Land animals only.
The answer is 27%
Land animals only.
The answer is 27%
Freaky - I was going to guess 27.3% Are you including non-flying insects?
I'm including all flying animals, but they have to be able to run the mile in 4 minutes, not fly it.
And I was dropping the decimal, the actual percentage is 27.9, so you weren't that close...
Less than 1%.
Vertebrates are 5%, and most of those don't run at all.
Winner
webby wrote:
Less than 1%.
Vertebrates are 5%, and most of those don't run at all.
You're including fish in that number. Since as much as 80% of life on earth is in the oceans, and I specifically said LAND animals, you're pretty way off with that 1% number.
Good luck with getting all those insect species to average 15 miles an hour on the ground over 4 minutes. I would agree with the 1% guy... Pretty much anything that flies is f**ked
Less than 0.1% if we are talking about the percentage of species which can boast at least one member able to run a 4 minute mile.
Less than 0.0001% if we are talking about the percentage of individuals that can run a 4 minute mile.
Most species on the plant (land as you put in the post) are beetles. Millions more of them than anything else. They could fly a 4 min mile (some, anyway), but not run one.
Ergo, the <1% is correct.
That's absurd. Bugs, at most, represent 75% of the animal kingdom, and that number may be high. Beetles have pretty much nothing to do with this conversation.
To clarify, we're talking about what percentage of animals have a member that can run 4 minute mile.
What percentage of primarily land-dwelling vertebrate species have at least one member who could run a 4 minute mile?
I'm still saying < 1%.
There are roughly 1,000,000 species of land animals including birds. 950,000 of them are insects. Even if every single non-insect land animal could run a 4 minute mile (they obviously can't), that's only 5%. The correct answer is way under 1%.
Also, "bugs" represent over 95% of the animal kingdom. If you're actually a biology student, you should hit the books a little harder.
Biologist wrote:
That's absurd. Bugs, at most, represent 75% of the animal kingdom, and that number may be high. Beetles have pretty much nothing to do with this conversation.
To clarify, we're talking about what percentage of animals have a member that can run 4 minute mile.
I looked it up, just from curiosity. Beetles make up ~40~ of all insect species and about 25% of species overall.
I work for google.
Haha, that's hilarious. I assume you got your biology degree from Pheonix?
Lol. Beetles are a quarter of known species of animals and there are estimates that of the 30 or so million species on the planet, beetles could be 6 of the 8 million animals. (most of the rest are bacteria, with a million fungi and plants, and protists of various sorts).
Most of the non beetle species are aquatic (ants/wasps and butterflies/moths are second and third biggest terrestrial groups, neither of whom could run a 4 minute mile either).
The key to this question is another question. What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Including birds there are roughly 23,000 primarily land dwelling vertebrate species. Without birds it is more like 14,000.
The following are pretty much upper limits on the number of species that may contain one member who could run a 4 minute mile:
Ape: 1
Monkey: 10
Antelope: 90
Canine: 34
Hyena: 4
Big Cat: 9
Bird: 5
Equid: 8
Giraffe/Okapi: 7
Kangaroo/Wallabie: 50
Hare/Rabbit: 50
Bear: 8
Camel: 2
Llama: 4
Rhino: 5
Cattle/Goat/Sheep: 50
Pig: 10
Deer: 45
Weasel: 5
Upper Limit: 397
Guesstimate: 300 or somewhere around 1 - 2 % depending on if you count our flying friends.
Biologist wrote:
I work for google.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Well done! I'm pretty sure you're wrong, but I really like the list. Lets see all you beetle lovers make some lists.
Biologist wrote:
Well done! I'm pretty sure you're wrong, but I really like the list. Lets see all you beetle lovers make some lists.
No, I'm not wrong.
Could I have missed one or two? Sure. But the numbers given are basically correct and the final answer is correct regarding the question, "What percentage of primarily land-dwelling vertebrates have at least one member that could run a 4 minute mile?"
