Is the lion truly the king of beasts ? Or is this a misnomer?

 

Why not the elephant for its size, the chimpanzee for its intelligence or the humble ant for its networking (social) intelligence? (I personally think an ant colony is the precursor to social networks).

 

Please advise.

To be clear, no, the lion is not literally a king that rules all the other animals.

 

In the sense that it's fairly dangerous but even more puffed up by outward appearance and ultimately a scavenger, I'd say it makes a pretty good kingly metaphor.

Bacteria all the way. When the last animal dies there will still be bacteria decomposing them. But seriously, this is more a poetic rather than a biological question.

Yes, all very subjective.

 

Atlantic Krill could be top of the pile in an objective sense - the single species with the largest biomass.

You mean Lion King wasn't a documentary?

More of a field report.