If mankind fails and goes extinct like 99.9% of the species that have ever existed on planet Earth; there are two apex species that I believe (my hope) would take the torch assuming they survive whatever resulted in our termination. What would the Orca or Dolphin evolve into during the next billion years — or worse case scenario, the ant or the cockroach? If you had to pick a replacement, what would be your choice? And you can’t pick the Chimp…that experiment is already running its course:)
Contemplating The Human Direction 
mer-people of course- Ants and cockroaches- Evolve into super giant colonizing Intelligent warmongers. . . Every species has its balance… Um.. This is hard because I love all humans. But how about the ever forgotten Aviators ? Always having to share their air with diesel fuel and pollution sea and air. I’d like to see them to survive. They do evolve. Owls hunting during the day and living in cities….
lol love all animal = )
lol…thank goodness…to love all humans would truly be a miracle. Yes…the Owl is cool…rarely seen…the hawk is a love of mine…or an I love to watch the Seagulls here soaring effortless on a windy day.
I would pick the Dolphin………because of familiarity- i see them almost everyday from my S.C.
coastal view. Playful, gentle, committed to place, seemingly happy to comingle peacefully with sometimes loud and chaotic human movements…….sleek, graceful, a kind of intelligence i can only guess at………they seem admirable characters….what are they thinking?
I am with you there…lucky you…get to see them every day! I can’t decide between the dolphin and the Orca…like them for different reasons.
Dolphins are awesome = ) Manatees are Very playful and gentle as well. Smarter than given credit for.. Used to catch a sight of them every once in a while at the inlet in newsmyrna florida.
Yes, Manatees seem very different…never seen one live…they do seem like gentle spirits.
I think I’ll go with the horseshoe crab.
Lmao…looks like a moving pile of crap
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That may be so, but as a species it has outlived and likely will outlive all of your so-called “apex-species” by a spectacular margin. Estimates put it in or close to it’s current form as 445 million years old. The big, bad T-Rex lived for a puny 3 million years. If you want to talk about “the survival of the fittest”, that little “moving pile of crap” is your poster child.
Cheers Mate,
~DS~
LOL…you may be correct…it could be the “living fossils” that are the fittest…of course the crocodiles also fit into that category. May even be something lower than the Horseshoe Crab or the Cockroach…may be bacteria at the bottom of the ocean living off volcanic vents…but you know me…the glossy-eyed dreamer…hoping that what may result in our termination preserves some of the more noble and beautiful beasts that roam the planet.
Cats – (already running things around here)…
what if they don’t evolve? What if they are still dolphins and such a billion years from now? You know, kind of like the fossil record shows. Things appear formed, and then die. I’ve never seen a transitional fossil or specie. So I’m not convinced what a billion or 10 billion years will do for us after we are gone.
According to scientists, right or wrong, the dolphin (and Orca) evolved from a land animal similar to a wolf. I am not sure evolution ever stops. Why wouldn’t the dolphin or Orca evolve into something else or produce a genetic offshoot that goes a different direction? If we came from chimps…why couldn’t some form of new intelligent being come from the Orca or dolphin? I think they are beautiful as they are…but I imagine they will produce a new species over time.