[DesuMaiden]

Watch this short movie/documentary to find out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUqHECc5rPo

This is what would happen to the world if there were zero people on it. I found this video pretty interesting. What I find surprisingly is how fast all evidence of our existence would be wiped off from the face of the world. Of course, there is no way all 7 billion of us would magically disappear from this planet. But this video is about what might happen if all seven billion of us were to magically disappear from the planet. It would be a certainly very interesting scenario.

[DesuMaiden]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'I')f there were zero people than some other animal (a jellyfish perhaps. Or maybe a snail) would somehow mutate, adapt, takeover, overshoot and die off. Just like us.

[Lore]

There is no guarantee that there would have been or ever will be a replacement for the level of human intelligence among any other creatures. Evolution is a long process which hands out superior attributes more rarely than a mega lotto.

[dolanbaker]

Rodents are the most likely successor due to their ability to quickly adapt to a changing environment and the fact that they can "breed like rabbits!". Their populations would explode due to the lack of predators and quickly overpopulate and crash.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', 'R')odents are the most likely successor due to their ability to quickly adapt to a changing environment and the fact that they can "breed like rabbits!". Their populations would explode due to the lack of predators and quickly overpopulate and crash.

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '
') I would expect one of the African apes to eventually evolve into a human substitute over a million years or so. The opposing thumbs and current brain size and problem solving ability give them a head start over any other species.
In the meantime the plains of Africa would fill to capacity with everything from Elephant to Dikidiki and all the predators would have plenty to eat.
In the Americas buffalo and elk would compete with wild cattle and horses all kept in check by wolves, coyotes and mountain lions.

[dolanbaker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', 'R')odents are the most likely successor due to their ability to quickly adapt to a changing environment and the fact that they can "breed like rabbits!". Their populations would explode due to the lack of predators and quickly overpopulate and crash.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', '
')
Why would you expect that? In millions of years of evolution there is only one of us and apes are still apes. The capacitance for higher reason that makes humans different isn't a benifit that's just handed out over time. Alligators for instance are much the same as they were 150 million years ago.

[Lore]

I agree that there will always be a top preditor as we move on down the chain. However, at our present rate of vertebrate extinction that may be pretty low on the ladder.

[dorlomin]

Stoats and weasels are mouse predators. They can breed fast. There will be a brief surge is some populations as they go through human food stores, but once they are exhausted, you will get a natural die back.

[dorlomin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '
') With humans removed from Africa I would expect one of the ape species ,most likely the Gibbons to take up the position of top predator on the plains

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', 'R')odents are the most likely successor......
..........coyotes and mountain lions.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dorlomin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '
') With humans removed from Africa I would expect one of the ape species ,most likely the Gibbons to take up the position of top predator on the plains

[Lore]

Raises an interesting question. If a super virus ends humans, would that virus then be considered top predator having toppled number one?

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'R')aises an interesting question. If a super virus ends humans, would that virus then be considered top predator having toppled number one?

[SeaGypsy]

No. A virus or bacteria which kills its host with 100% efficacy is a genetic mistake. Herpes is close to a perfect virus.

[dorlomin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dorlomin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '
') With humans removed from Africa I would expect one of the ape species ,most likely the Gibbons to take up the position of top predator on the plains

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dorlomin', '
')
In Eurasia\The Americas\Australasia there will be big predator niches to fill, the ones humans wiped out.