The Superior Organism

H

Hastein

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This sort of goes along with the post about which evolution was the best. I understand that "superior" is being presented here in an anthropocentric sense, but what organism do you find to be the most superior in terms of:

1. Continuity
-of the individual organism
-of the species as a whole and their length of time on this planet

2. Environment
-effect on environment around it
-what it obtains from the environment

3. endurance
-ability to survive in a harsh or often changing climate

4. other
-Anything else

I would have to pick fungi, seeing as it is able to survive in almost any temperature and can live just about anywhere on earth. Its primary food is decay, making it able to feast upon just about anything, and it can survive for a long time in sunless environments.
 
I agree,
Fungi are also the largest living organism on the planet,

The blue whale is the largest living animal on earth. But there is another living thing that's bigger. Much, much bigger. It stretches 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) across and covers an area larger than 1,600 football fields. Most of it is hidden underground.
It's..... a fungus. Yes, a fungus with the scientific name Armillaria ostoyae. Known more commonly as the honey mushroom, this giant fungus was found in the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon.
Click to expand...

Also, spores can survive in outer space, and could possibly distribute themselves around the galaxy through simple brownian motion.

Also, they can communicate with humans through direct chemical stimulation; psylocybin is very similar to human neurotransmitters.
 
I will have to say bacteria. They can survive the most extreme conditions and live to tell about it. They reproduce every 15 minutes giving them a quick evolution rate so they can adapt quickly to changing surroundings. They require little energy to operate. IMO, Bacteria is the superior organsim.
 
spidergoat said:
I agree,
Fungi are also the largest living organism on the planet,



Also, spores can survive in outer space, and could possibly distribute themselves around the galaxy through simple brownian motion.

Brownian motion in vacuum??? Explain this!
Click to expand...
 
Superior organism:

1. The cow - I love a good steak

2. The chicken - Not only does it produce some nice meat (if I may use the word meat), it also produces prepackaged shells filled with a huge embryo, or unfertilized egg. Jumiie

3. The brown Rat - rats are great and as recently been shown subject to accelerated evolution. Soon they will leave us standing.

4. The pigeon - it is the rat equivalent of the world of birds.

5. the cockroach - if one gets close to the big red button in the office of the president of the US we are fucked. They must know on some level that a nuclear war will put them on the top of the world.

6. The banana - genetically impoverished and susceptible to diseases it still rocks as a fruit.


7. The Dodo - extinct, but it managed to survive for more than a hundred years while being hunted by a smart primate. Hats off to that.
 
Brownian motion in vacuum??? Explain this!

Space is not empty. Not even a vacuum is empty. Ever heard of solar, or space sails? There is radiation, photons, all kinds of particles, and obviously larger objects.
 
archae live in environments that any other self-respecting bacteria wouldn't be caught dead in, conditions thought to be the same as that of earth early on. but i'm not sure i'd necessarily go with archae for superior organism...just throwing it out there.
 
thank GOD somebody else said it! (there's the 13 year old boy in me i try so hard to hide)
 
so are sharks, but I have my vote for bacteria
some live even in lava streams, rocks and areas of high nuclear pollution
 
spidergoat said:
Space is not empty. Not even a vacuum is empty. Ever heard of solar, or space sails? There is radiation, photons, all kinds of particles, and obviously larger objects.
Click to expand...

Don't be silly. I know space is not empty. The probability of hitting such particle by spore is close to zero. What about velocity of brownian motion? Suppose that is 1 cm per sec.: it would take 1,3x10exp11 years to reach alpha centauri.
 
"The probability of hitting such particle by spore is close to zero."

Wouldn't that probability increase with the number of spores?...trillions, for instance?
 
What about cosmic rays and DNA integrity? An organism can survive cosmic journey only if it is deeply embeded in asteroid or something similar
 
Bacteria. Damn, what on earth stopped me from thinking of that? Although bacteria is very vague term since it encompasses billions of different species. I would also have to see what conditions a bacterium can survive in versus fungi. Only then can I be sure. Bacteria is also infintely more expendable than fungus. I still say Fungus.

Crocodile eh? Reptiles and fish are one of the few creatures that don't actually have a life span per se. They simply grow larger and larger until at last they become to cumbersome for their own environment and die. But a crocodile isn't going to survive a blowtorch to the face or ride through space, something that Fungi can do.
 
I'd need more information on archaea. Are they as widespread as Fungi? How well do they co-exist with their environment?
I need help answering the above questions.
 
Archaeans include inhabitants of some of the most extreme environments on the planet. Some live near rift vents in the deep sea at temperatures well over 100 degrees Centigrade. Others live in hot springs (such as the ones pictured above), or in extremely alkaline or acid waters. They have been found thriving inside the digestive tracts of cows, termites, and marine life where they produce methane. They live in the anoxic muds of marshes and at the bottom of the ocean, and even thrive in petroleum deposits deep underground.
Click to expand...

Can Fungi exist in the stomach of cows? Not sure. Looks like they are the most extreme. But what about the other classifications?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/archaea/archaea.html
 
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