When the human race is gone which animal do you think will evolve into the next intelligent species?

I have always wondered which If any animal will evolve into intelligent beings like ourselves.
If we just vanished and didn't nuke the world or anything which animal would it be?.
Obviously I would say Chimpanzees or another great ape but what If they were gone also?.
Would whatever creature have to evolve opposable thumbs? I think so but then again with the increased O2 in the air with us gone would insects have a chance? would their hive minds increase in intelligence?.
I have no idea but it is fun to guess.

So which animal is going to have the chance of space travel If we go?.
Thoughts?.


BTW this is not a discussion on whether you believe in evolution or not...plenty of other threads discussing that so go elsewhere please If you want to ignore all the evidence and genetics etc.

You don't need opposable thumbs (see thread in my sig). I don't think any other animal will be able to do what humans have done, unless Earth becomes the "Planet of the Magpies" .

a reply to: boymonkey74

It depends on what causes the human race to not exist. If it is a cataclysmic event that destroys all life on earth then you gotta wait for another Big Bang.

a reply to: boymonkey74

That's hard to say. I think insects are the most likely and best poised to overtake the planet (it can probably argued that they do already) if (when) we get kicked from the top. Though I'm not sure evolution will evolve rational thought again.

OR maybe humans don't die out but end up evolving into multiple species. We could have elves and dwarves and orcs and REAL racism. Oh the fun humans would have being able to kill each other over real differences. Oh sorry, getting a little cynical there.

a reply to: boymonkey74

None....Animals don't evolve into intelligent beings...

We aren't or shall I say weren't monkeys or apes or whatever form of monkey you want in the past....

Not sure which animal or plant species but hopefully it will develop as the First Real Intelligent Species.

originally posted by: Observationalist
a reply to: boymonkey74

It depends on what causes the human race to not exist. If it is a cataclysmic event that destroys all life on earth then you gotta wait for another Big Bang.

Why does a new universe have to start expanding from a singularity have to occur in order for life to appear on the planet again? Science already thinks that life may have been seeded here multiple times (if it didn't arise through abiogenesis). Couldn't life just be reseeded? Or hey, maybe the conditions could arise for Abiogenesis to happen again.

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

No we were not monkeys but we sure are Great Apes...but we share a common ancestor with monkeys and other great apes.
This isn't a debate on that so just leave it and continue your ignorance in another thread please there are plenty to choose from.

Oh and Obs we all just died...no big war and we didn't blow it all up.

The hive mind is interesting but since I do not know what bee senses and communication the bees have I am unsure of how their consciousness would be.

But then if we go into human telepathy/6th senses then in a way even humans can create a hive/society/family that might be able to be more than the single parts (consciousness) and become a shared consciousness.

Worst case scenario I think in one way or another earth will be reseeded if humanity do not make it. Change the quantum probability field and voila you get evolution started and can even control how it will evolve.

Well they say cockroaches can survive a nuclear holocost so I'd go for insects too.

a reply to: boymonkey74

My money is on birds.

They already have the most efficient muscles, lungs and bones. They have more senses than humans already. For example they see magnetic field lines and they can see in UV.

They have a social protocol and language already. Their genus has been evolving probably 5x as long as the mammals. They've survived a number of major extinction events already. Highly adaptable within their environment. They float in water. They can already use tools. I could go on.

They just need to upgrade those gnarly feet of theirs.

Most likely a different type of mammal. They share a lot of our qualities and have complicated brains already. Think Dogs, Cats, Chimps/Apes, Dolphins.

We see in news everyday how much we love each other.. we propably will kill our own kind to extinction with a weapons we created. I would say dolphins will rule the world.. hopefully they wont create earth as ugly as we had .. Thumbs for Dolphins

a reply to: boymonkey74

Without a doubt, dogs.

originally posted by: EnigmaAgent
Well they say cockroaches can survive a nuclear holocost so I'd go for insects too.

Krazy you see this?

Sorry dude me and Krazy has just discussed this and that is a myth.

But valid answer to my question.

a reply to: boymonkey74

The Border Collie x Aussie Sheppard........ (-------- see left of this post. One awesome , and very intelligent species right there.






His name is Gravy btw, (all the chocolate names are taken) just incase your wonderin' and my nick name is Scubes or scuba, hence the tag SCUBAGRAVY....yeah baby

a reply to: dollukka

www.theonion.com...

Oh # says humanity lol.

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

I'm afraid you're wrong. Ignoring the facts of evolution won't make it go away. We are not special snowflakes, no matter how much we wish to be.

As to the OP, whichever animal requires ever increasing intellect to survive and reproduce in its natural habitat. Perhaps no evolutionary niche will require such intelligence, who knows.

a reply to: WeRpeons

Have you ever looked at the face of the dog when it begs for food and pats.. IT BEGS lol. No no no dogs don´t have the brain capacity for being the master

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

If we die off, most likely 90% of all species will die too.

Next intelligent species would probably be none that lives today.