true, then it would've been elephants (without the trunk), whales, or dolphins due to their higher cognitive ability.

13 years ago