Which animal has saved the most human lives? (In the last 70+ years)

[underpants]

I will post the answer in a response

[underpants]

1. ANSWER

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/marine-animals/which-animal-has-saved-most-human-lives



In the 1950s, scientists isolated from its bright-blue blood a clotting agent, coagulogen, that binds to fungi and endotoxins.

This led to a simple, reliable method for detecting impurities in medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs.

Oxygenated blood is harvested from the pericardium of wild-caught crabs, which are then returned to the sea.

The product is used to test drugs and medical instruments, saving pretty much anyone who has ever received any medical attention (since the 1950s).

[lapfog_1]

2. Bats

Bats are considered the most effective predators of mosquitoes. They can consume hundreds of mosquitoes in a single night, significantly reducing mosquito populations.

illness from mosquitoes probably has killed more humans than any other single source

[underpants]

6. Good point but not the answer here

The award for ‘most lives saved’ must go to the Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus.

[EYESORE 9001]

11. I remember seeing a video about this several years ago

I’m still not convinced horseshoe crabs aren’t extraterrestrials

[sl8]

10. Maybe, but probably not to the extent that urban legend has it.

Apparently, much of that reputation stems from inappropriate extrapolation from a study regarding how bats hunted, not how much or which insects. The bats were were contained in a small enclosure with only mosquitos as potential prey. I believe that at least one one study has found that, given a choice of prey, bats tend to prefer insects with more substance (e.g., moths).

There has been at least one recent study that indicates that some bats do eat a lot of mosquitos, but not as much as some of the extravagant claims made in popular media.

https://www.vdci.net/blog/debunking-myths-bats-for-mosquito-control/

Debunking Myths: Bats for Effective Mosquito Control

[Tadpole Raisin]

8. Fascinating! I was kind of thinking of it in the opposite way - saving lives by

Helping to create life (and food) - bees.

Of course that wouldn’t be enough to sustain settlers in the old days of winter but when/if bees died off we’d be seriously screwed.

So many people don’t get how fragile our system is.

Anyway, big thanks to the crab. I wouldn’t have guessed that.

[surfered]

3. I thought it was Lassie, but hats off to the scientists and to the bats.

[Omnipresent]

5. What about Flipper?

That fish kicks shark ass!

[2naSalit]

4. I was thinking of...

A land animal but I used to see them on the beach when I was a kid. Horseshoe crabs. I wish they'd leave them alone. In trashing that species, there will be hell to pay in the ecosystem.

[magicarpet]

7. Face eating leopards......

.... all day long they roam around devouring MAGA faces....

[jgo]

9. Bees are animals, and help feed us

From two different websites:

"bees are responsible for a third of the food that we eat. Animals including birds, bats, beetles, and butterflies are all pollinators, transferring pollen between flowers and plants, but the honeybee is the most important pollinator."

"bees are animals. They belong to the kingdom Animalia, specifically within the phylum Arthropoda (insects)."

[underpants]

13. My first guess was dogs then mice - medical/science tests

[Ocelot II]

12. Not bears.

[underpants]

14. 😳

[Itchinjim]

15. Lab mice.

[underpants]

16. That and dogs were my first guess.

[Ritabert]

17. Horseshoe crabs

[EuterpeThelo]

18. Thanks for the interesting thread, underpants!

My guess was going to be either horses or dogs. Thinking of the settlers of our country and the Native Americans before them, where would they have been without horses? Dogs, not only in professional capacities like K9s or bomb-sniffing canines but the stories you hear so often about, for example, a person who had a seizure or whatnot and their dog ran to alert someone and bring back help.

I love my cats, but I don't think they'd lift a claw to go and get aid.

[underpants]

19. Dogs horses and mice were the three I thought of

I heard it on a morning radio show and they picked the same.

[jmowreader]

20. Cats

Cats eat rodents and cockroaches - two classes of animal that carry and spread disease. Hence, by reducing the population of disease vectors cats have a very beneficial impact on the human population.

They're also cute and cuddly, which helps too.