Then come back for the live discussion on Wednesday, July 18, at noon ET with the Professor.

Chimpanzee has a chance to evolve into intelligent people. They are on the ahead of learning how to live the way what our ancestors used to. We should see how the future of chimpanzee.

Have dragons ever existed and will they ever exist?(probably not but im curious)

than our household pets?

Is there an easy to understand difference that you can explain to us?

more kinds of wild animals become extinct? Do we really need wild animals?

that they are still evolving?

What do you think will happen to big cats like lions and tigers? There were sabertooths in the prehistoric period. Could cats re-evolve those huge teeth? As apex predators it seems they would have a role to play in the future.

Something I noticed...

Why do deathgleaners fly around in groups? The only prey for them we can see are small animals like Spinks and young Rattlebacks, neither of which could probably feed more than one of them, two at most.

Most of the amphibians that we see today are relatively small, with a few exceptions such as the giant salamanders (the Cryptobranchidae like the hellbender for example) or giant toads like Bufo marinus, the Cane Toad, etc. Do you think there will be a trend towards larger amphibians as time goes on?

The Future is Wild animals are totally intense!

I've noticed that on the show no people survive into the distant future.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about evolutionary processes, but it seems to me that given humans' adaptability and capability of using technology to survive extreme conditions, there would be some type of humanoid still around well into the future. What is your take on this Professor?

Sir
There is mention in this program about animals that can survive days together outside water. Is this mention of "day" based on today's version of the Earth day? Is there any calculation that shows what the length of the day will be / will it change or remain the same?

Dear mysternut

You asked about the possibilities of ape's evolution, and about the future evolution of chimps--possibly into people.

The possibility is there, but at this point it doesn't look likely. The reason it is unlikely that chimps might evolve further is that people already exist, and already fill the human ways of making a living that chimps would have to evolve into. In other words, people would exclude chimps from being able to evolve in that direction. If humans become extinct and chimps survive, the possibility would be higher. The program doesn't seem to have chimps survive into the future, so we have to imagine the possibilities.
rraff

Dear crocdragon1


Have dragons ever existed and will they ever exist?

Depending how you define dragon---no. But the idea of dragons may well have originated with fossils of large extinct animals, such as mammoths or dinosaurs.

rraff

This is a more basic question. The program shows that the Swampus can kill teh huge Tortoise in the future. The Tortoise is vegetarian; why would the swampus want to kill the tortoise even though it doesnt harm the swampus? Do animals kill for self protection even if they know that the otherr one wont harm it?

Hi mod_ivy

I agree adaptation is confusing.

Adaptation refers to the means or features by which a creature is able to make a living in the world, for example the beak of a wood****** enables to feed on insects under the bark of trees.

Evolution refers to changes in features through time. This might involve an improvement in an existing adaptation, or the origin of a new adaptation.

rraff

Hi goodfield
This is a really interesting question.

>>What do you think will happen to big cats like lions and tigers? There were sabertooths in the prehistoric period. Could cats re-evolve those huge teeth? As apex predators it seems they would have a role to play in the future.

I guess this is pretty much a roll of the dice. The first question is whether any apex predators will survive the crowding by growing human populations. So, the most likely answer might be that all cats will become extinct, ending cat evolution.
However, if some cats survive, say the descendants of house cats, sabertooths could re-evolve. The big teeth seem to be useful in hunting large animals. Incidentally, not only cats evolved saberteeth, but independently so did some big extinct marsupial sabertooth-like carnivores in South America.
rraff

Dear amphib_eco_gal

It is true that there are some big amphibians among the majority of small ones. Is there a trend towards larger amphibians as time goes on?

I doubt it. Not because amphibians can't be big. Some the coal age forms were the size of crocodiles. Most living amphibians exploit niches that are unavailable to warm blooded animals. Small amphibians live as small ambush predators on insects. They don't have to eat often because their metabolism is slow, and they can hide well.

If the big reptile, birds and mammals were to become extinct, there isn't much reason why really big amphibians could not evolve.
rraff

Dear koalawesome

I think that your point that humans should survive into the future because of their adaptibility is very valid.

I think that the show is built around a non-human world to show what could happen if humans are gone, and natural evolutionary forces operate on the survivors of our times.

Of course, I don't mean to suggest that humans are immune to extinction. In the short run, we could be our own worst enemies. In the long run, all species eventually become extinct.
rraff

Thanks for the answer to my last question! I’ve thought of another one.

I realize that each method or reproduction suits a certain purpose, but do you see a general trend towards one or the other in terms of egg laying or live birth in species over time? Or do you think the ratio of egg laying to live birthing will pretty much stay where it is today?