are there useless animals?
- Thread starter monkey_man
- Start date
Saying that every being in this world has a purpose, may sound a bit overrated, but I think it's true.
Wasps keep caterpillar populations down, which would otherwise decimate our crops. If you're asking what animals could be safely subtracted from the food chain, besides humans, which even then would impact cockroaches, rats, pigeons, coyotes, seagulls, etc...
Apex predators could be taken out of the equation without too much of an impact. These are animals such as tigers, killer whales, bald eagles, polar bears...things which nothing preys on. The prey species would be overpopulated, but starvation or whatever condition killed off their predators would re-establish equilibrium. Like when wolves were eliminated from the US east coast, deer became a big problem. Apex predators are fragile species, and are also the ones people least want to see go extinct. The exception to this is sharks, which have survived many mass extinctions, even though there were long periods of earth's history where sharks weren't the top of the food chain.
EDIT: Pandas. There's a reason they're not fucking. I would say sloths provide food for slacker anacondas. And mosquitoes are very essential, its the only way complex proteins make their way down the food chain. DDT wasn't chemically affecting the eagle's eggshells, it was just that the fish the eagles ate weren't eating enough mosquitoes, so the eagles couldn't get all the proteins they needed to form strong eggshells.
Species I wish would go extinct? Hyenas, hunting dogs are much more efficient anyway.
Most necessary species? E. coli.
Apex predators could be taken out of the equation without too much of an impact. These are animals such as tigers, killer whales, bald eagles, polar bears...things which nothing preys on. The prey species would be overpopulated, but starvation or whatever condition killed off their predators would re-establish equilibrium. Like when wolves were eliminated from the US east coast, deer became a big problem. Apex predators are fragile species, and are also the ones people least want to see go extinct. The exception to this is sharks, which have survived many mass extinctions, even though there were long periods of earth's history where sharks weren't the top of the food chain.
EDIT: Pandas. There's a reason they're not fucking. I would say sloths provide food for slacker anacondas. And mosquitoes are very essential, its the only way complex proteins make their way down the food chain. DDT wasn't chemically affecting the eagle's eggshells, it was just that the fish the eagles ate weren't eating enough mosquitoes, so the eagles couldn't get all the proteins they needed to form strong eggshells.
Species I wish would go extinct? Hyenas, hunting dogs are much more efficient anyway.
Most necessary species? E. coli.
2 words
Fuck Manatees
they really are useless. They aren't a food source for any animal, they only eat seaweed (which is food for enough animals it would go crazy if manatees died out)
They are literally endangered because of their own stupidity
The only thing they're good for is speed bumps for boats
Fuck Manatees
they really are useless. They aren't a food source for any animal, they only eat seaweed (which is food for enough animals it would go crazy if manatees died out)
They are literally endangered because of their own stupidity
The only thing they're good for is speed bumps for boats
You know I had a big reply earlier in this thread about how parasites actually vastly influence the evolutionary process, how they help control populations and how they are perfectly evolved to do what they do and possess more sophisticated systems them we can even imagine.Sir_Tor said:
What is up with this irrational hate of parasites? Seriously, they're just as important as insects are.
Nope. Plenty of animals dig into the ground hunting for roots and grubs, and a hibernating cicada is a caloric goldmine. Badgers are just one example, I believe skunks eat them too.Toaster Hunter said:
EClaris- Family Guy is written by manatees. I think they fulfill the ecological niche of looking like a turd.
Moths. Damn them for being so annoying. I am terrified of Moths, and that fear is slowly creeping into Butterflies by association.
I went to a Butterfly sanctuary; which is a massive greenhouse with different Butterflies flying around. I was scared to hell. I kept imagining they where all landing on me and almost had a panic attack.
Luckily there was a part with Meerkats so they calmed me down.
I went to a Butterfly sanctuary; which is a massive greenhouse with different Butterflies flying around. I was scared to hell. I kept imagining they where all landing on me and almost had a panic attack.
Luckily there was a part with Meerkats so they calmed me down.
I thought every animal had a purpose. Including humans- we just live too greedily.
Manatees and blobfish are so glum looking, if they were to become extinct all the other sea animals would die due to a deprivation of schadenfreude.
Manatees and blobfish are so glum looking, if they were to become extinct all the other sea animals would die due to a deprivation of schadenfreude.
Every living organism on this planet has a purpose and has a role to play in the biosphere. ...well except maybe humans.
The common forum troll; the only truly useless species in internet ecology, or backbone of the online food chain? Discuss.Commander Breetai said:
Mosquitos. Anything that can eat a mosquito can eat any other insect and they just bother us humans.