History Literature / AfterManAZoologyOfTheFuture

You can read it online [[https://web.archive.org/web/20171202065142/http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru:80/library/Dixon/main_en.htm here]]. The book is given an extensive review, with emphasis on creature design and how well the imagined animals hold up twenty-odd years later, here ([[http://babbletrish.blogspot.com/2009/09/humans-are-dead-but-there-are.html part one]], [[http://babbletrish.blogspot.com/2009/10/megafaunas-back-baby-lets-continue.html part two]]).

* CallASmeerpARabbit: Using taxonomic orders developed by pre-20th century humans to describe animals from 50 million years after man's extinction results in something like this. For example the wakka (ratite-like bipedal grazer), desert leaper (resembling a dromedary but with kangaroo-like hopping motion), and bardalot (polar bear analogue with sabretoothed females) are all classed as rodents even though they're very different from each other and don't always have what we identify as rodent features.

* SpiritualSuccessor : The 2003 TV series (and companion book) ''Franchise/TheFutureIsWild'', produced by Animal Planet, takes one step further and shows three different future eras of life on Earth : 5 million AD, 100 million AD and 200 million AD.

You can read it online [[http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru/library/Dixon/main_en.htm here]]. The book is given an extensive review, with emphasis on creature design and how well the imagined animals hold up twenty-odd years later, here ([[http://babbletrish.blogspot.com/2009/09/humans-are-dead-but-there-are.html part one]], [[http://babbletrish.blogspot.com/2009/10/megafaunas-back-baby-lets-continue.html part two]]).

* SpeculativeDocumentary: [[TropeCodifier One of the earliest]] and most famous works in the genre.

** Rodents in South America didn't turn predatory, but did evolve into larger forms like the tapimus, strick, and wakka.

* YouDirtyRat: The rats have become the earth's principal predator group, taking over the place of the carnivorans.

* BatOutOfHell: There's a newly formed Pacific archipelago inhabited by various strange species of flightless bats. Probably the least scientifically plausible of the creatures presented (there could be flightless bats, but it'd be unlikely they'd produce forms like the nightstalker). That said, [[{{Homage}} at least they inspired]] ''Series/{{Primeval}}''[='=]s "Future Predator" and Subulba from ''Star Wars Episode One: Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
** Although the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Lesser_Short-tailed_Bat New Zealand Lesser Short-Tailed Bat]] does crawl around to hunt (though it's perfectly capable of flying as well).

* BizarreSexualDimorphism: The Matriarch Tinamou (female is similar to an adult turkey; male lives as a wren-like symbiont that rides around on her back), the predatory Bardelot (male looks like a polar bear, female is a huge, BadAss saber-toothed beast) and the Common Pine Chuck (female resembles living songbird, male has a massive beak for crushing seeds & nuts) are the three weirdest examples.

* ScienceMarchesOn: A lot of the science was already shaky in the 80s and thirty years of scientific advancement haven't done it any favors.

* NuttySquirrel: The chirit, which has a long, tubular body it can twist in virtually any direction. There's also a squirrel with a spiked tail for use against predators.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Monkeys and apes still enjoy success in the tree tops, and have also become [[AscendedToCarnivorism the top predators of the African grasslands]].

* BatOutOfHell: There's a newly formed Pacific archipelago inhabited by various strange species of flightless bats. Probably the least scientifically plausible of the creatures presented (there could be flightless bats, but it'd be unlikely they'd produce forms like the nightstalker). That said, [[{{Homage}} at least they inspired]] ''{{Primeval}}''[='=]s "Future Predator" and Subulba from ''Star Wars Episode One: Film/ThePhantomMenace''.

* YouDirtyRat: The rats have become the earth's principal predator group, taking over the place of the carnivorans, while mice are... well you know, mice.

* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Rodents are, in fact, the dominant predators of the new world (despite many other more plausible candidates, like shrews & other insectivorans). Some weird things like the aquatic, hippo-like Mudgulper or the kangaroo-like desert leaper are present as well.

* MessyPig: Various species and even entirely new families of herbivores evolve from them. Most are pretty believable. The Turmi, an anteater-like pig, less so - it would be implausible for it to survive for long, since pigs would have to eat a lot of termites to sustain themselves. It would have to keep continuously eating and not move at all.
** Still possible, as it's never said how large the turmi is supposed to be, so it might be the same size as the RealLife aardvarks or anteaters that get by just fine that way.

* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Rodents are, in fact, the dominant predators of the new world (despite many other more plausible candidates, like shrews). Some weird things like the aquatic, hippo-like Mudgulper or the kangaroo-like desert leaper are present as well.

