After Man
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After Man: A Zoology of the Future (1981) is a 1981 book by the Scottish geologist and author, Dougal Dixon. In it, he presents his hypothesis on how the fauna and geography could change 50 million years from now.
Geography of the future
Dixon assumes that Europe and Africa would eventually fuse, closing up the Mediterranean. Asia and North America would collide and close up the Bering Strait. South America would split off from Central America. Australia would collide with southern Asia, uplifting a mountain range. Finally, parts of eastern Africa would split off to form a new island which he called Lemuria. Other volcanic islands have been added, such as the Pacaus and Tanurstashia, which both split off from the Phillipines .
Major groups of After Man: A Zoology of the Future
While there are a wide variety of creatures in After Man, many of these can fall into easily recognizable groups, e.g. rabbucks, gigantelopes, predator rats, etc. Some of the larger groups in the future include:
- Rabbucks
- Rabbucks fill in the void of deer, zebras and antelope (since antelope became things like the gigantelopes) but descended, as the name suggests, from rabbits. They live in almost any environment, and they mostly feed on grass. Their anatomy resembles that of ungulates, though there are a few primitive hopping forms lurking around.
- Gigantelope
- The Gigantelope take the niche in the future that was formerly held by elephants, giraffes, moose, musk oxen, rhinoceroses, and other large herbivores. Resembling the ancient sauropods or indricotheres, they are descended from antelope, and range in a wide variety of forms. One subbranch have evolved into the large, moose-like herbivores of the north, the Hornheads.
- Predator Hyraxes
- While the rats take up most of predatory niches, the Hyraxes evolved to be predatory, flying creatures. Like our modern bats, they are found on every landmass except the poles.They are descended from hyraxes, which could evolve different diets. They range in forms resembling bats, pterosaurs, vultures, and even seabirds.
- Predator Rats
- The major group of predators in the future. Like our modern carnivorans, they exist on almost every continent and fill almost every carnivorous niche. They evolved, as the name suggests, from rats, and range in forms resembling polar bears, wolves, wolverines, cats, and even aquatic walrus-like forms.
- Carnivorans
- For the most part, Dixon assumes that Carnivorans have either gone extinct, or have been forced into peripheral niches like the Creodonts were in the Oligocene. A few still exist, the Shurrack, Pamthret, Striger, Ghole, Gurrath and Nightglider.
Animals of After Man: A Zoology of the Future
Temperate Woodlands and Grasslands
- Angler Heron, Butorides piscatorius
- Chirit, Tendesciurus rufus, an inchworm-like rodent descended from squirrels.
- Falanx,[1] Amphimorphodus cynomorphus
- Janiset, Viverinus brevipes
- Long-Necked Dipper, Apterocinclus longinuchus
- Lutie, Microlagus mussops
- Oakleaf Toad, Grima frondiforme
- Pfrit, Aquambulus hirsutus
- Purrip Bat, Caecopterus spp.
- Rabbuck,[2] Ungulagus spp.
- Rapide, Amphimorphodus longipes
- Ravene, Vulpemys ferox
- Reedstilt, Harundopes virgatus, a swamp mammal with fifteen neck vertebrae and a diet of fish
- Shrock, Melesuncus sylvatius
- Testadon, Armatechinos impenetrabilis
- Tree Drummer, Proboscisuncus spp.
- Tree Duck, or hanging bird, Pendavis bidactylus
- Tusked Mole, Scalprodens talpiforme
- †Ancestral Hornhead, Protocornudens spp.
- Beaver, Castor spp., farther evolved than its modern ancestor for the water.
- Broadbeak, Pseudofraga spp.
- Chiselhead, Tenebra vermiforme
- Common Pine Chuck, Paraloxus targa
- Hornhead,Cornudens spp.
- Pamthret, Vulpemustela acer
- Spine-Tailed Squirrel, Humisciurus spinacaudatus
- Trevel, Scandemys longicaudata
- Bardelot, Smilomys atrox, a predator rat type. The females have sabre teeth and a dark coat, while the male's white coat makes its resemblance to modern-day polar bears uncanny.
- Bootie Bird, Corvardea niger
- Distarterops, Scinderedens solungulus
- Flightless Auk, Nataralces maritimus
- Gandimot, Bustivapus septentreonalis
- Groath, Hebecephalus montanus
- Lesser Ptarmigan, Lagopa minutus
- Meaching, Nixocricetus lemmomorphus
- Parashrew, Pennatacaudus volitarius
- Pilofile, Phalorus phalorus
- Polar Ravene, Vulpemys albulus
- Pytheron, Thalassomus piscivorus
- Ruffle, Rupesaltor villupes
- Shurrack, Oromustela altifera
- Vortex,[3] Balenornis vivipera
- Woolly Gigantelope, Megalodorcas borealis
- Desert Leaper, Aquator adepsicautus
- Desert Shark, Psammonarus spp.
