Why are there so many insects? - Murry Gans
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-are-there-so-many-insects-murry-gans If insects suddenly morphed into large beings and decided to wage war on us, there's no doubt that humans...
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If insects suddenly morphed into large beings, and decided to wage war on us, there's no doubt that humans would lose. We'd simply be crushed by their sheer numbers. There are an estimated 10 quintillion individual insects on Earth. That's a one followed by 19 zeroes. So, compared with our population of about 7 billion, these invertebrates outnumber us by more than a billion to one. Their astounding numbers exist at the species level, as well. There are more than 60,000 vertebrate species on the planet. But the class of insects contains a million known species, and many others that haven't been classified. In fact, these critters make up approximately 75% of all animals on Earth. So, what's their secret to success? Insect abundan...
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If insects suddenly morphed into large beings, and decided to wage war on us, there's no doubt that humans would lose. We'd simply be crushed by their sheer numbers. There are an estimated 10 quintillion individual insects on Earth. That's a one followed by 19 zeroes. So, compared with our population of about 7 billion, these invertebrates outnumber us by more than a billion to one. Their astounding numbers exist at the species level, as well. There are more than 60,000 vertebrate species on the planet. But the class of insects contains a million known species, and many others that haven't been classified. In fact, these critters make up approximately 75% of all animals on Earth. So, what's their secret to success? Insect abundan...
