# Which species would go extinct first if humans disappeared tomorrow? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178 "2015-08-06T18:26:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/41 "2015-08-07T19:02:32Z")
There’s no such thing as ancient maize, really. Maize is the domesticated form of [teosinte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zea_%28genus%29), but is physically so unlike teosinte that it could never revert without human intervention. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/42 "2015-08-07T19:08:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, what species might make a come back would be another interesting thread. It was asked in the OP, so I included it in this thread. > [@](#): > > Also, what species might benefit the most as a consequence? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/43 "2015-08-07T19:10:46Z")
There are thousands of square miles planted with corn. It has to have a fair chance of surviving from animals spreading the kernels and random ears that will let the kernels come out. It may have a problem with other plants choking it out because corn plants need proximity to each other to pollinate effectively. I think it would be a race between the corn’s ability to adapt and other plant’s choking out it’s habitat. The GMOs may have an advantage over other plants that puts it ahead. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/44 "2015-08-07T19:29:51Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It was asked in the OP, so I included it in this thread. Oh, sure, but honestly, it should be a separate query, I think. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/45 "2015-08-07T19:39:47Z")
Well, hybridized animals like mules would be gone forever, since they can’t reproduce on their own. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/46 "2015-08-07T19:40:49Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Well, hybridized animals like mules would be gone forever, since they can’t reproduce on their own. Horses and donkeys will still exist, there could be more mules. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/47 "2015-08-07T20:13:10Z")
They wouldn’t go extinct, but house mice and common rats would reduce tremendously in numbers without humans. Man is a mouse’s best friend. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/48 "2015-08-07T20:18:46Z")
I keep hearing that domestic turkeys are stupid. But then again, I’ve heard of them getting loose and going wild in some areas. Are they candidates for extinction? I know that the wild turkeys that are still wild will have no problem. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/49 "2015-08-07T20:35:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Horses and donkeys will still exist, there could be more mules. Hypothetically, but did they ever interbreed before people domesticated them? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/50 "2015-08-07T20:39:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The GMOs may have an advantage over other plants that puts it ahead. Doubtful. GMO crops are all genetically identical, so they are all very susceptible to being wiped out by disease, weather changes, and so on. Mutations don’t happen fast enough to replace existing genetic variation. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/51 "2015-08-07T20:41:13Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I keep hearing that domestic turkeys are stupid. But then again, I’ve heard of them getting loose and going wild in some areas. Are they candidates for extinction? I know that the wild turkeys that are still wild will have no problem. Domesticated turkeys aren’t rocket scientists, but they’d be plenty smart enough to survive in the wild if intelligence were the only issue. They’re no dumber than wild turkeys, and they still have the natural instincts to scratch and peck, so they could probably still find food. Domesticated turkeys’ biggest problem in the wild is that people have bred them to be much too big for their own good. They’re so heavy that they often can’t mate naturally any more (the female just couldn’t support the male’s weight), so artificial insemination is now standard. And the poor things can’t run or fly fast enough to escape from the many predators out there. They’d be easy (and delicious) meals for coyotes or foxes. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/52 "2015-08-07T20:52:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Definitely not true. As I said, the most highly modified breeds of domestic animals might die out, but there are still plenty that are close enough to their wild ancestors that they wouldn’t have a big problem. New Orleans, for example, has had [a problem with feral chickens](http://www.nola.com/pets/index.ssf/2011/04/feral_chickens_have_proliferat.html) since Katrina, and feral chickens are well established in Hawaii, even in some urban areas. [Feral chickens are terrorizing a town in central Florida](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-weDrWvr6Q), and also one in [south Georgia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmHImv58_Qg). A colony of feral chickens has been [living underneath the Hollywood Freeway since the 1970s.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Freeway_chickens) In addition, wild populations of junglefowl (also _Gallus gallus_) still exist. I’ve even seen one of them … for like a half a second. They’re very fast. I’d think they’d do well if humans disappeared, especially since humans have wiped out most of their other predators. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/53 "2015-08-07T20:59:34Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Horses and donkeys will still exist, there could be more mules. But you need a male donkey and a female horse to make a mule. Not so likely in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/54 "2015-08-07T21:23:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Horses and donkeys will still exist, there could be more mules. > [@astorian](#): > > Hypothetically, but did they ever interbreed before people domesticated them? Mules aren’t a species, so it’s kind of a moot point. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/55 "2015-08-07T21:34:54Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Mules aren’t a species, so it’s kind of a moot point. Species or not, there’d likely be no more mules (let alone more bizarre hybrids like zonkeys and tiglons). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/56 "2015-08-07T21:39:35Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > But you need a male donkey and a female horse to make a mule. Not so likely in the wild. Could happen. All you need is a small mare or a big ass. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178/57 "2015-08-08T00:15:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Oh, sure, but honestly, it should be a separate query, I think. Until a moderator removes if from the OP, why would it matter what you think? It’s there in the OP now. Grizzlies would make a comeback into their former habitat. Lions in Asia, and elephants all over. Bison would repopulate the American prairie. Fish stocks would replenish. The world would be quite different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-species-would-go-extinct-first-if-humans-disappeared-tomorrow/727178.md?page=2)