- Desert Spickle, Fistulostium setosum
- Fin Lizard, Velusaurus bipod
- Grobbit, Ungulamys cerviforme
- Khilla, Carnosuncus pilopodus
- Kriskin, scientific name unknown
- Leaping Devil, Daemonops rotundus
- Long-Legged Quail, Deserta catholica
- Sand Flapjack, Platycaudatus structor
- Spitting Featherfoot, Pennapus saltans, a rodent with the ability to spit out poisons that it absorbs from the surrounding plants onto its enemies.
- Flightless Guinea Fowl, Pseudostruthio gularis
- Gigantelope, Megalodorcas giganteus
- Ghole Pallidogale nudicollum
- Horrane, Phobocebus hamungulus
- Long-Necked Gigantelope
- Picktooth, Dolabrodon fossor, an earlier split-off from the rabbucks.
- Raboon, Carnopapio spp.
- Rundihorn, Tetraceras africanus
- Strank, Ungulagus virgatus
- †Shovel-Horned Gigantelope, scientific name unknown
- Watoo, Ungulagus cento
- Anchorwhip, Flagellanguis viridis
- Clatta, Testudicaudatus tardus
- Chuckaboo, Thylapithecus rufus
- Fatsnake, Pingophis viperaforme
- Giantala, Silfrangerus giganteus
- Giant Pitta, Gallopitta polygyna
- Hawkbower, Dimorphoptilornis iniquitus
- Hiri-Hiri, Carnophilius ophicaudatus
- Khiffah, Armasenex aedificator
- Long-Armed Ziddah, Araneapithecus manucaudata
- Mud-Gulper, Phocapotamus lutuphagus
- Posset, Thylasus virgatus
- Slobber, Reteostium cortepellium
- Striger, Saevitia feliforme
- Swimming Anteater, Myrmevenarius amphibius
- Swimming Monkey, Natopithecus ranapes
- Termite Burrower, Neopardalotus subterrestris
- Toothed Kingfisher, Halcyonova aquatica
- Tree Duck, Dendrocygna volubaris
- Trovamp, Hirudatherium saltans
- Turmi, Formicederus paladens,
- Water Ant, scientific name unknown
- Zarander, Procerosus elephanasus
- South America, which has become an island continent again
- Flower-Faced Potoo, Gryseonycta rostriflora
- Gurrath, Oncherpestes fodrhami
- Matriarch Tinamou, Gynomorpha parasitica
- Nightglider, Hastatus volans
- Strick, Cursomys longipes
- Tapimus, Tapimus maximus
- Wakka, Anabracchium struthioforme, a rodent that has become so well adapted to running that it has lost its forelimbs
- Lemuria, which has split off from East Africa
- Cleft-Back Antelope, Castratragus grandiceros
- Long-Necked Yippa, Altocephalus saddi
- Snorke, Lepidonasus lemurienses
- Tick Bird, Invigilator commensalis
- Valuphant, Valudorsum gravum
- Tanurstashia, an island chain in the eastern Pacific Ocean
- Flooer, Florifacies mirabila
- Gouratarra, Tutakackis couneperah,a bat-like hyrax so well adapted to flying its skin membranes developed into wings. They act like modern day hornets, and live in a colony.
- Night Stalker, Manambulus perhorridus[4]
- Shalloth, Arboverspertilio apteryx
- Surfbat, Remala madipella, a bat that has resorted to aquatic behaviour, and which acts in a similar manner to present-day seals.
- Ounga, Anabracchium tantedelitis, a relative of the Wakka that is taller than a girraffe. They resemble Wakkas but they have longer tails, are are striped.
- Pacaus, another island chain, this time in the western Pacific
- Pacauan Bird Snake, Avanguis pacausus
- Pacauan Whistler, Insulornis spp.
- Terratail, Ophicaudatus insulatus
See also
- Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future (1990)
- Future Evolution (2001)
- The Future Is Wild (2003)
- The World Without Us (2007)
- Life After People (2008)
- While the British ITV series Primeval mostly focuses on prehistoric life, several of its creatures, most specifically the Mer and Future predator, are from the future. The latter in particular appears to be based on a combination of the purrip bat and the nightstalker.
Similar projects
Paleontologist Peter Ward wrote another book on a different perspective on future evolution, one with humans intact as a species. This book is called Future Evolution. Dixon's later work Man After Man also includes man. In 2002, a program on Animal Planet called The Future Is Wild—for which Dixon was a consultant—advances further using more precise studies of biomechanics and future geological phenomena based on the past.
