Could Apes Really Rule A World Without Us?
Planet Of The Apes… Or Not?
The hugely successful, fascinating movie franchise Planet of the Apes charts a human (Homo sapiens) apocalypse and subsequent rise to prominence of apes (Hominidae). But if humans were to die out, would apes really become the dominant species, or would it even be another?
Other Claimants
Ardent zoologists writing on the BBC’s Science Focus portal argue that humans are not the dominant species and never have been. They explain that ants are far more numerous than humans, trees have much longer lifespans, and fungi have a combined weight greater than the entire human race. However, given these varied criteria for dominance—population size, lifespan, planetary mass—they crowned bacteria as the true rulers, classifying them as the dominant life form. It makes sense when you think about it: bacteria existed 4 billion years before us, they created the oxygen in the atmosphere, and they outnumber us by a thousand quadrillion to one (10 27). The combined mass of bacteria outweighs all animal life, and they inhabit a much larger biosphere than humans, living everywhere from the stratosphere to the ocean floor. Bacteria regularly overwhelm our immune systems and antibiotics, killing hundreds of thousands of us every year. Bacteria were dominant before us and will remain so even after humans are gone.
Macro-organisms
Fair enough then, bacteria are winning, but what about macro-organisms? Would apes become the dominant macro-organism if humans die out? It’s still unlikely because it’s been argued that any event resulting in human extinction would likely impact the fragile and small populations of physiologically similar apes, even more severely and potentially more quickly than us. Zoonotic diseases, solar radiation, a new apex predator—these threats would affect apes as well. Our fates are most likely tied together, and given our technological advantages, apes would probably succumb to an existential threat before we did.
Films like Day of the Triffids and Video Game / TV Series The Last of Us have suggested that carnivorous plants and intelligent fungi could become the new apex predators, but there’s not much science to support this. The reality is that we don’t really know which species would become dominant. It would depend on the specific cause of human extinction. For example, if excessive heat, radiation or food scarcity were to kill off humans, then life forms—whether plant or animal—that can best adapt to these conditions might become dominant. This could be an existing species or a newly evolved one.
So, the extinction of humans is unlikely to lead to a Planet of the Apes scenario. It’s more likely to result in a “planet of the species that best adapts to the apocalyptic event” or “planet of a newly evolved species”. But that doesn’t make for a very catchy film title.
How Did Humans Become The Dominant Species On Earth?
Now, arguably, bacteria are the dominant species on Earth, but I have discussed that elsewhere and won’t repeat myself here. Instead, I’m curious to explore how, after bacteria, humans became the dominant species on Earth.
For a long time, paleontological evidence (or the lack of it) led scientists to believe that dinosaurs and prehistoric humans did not coexist. However, science has evolved, and new molecular data from a groundbreaking collaboration between scientists from the University of Bristol and the University of Fribourg suggests that placental mammals (including humans) did briefly coexist with dinosaurs before the dinosaur extinction event. Nevertheless, the scarcity of paleontological evidence implies that the hostile cretaceous period environment likely limited human numbers.
This discovery updates the narrative of how humans became the dominant species. When the asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, causing a mass extinction event, it wiped out the dinosaurs, which were a major competitor to early mammals. This allowed mammals, including our prehistoric ancestors, to thrive in a post-dinosaur world. Prehistoric humans began to rise up the food chain thanks to several important and unique features: binocular vision, dexterous fingers, superior intelligence, social skills, and the use of tools. These attributes enabled us to hunt and farm other animals, becoming the apex predator. They also allowed prehistoric humans to adapt to environmental changes, exert control over their surroundings, and maintain their position at the top of the food chain.
The group of prehistoric humans known as hominids consisted of several species, including Homo erectus, Homo habilis (Neanderthals), Australopithecus, and Homo sapiens—the latter being our species, and the only one that exists today. Our status as the only surviving hominid species was likely not the result of some war for dominance between the different hominid species. Instead, hominid populations emerged and expanded faster across Africa, connected through trade and social networks. About 50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens established itself as the dominant hominid species, likely due to our superior ability to adapt to various conditions across the Earth, thanks to increased cognitive function.
In the end the natural historic part of our rise to dominance is not particularly dramatic, in the theatric sense—it is more National Geographic docu-channel content than Hollywood blockbuster material.
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I am a practising HR consultant working with several start-ups on an ongoing and ad-hoc basis in the London and M4 area, and am a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development or CIPD. I am the Director of thecareercafe.co.uk; thecareercafe.co.uk is a resource for start-ups and small business. It includes a blog containing career advice, small business advice articles, HR software reviews, and contains great resources such as HR Productivity Apps.
