When people think of survivors, They usually think of the CBS show, or veterans of a war. These people can all be named survivors. A survivor is someone or something that adapts quickly to a changing environment. Using that definition, the ultimate survivor on this planet would have to be the nefarious cockroach.
             The cockroach is one of the most primitive insects on Earth. According to the Cockroach Control Manual at IANRWWW.UNL.EDU, their ancestors lived 200-350 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period, even before the dinosaurs. The Carboniferous Period was also called the Age of the cockroaches because they were so abundant. According to P.B. Cornwell's The Cockroach, Volume One, cockroaches belong to the same family as the termite. Some theorists estimate that roaches branched off from termites about 50 to 70 million years ago. Both creatures are social insects who work in unison for food gathering, reproduction, and defense. According to the Cockroaches make great pets home page, there are over four thousand species of cockroach. While humans only consider about 25-30 different types, which is less than one percent of the total population here on earth, to be pests. The largest roach is the Megoblatta which has an 18-inch wingspan. The heaviest, is the rhinoceros roach of Australia which weighs in at 50 grams. The smallest roach is Attaphilla fungicola which is only four millimeters long and lives in the nests of Leaf Cutter Ants. Most roaches are nocturnal. Their habitat ranges from forest floors, to caves, to water. They are highly optimized for their environment, and according to the May 1996 Discover magazine, they can run at a top speed of five feet per second.
             According to Gordon Ramel in The Blattodea, Cockroaches like all creatures that bring themselves regularly to mankind's attention, cockroaches have acquired a large number of common names, such as "lucifaga" because they flee the light. In Sweden they are cal...