"Wirt Atmar"  wrote in message
news:cnhhm6$1ruu$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> Hans-Marc writes:
>
> >I think that cats and dogs, who learned a lot from humans, may, in a
> >few thousand years, become advanced intelligent species!
[snip]
> ... I choose the baboons and the raccoons ...
>

As a mammal chauvinist, I would choose the coatamundi - a Central American
variant of the raccoon.  But I don't think you can completely rule out the
birds (African Grey Parrot) or the cephalopods (giant squid and octopus).

The key evolutionary advance leading to space travel is language.  I'm not
sure whether the key to developing language is having the right preadaptations,
or whether it is that the ecology drives you into a certain kind of
social structure.  If the latter, I would note that the ecology can change
fast.  Even if squid are not social now, their descendents may be.
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