this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024
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[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 83 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (4 children)

"Fun" fact: The biomass of all the ants in the world is greater than the biomass of all warm blooded (endothermic) animals combined.

[–] bacon_saber@fedia.io 28 points 2 weeks ago

I read a while ago that humans probably have ants out-chonked since some time ago when we started gaining weight as a population.

Had to check back on this since that little factoid has stuck with me since reading it.

Per this journal from 2022, https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2201550119

Integrating data from all continents and major biomes, we conservatively estimate 20 × 1015 (20 quadrillion) ants on Earth, with a total biomass of 12 megatons of dry carbon. This exceeds the combined biomass of wild birds and mammals and equals 20% of human biomass.

Because if there's anything worth getting scientific about, it's us vs the ant horde. Suck it, ants!

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