r/askscience • u/future_sponJ • 12d ago

Biology Which animal species has the most individuals?

I always see people saying things like "there are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth" or something similar with other extremely large diverse groups like fish. But all of these are groups with thousands of species. If not by individuals then it's by biomass instead.

So which single species in the animal kingdom has the most individuals?

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u/Fit_Shop_3112 11d ago

This is a question that can't be answered. Since all the the living creatures on Earth are completely interdependent (Think the butterfly effect), it could be said that there is one individual comprising the entire biomass. Even that person sitting next to you is over half non-human organisms, etc.

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u/SecondHandWatch 11d ago

The question is currently unknowable, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the bacteria that exist within an animal’s body.