What animal is the most dangerous to humans in the world? Is it snakes? No. Sharks? Not even close. Other humans? Getting warmer, but not quite.
It's the mosquito. Bill Gates posted this graphic, which uses data from the WHO and the FAO, on his blog, charting out which animal kills the most humans a year. So, how did the little mosquito become so deadly? The issue isn't the bite itself, it's the diseases that can come with it, especially malaria.
In fact, a number of the animals with bites seemingly much less severe than a shark bite (the tsetse fly and the assassin bug) owe their high ranks on the charts to the diseases they spread.
Also, as Gates points out, unless you're in Antarctica, mosquitoes show up in every region in the world, which isn't the case for some of the larger predators on the list. Tell us in the comments how mosquito season is where you are in the world — and what kinds of counter measures you take against them.
Graphic: Gates Notes