At noon on Jan. 3, R. McNeill Alexander will answer your questions in relation to the new show "The Future is Wild." He is professor emeritus at the University of Leeds, UK. His screen name is biomachinist.

I'll be posting his biography in the next few days!

Where will humans be during all this possible rich biodiversity that you and your esteam colleges predict?

Will reptiles rule the earth once again, or will it go to the fish?

Hi!

I was wondering if you were aware of two earlier books by Dougal Dixon - "After Man: A Zoology of the Future" and "The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution"? Both these books have very interesting approaches to alternative evolution and how future animals may take shape.

Anyway, your work so far seems both imaginative and interesting, and I know a lot of cephalopod freaks such as myself (we post on TONMO.com) who are very interested to see how you came upon cephs being such a dominant force in the ecology of the future. Keep up the good work!

John,
Arcata, CA

I know I'm probably jumping ahead a little but is there a possibility of a Future is wild 2, with animals from more than 200 million years in the future or different animals that weren't shown from 5, 100, and 200 million years into the future?

I was wondering, how and under which process would a fish evolve lungs, such as in the "flish". Is the same way in which the Lungfish has? Is it very likely?

Thanks

Since we have such a polution problem now, do you think the earth will survive long enough for that 200 million years to pass, or even 5 million?

I put old in quotation marks because they are not old to us. But, I was wondering if there is a possibility that in this 5 to 200 million year span that some current species could make a reappearance essentially unchanged from present times? Before the actual age of the dinosaurs, there was a nightmarish-looking group of creatures called dinocephalians:the terrible headed ones. Much later they make a reappearance with different facial decorations albeit. I am as sure as I can be that this occurance took place. I read it somewhere. I could ask a hundred other questions, but I don't have the space and you don't have the time. Oh, well.

Also, somewhat like the following question, would the ocean's benthic lifeforms, (Deepsea tubeworms,etc) change at all, or maybe be effected by changes above them?

I was curious; why do mammals seem to be such a rarity in the earth of the future? Also, do you think that new phylums, or kingdoms will need to be created to categorize these animals?

Of the later (200 million year ahead) creatures that the scientists have developed, which group would you choose to be the most oppurtunistic and continue to evolve into more varied niches? (Personally, I'm all for the squid critters to inherit the earth. About time for some invertabrates to take over ;] )

I find the snowstalkers incredibly enthralling! I would love to know more about them. If at all possible, I would like to find out as many facts as you have about the futuristic creature. I've checked the animal planet site and found a little, but I wish to know more!I would love to s more pictures of them also. I think they are one of the cutest creatures I've ever seen!
Snowstalker obsessor

I was wondering, How would the average octopus evolve into an 8-ton land walking animal. To me it just doesn't make sense.

Why do tou think mammals will not be on the earth in 200 million years, but there will be giant squids on land.

smart squids?


how could a squid be smarter then a monkey it doesn't make sense.

Do you suppose that after the extinction of man that another life form native to Earth could create a complex society such as our own? (e.g. a "squibbon", having intelligence equivalent to our own)

Ok i have some questions too: Do u think that the earth will survive to this 200 million mark cause at the rate we are going we are not even gone make the 1 million mark into the future. and some people think that the animals will take over the human race? is that likely? cause i think it is not likely cause we will be highly more evolved in the future and have alot better technology! and how do u know how evolutionw works?

and another thing i was looking at something!? Why would the human race abandon the earth? There is no way we would have the technology to do that?

[This message was edited by ck27 on 12-30-02 at 02:22 PM.]

What happens to the other primates?

How exactly do the muscels (sp?) work in the giant squid's legs, and who does it evolve from? (It never actually came out and said on the "animals at warp speed")

Why do you think that birds will swim and fish will fly?

I thought that feline's teeth became smaller because the larger teeth were clumsy and akward. If that's true, why did they come back?

retroqueen, where did you hear that? I've never heard of that before, and I don't think I understand totally.

