Animal Planet...and the future?

[ColonelHardisson]

I've been seeing commercials lately for a show, the name of which I haven't caught, which will air on Animal Planet New Year's Day. The premise: what will animals be like in 200 million years? This type of stuff fascinates me - I'm a big fan of Dougal Dixon's books on future and alternate evolution. Of course, there is no way to really know how evolution will progress in the future, but shows and books about it help demonstrate the basic principles involved.

Anyway, some of the critters shown in the commercials look like potentially cool new monsters - sharks smarter than dolphins, with some kind of strobing light markings; huge predatory birds; what looks like an enormous, land-dwelling squid; nasty-looking bat creatures; what looks like a huge, saber-toothed groundhog/wolverine crossbreed; and giant turtles. The CGI doesn't look as good as Walking With Dinosaurs/Prehistoric Mammals, but looks fun nonetheless.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Whoa. Sounds cool. That reminds me of a program they had on PBs about what alien life on other planets might be like. Stuff like silicon-based lifeforms that evolved due to a lack of carbon. Pretty cool stuff, I just wish I could remember more about it.

 

[DonaldRumsfeldsTofu]

There's a really well-written book on the same lines. The name escapes me, but if I remember it, I'll post it. It featured among other things, rabbits and rats fitting the zoological niché that ungulates and canines filled before.

 

[Krishnath]

I've read that book, it's very nice actually. I think it's called After Us or some such...

Later,

 

[ColonelHardisson]

There's a really well-written book on the same lines. The name escapes me, but if I remember it, I'll post it. It featured among other things, rabbits and rats fitting the zoological niché that ungulates and canines filled before.

It's by Dougal Dixon. It's called After Man. He also wrote The New Dinosaurs, which postulated a modern Earth in which the dinosaurs never became extinct.

 

[Geocorona]

Do any of these projections consider the theory that the earth is expanding from accumulated space debris, and that gravity has been increasing at an accelerating rate as a result (more mass => more gravity => more debris pulled in => more mass => etc.)

This theory is one used to explain the impossibly massive size of some dinosaurs, which according to physics should not have been able to survive current gravitational forces.

 

[NeghVar]

Check out the Middle Earth d20 conversion site - by the fans for the fans. Read. Use. Contribute.

http://www.d20reviews.com/ME/index.html

ColonelH,

You might consider updating your sig to reflect the new URL for ME d20?

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/hosted/ME/

BTW: I will be taping this show!

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Re: Re: Animal Planet...and the future?

ColonelH,

You might consider updating your sig to reflect the new URL for ME d20?

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/hosted/ME/

BTW: I will be taping this show!

Thanks for the heads up!

D'oh! Yep. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Arani Korden]

http://www.thefutureiswild.com

http://www.thefutureiswildbook.com

Just a coupla websites about the upcoming show. The tie in book, due in February, is apparently co-written by Dougal Dixon, by the way.

 

[Geocorona]

I'll be watching the show. From the commercial, it appears they haven't considered the possibility that increased gravity may make it so there could never be any animals larger than the ones that already exists.