Post by creature386 on May 21, 2013 15:52:34 GMT 5
This is a therad for discussion about possible future evolution and how you imagine future wolrds to look like. On my carnivora-blog, I have invented such a future world and I would like to show it to you. You can post what you think about it. One of the reasons why I made this topic is because I love speculative evolution, as it is quite fascinating and I already took part in topics about that in other boards (not just carnivora).
Anyway, here my version:
There is also a future world made up by carnivora member Temnospondyl. I can post a link to it if you want. Some of his worlds looked broadly similar to mine.
Anyway, here my version:
Episode I, a new world
It is ~50.000 years in the future. We've caused an El Niño effect.
In the pacific coast of South america, the climate rises. The coast get's flooded and the Galápagos Islands disappear in the water. Even North America isn't save from the water:
The plankton dies and the fish are forced to migrate. The few seals starve. Humanity starts to get less and less fish. The east coast of Africa also gets flood, while the southern areas in Africa dry out and deserts start to dominate the landscape. The Rain forrests in Africa and South America both vanish. The rain forrests in Asia and Australia get burned by bush fires. Coral reefs worldwide don't survive the storms and coral bleach. Europe gets a cold winter. The massive loss in plants and animals makes the humanity starve. The few surviving humans try to keep the nuclear powersations cool. However, they don't last forever and the powerstations cause cancer all around the world, with their rays. After all that, life can recover. A lot of species went extinct and it's time for a radiation. A La Niña effect makes the Sahara Green and there lifeforms can live. However, it's just an Interglacial period and a Glacial period is coming.
Episode II, life after man
India, 5 million years in the future
The Glacial period is finished and we are 5 Million years in the future in India. The land is covered once again in rainforrests, due to the end of the ice age, so the world got warmer. Of course the land is to covered in water and swamps. Most tracks left by humans vanished now. The deadly rays now vanished too. But the animals who extincton because of humans won't come back. Their nishes have to be filled. Now, after this extincton we see an ancestor of this bird:
Many pets went extinct, without humans who care for them. Chicken belong to them. However, the wild ancestor (Gallus gallus) of the chicken survived, because it was small. Now, the descentants of Gallus gallus murghi can be seen in these forrests. Of course it changed a lot, because in a radiation 5 million years are a LOT (you see it in the triassic period). Now a new species appeared. It is called Gallus struthions (it probably belongs in a new genus, but I were too lazy to invent one.
). It was called like that, because it reminds in it's shape of big walking birds, like Emus or Ostriches.
But of course still chicken-like, tough they have quite long legs, so they are more than 1,6m tall and weighing 60 kg. They got that big, because when there are only a few species left, it's good to become big. They travel in groups trough the forrest. Becoming too big could be hindering in the forrest, because there isn't a lot of space. Like modern chicken, they are opportunistic feeders and they always pay attention. Like chicken, they too like hiding behind plants and other objects, what can keep them out of vision, so they walk bowed. It is also helpful, because the fruits they prefer can be found close to the ground. But because these birds are opportunistic, they also sometimes eat (like chicken) small animals, but because they are a lot bigger, the animals are also relatively bigger, so instead of worms, they pick up snakes. We have a group of 20 adults, but it can be up to 40 in other groups. They always stay in hearing distance, to warn each other, if there's trouble. Indeed, they have predators. Because they're among the biggest animals in this radiation (at least in their habitat), they have hardly predators. But the biggest predator in India is still a hazard for them. It is a descendant of the bengal monitor, called Varanus maximus. From less than 3 kg, this monitor grew up to more than 50 kg in weight and and 2,5-3m in length. It is the apex predator in this world and it likes eating birds. From small ones who weigh less than 5 kg, to the big chicken. It can find them, by smelling them with it's tounge. but when it gets noticed, the birds make noise and the monitor can't catch them. But they don't always run away. In this case they don't do it, because the have eggs to defend. The lizard faces an angry cock, who tries to intimidate it with it's wings. The Monitor gives up, because it's afraid of getting kicked and it may be able to kill that bird, but there are others in the near and it's going to have problems with them all. Also, in these forrests, there are enough other animals to eat and these monitors aren't picky with their prey. They even attack members of the own species as food source. V. maximus are not very active, due being ectotherm, but they are aggressive and can kill each other in territory fights or predation. While the V. maximus kills an immature member of the species, about half as long as itself, the birds search for food in shallow water.
