# What is the greatest animal architect?

> Dams, towers, apartment blocks and one structure that holds a world record for sheer size. Engineering without hands.

*By YPB Team · Published August 27, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-greatest-animal-architect*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Termite** — score 1000/1000
   Raises mounds several metres tall with passive ventilation that keeps the interior at a steady temperature.
2. **North American Beaver** — score 984/1000
   Builds dams that reshape whole watersheds; one in Alberta is visible from orbit.
3. **Coral** — score 891/1000
   Colonies of polyps that have built the largest living structure on the planet.
4. **Satin Bowerbird** — score 848/1000
   Builds and decorates a bower purely to be judged on it by females.
5. **Caddisfly** — score 636/1000
   Larvae build portable cases from sand and twigs; given gemstones, they build with those.
6. **Hamerkop** — score 636/1000
   Builds a domed nest more than a metre across that supports the weight of a person.
7. **Trapdoor Spider** — score 636/1000
   Builds a silk-hinged door flush with the soil and holds it shut from underneath.
8. **Paper Wasp** — score 495/1000
   Makes paper from chewed wood fibre, several thousand years before humans did.
9. **Bald Eagle** — score 495/1000
   Holds the record for the largest bird's nest ever measured: 2.9 metres wide and over two tonnes.
10. **Western Honey Bee** — score 495/1000
   Builds hexagonal comb, the most material-efficient way to tile a plane.
11. **Sociable Weaver** — score 495/1000
   Constructs communal thatch nests that house a hundred pairs and last a century.
12. **European Garden Spider** — score 495/1000
   Rebuilds a full orb web most nights, eating the old silk to recycle it.
13. **Leafcutter Ant** — score 318/1000
   Excavates nests with millions of chambers to farm a single species of fungus.
14. **Prairie Dog** — score 318/1000
   Digs towns with nurseries, listening posts and separate latrines.
15. **Baya Weaver** — score 318/1000
   Weaves a hanging flask-shaped nest with a long entrance tube against snakes.

Tags: nature, animals, birds, insects