No chance of coming back once somethings dead, so "aim to be higher up the food chain" is a redundant commen. They had probably evolved to their full potential, but uninformed human comes along and kills unti its all gone. They wouldn't have failed with out "mans" intervention - (killing. They din't fail, man failed them.
We are at the top of the chain, but room for improvement. Hopefully one day the human brain can evolve, adpapt, and save more speicies from extinction.
People don't need an animal to extinct them. Humans can do that for themselves