greg@jell-o.berkeley.edu (Greg) (12/12/89)
I recently read that the total mass of all termites in the world is 10 times that of all humans. In another news item, I read that there is one cow for every four people in the world, and that cows have a significant effect on atmospheric pollution. These two bits of trivia prompted me to wonder about the total number, and total mass, of various different species and other kinds of animals. Specifically, I would like to know various entries in a table of the following form: Animal Population Average mass Total mass humans 5x10^9 100lbs 5x10^11lbs cattle 1x10^9? ? ? rabbits ? ? ? deer ? ? ? sheep ? ? ? ants ? ? ? termites ? ? 5x10^12lbs? The table is a little ad hoc, since some of the entries are just one species and others are a huge number of species. But what I'm basically after is a rough feel for which animals are the most prevalent on Earth. Does anyone know any of the figures for the animals listed above or for other animals? Please send a copy of your reply by E-mail. --- Greg