Mosquitoes and people are the biggest killers of humans, according to a new graphic, released by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Sharks are responsible for only ten human deaths a year, according to the infographic. Around 100 people are killed every 12 months by the mighty lion, while crocodiles are responsible for ten times as many deaths.
Among the most dangerous animals listed in the graphic are dogs, at number four, due to 25,000 human deaths a year, mostly from rabies caught during dog attacks. The third-deadliest species for humans are snakes, which are responsible for 50,000 deaths every year.
Nearly ten times as many people meet their deaths at the hands of other people, totaling 475,000 annual fatalities. Mosquitoes are the world's number one killer, according to the 58-year-old philanthropist.
"What makes mosquitoes so dangerous? Despite their innocuous-sounding name-Spanish for "little fly"-they carry devastating diseases. The worst is malaria, which kills more than 600,000 people every year; another 200 million cases incapacitate people for days at a time," Bill Gates wrote on his blog, Gates notes.
In addition to malaria, several species of the animal can carry several other potentially deadly diseases, including encephalitis, dengue fever and yellow fever.
Like mosquitoes, many other tiny winged creatures rank high on the list due to the diseases they spread. The aptly-named Assassin bug is the cause of 10,000 deaths every annum, through the spread of Chagas disease. Sleeping sickness, carried by the Tsetse fly, spells the end for another 10,000 human beings.
Some surprising species made the list, both small and large. Like lions, elephants kill about 100 people a year, but five times that number die due to hippopotamuses.
Two worms - the tapeworm and Ascaris roundworm, are the cause of 2,000 and 2,500 deaths each year. Yet, neither is a match for the 10,000 fatalities each year caused by the Freshwater snail.
Gates used the infographic to publicize a recent trip he made to Indonesia, in a fight against diseases carried by mosquitoes. A majority of malaria fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa are children under the age of five.
Asian tiger mosquitoes spread chikungunya virus and dengue fever. Normally native to tropical regions, they may soon move into the U.K., due to global warming.
The data was collected from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).
Mosquitoes are native to every area of the world, except Antarctica. There are more than 2,500 species of the flying insect known to mankind.
