Humans are way down the food chain, a new study shows

WE MAY think we're top dog on Planet Earth but a new study shows humans are a long way down the food chain, right by anchovies!

WE MAY control pretty much everything on Planet Earth but humans - despite popular opinion to the contrary - are not actually top of the food chain.

A new study has calculated where different species fit on the global food chain. Ecologists found that humans sit somewhere in the middle - between pigs and anchovies.

Top of the pile are species like polar bears and killer whales.

Our relatively low standing is due mainly to the fact that we eat on average far more fruit and vegetables than meat.

Scientists at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea found that people around the world get about 80 per cent of their daily calories from fruits, vegetables and grains, the rest coming from meat, poultry and fish.

The food chain position is calculated by finding a species trophic level, a figure between 1 and 5.5 that tells you how much energy it takes to make a species' food.

The higher the figure the higher up on the chain the species sits. Plants and algae are at the bottom while animals like foxes and wolves that eat only meat occupy a higher position than humans.

Species like the polar bear top the chain because it is a carnivore and has no natural predators.

The study also found that human’s relative position on the food chain has increased slightly thanks to a more meat-heavy diet. The meat-to-plant ratio in our diet has been rising since about 1985, helped by China and India's growing consumption of chicken and pigs.