A 1981 book written by Scottish geologist and [[ArtisticLicenseBiology biologist wannabe]] DougalDixon, which presented his hypothesis on how the fauna and geography of Earth could change 50 million years from now. Nowadays it's very outdated in terms of biology, geology and many other sciences. For its time, however, it was just about the only text that took the idea of future evolution seriously. Outlandish as they can be, the imagined animals were treated with utmost respect and painted as if they were real. It set the stage for the popular topic of speculative biology.

* XMeetsY: A ''huge'' number of the animals are basically crosses between two modern-day animals:
** Rabbuck: Rabbit + Deer
** Janiset: Rat + Weasel
** Falanx: Rat + Dog
** Testadon: Hedgehog + Armadillo
** Oakleaf Toad: Toad + Snapping Turtle
** Tree Drummer: Shrew + Woodpecker
** Shrock: Shrew + Badger
** Spine-tailed Squirrel: Squirrel + Porcupine
** Bardelot: Sabre-toothed cat + Polar Bear
** Bootie Bird: Heron + Crow
** Gandimot: Magpie + Skua
** Pytheron: Rat + Seal
** Distarterops: Rat + Walrus
** Porpin: Penguin + Dolphin
** Vortex: Penguin + Whale
** Shurrack: Weasel + Snow Leopard
** Desert Shark: Naked Mole Rat + SandWorm
** Desert Leaper: Rat + Kangaroo
** Picktooth: Rabbit + Gazelle
** Strank: Rabbit + Zebra
** Flightless Guinea Fowl: Guinea Fowl + Frigate Bird + Ostrich/Cassowary
** Gigantelope: Antelope + Rhinoceros
** Horrane: Monkey + Tiger
** Raboon: Baboon + Velociraptor
** Striger: Tiger + Monkey
** Turmi: Pig + Anteater
** Zarander: Pig + Elephant
** Trovamp: Shrew + Vampire Bat
** Mud Gulper: Mouse + Hippopotamus + Manatee
** Swimming Monkey: Monkey + Frog
** Swimming Anteater: Anteater + Seal
** Hawkbower: Hawk + Bower Bird
** Termite Burrower: Mole + Bird
** Nightglider: Weasel + Sugar Glider
** Matriarch Tinamou: Tinamou + Anglerfish (in terms of sexual dimorphism)
** Gurrath: Mongoose + Big Cat
** Tapimus: Mouse + Tapir
** Shalloth: Bat + Monkey

A 1981 book, written by Scottish geologist and [[ArtisticLicenseBiology biologist wannabe]] DougalDixon, which presented his hypothesis on how the fauna and geography of Earth could change 50 million years from now. Nowadays it's very outdated in terms of biology, geology and many other sciences. For its time, however, it was just about the only text that took the idea of future evolution seriously. Outlandish as they can be, the imagined animals were treated with utmost respect and painted as if they were real. It set the stage for the popular topic of speculative biology.

A 1981 book, written by Scottish geologist and [[ArtisticLicenseBiology biologist wannabe]] DougalDixon, which presented his hypothesis on how the fauna and geography of Earth could change 50 million years from now. Nowadays it's very outdated in terms of biology, geology and many other sciences. For its time, however, it was just about the only text that took the idea of future evolution seriously. Outlandish as they can be, the imagined animals were treated with utmost respect and painted as if they were real. It set the stage for the popular topic of Speculative Biology.

** Flightless Guinea Fowl: Guinea Fowl + Frigate Bird

* ManiacMonkeys: The cheetah-like Horrane and the theropod-like Raboons

* FeatheredFiend: There are several predatory birds, only one of which seems to be related to modern hawks, falcons, eagles and owls.

A 1981 book, written by Scottish geologist and [[YouFailBiologyForever biologist wannabe]] DougalDixon, which presented his hypothesis on how the fauna and geography of Earth could change 50 million years from now. Nowadays it's very outdated in terms of biology, geology and many other sciences. For its time, however, it was just about the only text that took the idea of future evolution seriously. Outlandish as they can be, the imagined animals were treated with utmost respect and painted as if they were real. It set the stage for the popular topic of Speculative Biology.

* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Giant, marine descendants of modern penguins took over the place of whales. Anatomically speaking, there are a couple of problems (namely, the flexibility of the spine and the vivipary thing), but otherwise these birds are probably among the most accurate creatures from the book. Which is really saying [[YouFailBiologyForever something.]]