How long have humans been the dominant species on Earth?
The first members of the "Homo" genus (Homo habilis) first evolved around 1.4-2.4 million years ago. Homo sapiens arrived around 200,000 years ago - but we'd have been quite insignificant back then. Even as recently as 6000 BCE, there were only about 5 million humans in the world: not a hell of a lot. When we became "dominant" is an entirely different question. How do you define "dominant"? - If you mean "most numbers", then there are plents of other species that would give us a run for our money: there are more E. coli bacteria in just *your* intestines than there are people in the world. - If you mean "greatest biomass", then again it's not true: the Antarctic krill has a biomass of twice that of humans. - If you mean "most able to change the environment on a global scale", then I'd be more likely to agree with you. *This* ability probably didn't arise until the industrial revolution of the early 1800s, or possibly the agricultural revolution of the 1940s.
If humans didn't exist, what would Earth's dominant species be?
Lions.. They were the second most widespread species of mammal besides humans They migrated to Europe, Asia and even North America millions of years before humans did. In fact, as late as the end of the last ice age, they were still found in Europe and North America. The American subspecies of the lion became extinct along with other large mammals at the end of the last ice age And their range has shrunk even further because they were hunted and eliminated by humans in parts of Asia Therefore if humans did not exist, the lion may have continued to dominate In Africa, the lion population has shrunk because of hunting and poisoning by humans
Why are humans the dominant species?
Why are we so special? What makes us worthy of this earth? It seems to me that we have done more bad than good overall, and caused so much pain and suffering for other species and our own species especially. All we do is destroy. Why are we here? Shouldnt something greater be here? More worthy