At night, we're going to see more new future animals. It is a descendat of Megaderma lyra and it is called the Bengal Vampire (due being a false vampire bat). It is a false vampire bad, it doesn't go for blood. They were not in danger to extinct in the human time and they were small, by the way, bats are very adaptable animals, like rodents, so they were able to live in the rests of human citys, after rainforrests disappeared. Like many future animals, it grew a lot, to 50 cm in length and 8 kg in weight, making it a relatively heavy flying animal. They prey on small animals they find at the ground, smaller bats and they too eat juvenile Gallus struthions. Unlike their ancestor, their wings are quite long, so they are faster, but they can't fly at the spot in the air. Anyway, they got the rulers of the air in their envoirement. Unlike their ancestors, they sleep alone and if they sleep together, they rarely do it in big groups. This specimen is currently catching a reptile, maybe a juvenile V. maximus. It tugs it on a branch to eat it there. This was a lucky kill, because the night was almost over. Than the sun rises and another day in the future India starts.
We've seen how common days in the future India look, let's look at other continents:
Australia, 6 million years in the future
Australia for example. There most rain forrest vanished, but recovered, because now 6 million years are over after the human lived. Here, we have new and exotic animals. Today, Australia is inhabitated by Marsupials. Many animas went extinct, now the marsipial want to try something and fill nishes.
Now, we have 2m long marsupials adapted for living in the sea. Despite them living in Australia, they don't have australian ancestors. Their ancestors of the human time were didelphids, living in america. There is already a didelphids adapted for the water (Chironectes). This isn't a descendant, but convergent evolution. Marine mammals we know went extinct, due to the things the human did. So there is an oppurtunity, what has to be taken. This didelphid is the marsupial equivalend of seals, they also look similar to them, but of course they have pouches. Also, they use webbed, rather than real fins. Between them, they still have small claws. This is an Australian species. 6 million years of the future, they're alredy spread in the whole pacific. They mostly travel in groups, but not always when searching food. Like seals, they feed on fish. Humans are extinct now, but that doesn't mean they have no enemies. There are still predators around here, what prey on these mammals. Like shortly after the extinction of dinosaurs, sharks are the apex predators of the oceans, due to the extinction of the previous top-predators. The extinction humans caused, was a serious problem for sharks, many of them had to die due to finning. But very small sharks, living in the deep sea, like the dwarf lanternshark, managed to survive:
The descendant of dwarf lanternsharks is now 2m long and much bulkier than it's narrow built ancestor. It now wants to kill one of the sea marsupials, it is close to a 2m long adult, but it avoids it, because it doesn't want to be bitten and there are smaller, less experienced ones. There's a single subadult swimming around and searching for fish. Luckily it can be saved by an adult who detected the shark and scares it away by swimming agressively towards it. Like some modern sharks, this shark is a bit squeamish, so it doesn't want to risk a battle. Therefore it flees.
Geologically, Australia is like most other continents similar to today, just the animals are different. But there are major geological changes. Like in the Mediterranean Sea, 8 million years in the future.
Mediterranean Sea, 8 million years in the future
Because Africa moved towards Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar was closed and the Mediterranean Sea was seperated from the Atlantic Ocean (TFIW reference), therefore it could get new water and it dried out. What it left is a salty desert. Such salt pan's can be found today as for example the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Here, it is very hard to survive, because it is quite desert like. Most animals here are small insects or lizards. Very few large animals survive here, but some do. Some salt pans today (like the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana) are inhabited by flamingos in large numbers. Such salt pans have large salt seas, with a lot of small shrimp, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms and mollusks for the flamingos:
But that is in the rain time, in the dry season, very little can exist here. However, now in the rain season, it is less harsh. These birds are no flamingos, not even related, but agian convergent evolution. Due to a similar diet, they have a similar color, but there's a difference. Unlike flamingos, they rely on spoon shaped beaks (like Spoonbills) for a larger inhalling volume, rather than on hook shaped beaks. They appear in large groups. Of course they have to raise their youngs in the time where there is enough water left. Because when the dry season begins, they have to know how to fly, to escape from the desert. Otherwise they have to die, due to the harsh conditions in the dry season. Of course the rain time isn't friendly either, as there are predators. Lot's of carnivorans went extinct, but mustelids were able to survive. Like mustelids. There is a carnivore called "mega mustelid". It can be 1,5-2m long and preys on the more than 2m tall birds. They have proportionally slightly longer legs than flamingos, for running away more quickly, they need to, because of such predators. But there problem is that there are lot's of rocks what can be used for ambushing them. A quick jump of the predator takes one of them down, the others run away and start flying. Because the rain time just started, they have no youngs yet to protect. The poor bird caught is cilled with a neck bite in the water and dragged out of the sea. Than it is eaten. But the birds in the air aren't save either. There are falcons with 1m wingspan in the air. One tries to attack the birds. It is a much more mobile in the air than they are, but it is confused by the large number of them. Therefore it doesn't attack them and the birds are save. The large birds of prey evolved after the extinction of many land carnivores, they were able to survive in the left cities quite well, they manuvered trough them like trough canyons. But these falcons with 1m wingspan are just one example of the new birds of prey.