Why does the Flish have a beak and a fish body?

Will the Flish be able to swim also?

Is the Carakilla going to be like the Velociraptor?

My guess on how squids could walk on dry land would be a physiology much like the aliens in the book "Genesis Quest" by Donald Moffit.THe "Nar" as they are called, appear to be very squidlike,and enough biological info is given to satsify questions of mobility.

What, if any, current day domestic animals are most likely to survive and evolve into the distant future?What would they eventually become, and would those that survive revert to wild creatures or remain domestic?What books are available that deal with the future of evolution?

Given that mammals are just about the most highly adaptable phylum of animals in existence, why is it that it's predicted that they will be extinct 200 million years from now? Do you really think the earth's climate will be that inhospitable to mammals, birds, and reptiles as there appear to be none of them in existence in this future?

Hello R. McNeill Alexander,
I have one big question; how does one animal have ancestry from 2 to 3 different animals? And if evolution exists, why are we not evolving as humans? And if we are evolving in what ways are we evolving?

For years it has been said that cockroaches would continue to survive throughout the ages. Other than a possible difference in size, what other changes could they undergo? Is there a possiblity of them or another insect species evolving into a more intelligent animal?

Question 1: Reptiles are highly sucessful animals and existed since the Carboniferous era, will they go extinct 100 million years in the future?

Question 2: According to The Future is Wild, Squibbon as intelligent as humans. Will they end up building houses and driving aultomobiles, just like humans?

Question 3: When will Pangaea II split into two or more smaller continents? And after it happens, what kind of creatures will be the next to rule the earth?

Will man evolve in the future or have we stopped because of a common global environment(housing and climate control)? If we do, will it be a more physical or mental evolution?

Hey I'm new to all of this, just have to ask, right now theres global warming, so it might as well be hotter in the future, probebly most mammals will live in the sea, and retiles will take over most of the land once again. Its just a therory I thought up from nowhere. and I drew what I would think a futuristic dolphin would look like at my site:
www.webbystorm.com/orca-online/

in the gallery, and in drawings.

I wonder what elephants will look like.

Bats and wolverines are currently animals that are threatened or endangered. Why would these animals be fit enough to evolve into creatures of the future? Why not use something like a rabbit or an cockroach as an ancestor since they are currently faring better in the survival game?

How do you think humans will evolve? Let's say we live in space ships all the time...something like the Enterprise-D - not a modern day space shuttle...

Five million years from now, the earth should have looked a lot different than the show depicted. Five million years of sliding would make the world much different. I was also wondering where the ice for the ice age came from. Everyone tells me the polar caps are meltin at an incredible rate. How could so much of the earth be frozen and still maintain 75% coverage by water? Don't make sense.

COULD I USE ANY OFTHE INFO ON THE FUTURE IS WILD FOR A SOCIAL STUDIES PROJECT FOR MY DAUGHTER? I MEAN WOULD THAT BE CONCERD SOCIAL STUDIES?

As a huge fan of the Dixon books mentioned above, I was very interested in watching this program.

While I enjoyed the hypothetical creatures and ecosystems, I was a bit disappointed to see a general lack of "set up" - that is, why was the earth rendered unihabitable, why did mammals go extinct, etc. that would make this more understandable to the general public. I know I am going to have to do a lot of pre-discussion if I ever showed this to one of my classes.

I was also dismayed at the number of times the narrator spouted "Scientists believe that in 5/100/200 million years...". It was never stated clearly that all this was hypothetical and basically never going to come true, rather an illustration of millions of ways that life has changed and will continue to change.

Anyway...

While I love cephalopods, I found it unusual that they got such attention on the show. Why squid and octopus? My understanding was that their class is in a strong downturn compared to what existed 200 million years ago. Why would they experience a resurgence when fish and mammals (and it seems most reptiles) have gone the way of the dodo?