Kind of inline with Brits sobering reflection on our relatedness to organisms around us I submit the following. Organisms that are most important to the evolution of our world. Humans made it up to number 6 in importance (yeah). Evolution’s top ten species 1. Earthworm Made it possible for humans to cultivate the planet, settle, and build civilizations. 2. Algae Without the countless forms of microscopic algae, larger forms of sea life would never have been able to evolve. All land plants are descended from ancestral forms of algae. 3. Cyanobacteria Plants, trees, and animals all owe their existence to the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans, supplies of which were originally established by cyanobacteria, a photosynthesizing bacterium that breaks down carbon dioxide and excretes (poops out) oxygen. 4. Rhizobia Organisms capable of “fixing” atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into soluble nitrates that fertilize the soil so that plants and trees can thrive. 5. Lactobacillus Bacteria that live inside the human colon, providing beneficial services such as assistance with digestion of milk and protection against harmful bacteria and organisms such as viruses and fungi. 6. Homo sapiens Humans did not crack the No. 1 position on Lloyd’s list, but we merit five pages in his 416-page book and we are the only mammal in the top 10. We lose points chiefly as a result of our recent evolutionary emergence. We may not rank as the most influential species in this analysis, but our impact pervades the past 12,000 years as we learned to farm animals and plants and harness mch of the resources of the planet. In that time humans have had a profound impact on many other species, nurturing those useful to us and driving many that are of little value to us into isolation and even into extinction. Our impact on evolution is clearly in its early phases. 7. Stony corals Coral reefs are powerful places for the natural conservation and co-operation of species, resulting in the construction of massive undewrwater mountains that house an extraordinary diversity of life. 8. Yeast It is almost exclusively thanks to the action of this single-celled microscopic fungus that humanity has been able to enjoy everything from leavened bread to fine wine. Some of our best prospects for fuelling sustainable industrialization and transportation in the future are based on ethanol, a by-product of yeast. 9. Influenza One of humanity’s biggest ever killers and still the largest threat to populations on Earth. 10. Penicillium A naturally occurring antibiotic that has transformed modern medicine and substantially increased human populations. Bloomsbury Publishing provided a copy of What on Earth Evolved? for this entry.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:53:49 +0000
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