To view more of them, let's visit North America, 12 million years in the future.
North America, 12 million years in the future
Here in the future North America, we have open tundra plains:
These plains are inhabited by small, bipedal reptiles. They are 1m long and quite slender. They live together with rodents, who are as long (not the bodies tough, I'm speaking about tail+body length, these rodents have much shorter tails), but much bulkier than the rather slender reptiles. They live together. The reptiles are quite active, because they have air sacks (like monitors do) and they pay attention. The rodents protect them when there's a predator in the near. Like that, both have advantages. Both aswell are herbivores, feeding on what they can find in these plains. It is quite cold here, so the mammals have thick fur and the reptiles a substance in their blood, like fleas living on high mountains have, so they can survive here, despite having no fur and being ectotherm. However, due to their weaker dentition, they are a bit choosier with the plants they eat. Despite that, they inhabit the plains in overall larger numbers, as reptiles usually get more babies than mammals, they mostly don't care for them, but these reptiles do, due being quite social. Now, it's summer and there these plains are visited by large falcons, larger than the ones we saw in the salt plains, they are their descendants. We see a pair of them, stalking the reptiles. Because the reptiles are more numerous their mammalian friends, they are sometimes around without their friends, but that would anyway not make much of a difference against these enemies. Now, they go for the attack. But their prey is quite quick and nimble. The falcons are fast, but their prey is able to turn quickly. Therefore, it takes strategy to catch them. The falcons try to surround it, to prevent it from fleeing. After this is done, both throw the carcass to each other, like some falcon pairs of the human age do. When they are really hungry, they catch multiple of the reptiles (if they are able to do so), since they are quite slender. The female has to eat more than the male. For a good reason. Like penguins or pigeon species, these falcons feed their youngs with milk they produce. To produce it, the female has to eat a lot. When the youngs grow larger and their beak gets more robust, they start eating meat, they get from their parents.
Episode III, gigants of the future
We now see the world 50 million years in the future:
As we see here, the look of the earth drastically changed. The Mediterranean Sea now completely vanished. Africa didn't stop moving upwards, a new large continent called "Afrasia" was created (Eurasia + Africa). Australia is moving towards Indonesia. But it is changing it's course and is about to move towards India. Therefore the Indian Ocean is about to become an inland sea, surrounded by the other continents.
However, North America aswell changed it's course, due to a marine trench, going from north to south in the atlantic ocean (the "Western Atlantic Trench").
Let's travel 10 million years further. Now, it moves towards the western side of Afrasia (Europe + Africa).
North America in the future is going to be our next target.
California, 60 million years in the future
The Californian forrest is covered in forrests, as we see on the map.
We enter them. It is in the early morning. Very foggy. The fog is important, as it brings water to the huge trees here in the forrest. They are comparable to the modern sequoia in California, which also depend on fog, coming from the pacific:
No decendants, but again convergent evolution, as the sea current in that are is area are propitious for such trees. But we don't just have forrests with large trees. We also have animals eating them. As the sun rises, the forrests are more noisy, for example we hear lot's of birds. The ground is dominated by rodents and lizards. However, we don't just have such small animals here. We also have some true gigants here. Like gigant reptiles, for example the mammoth lizard. That is an animal what is more than 20 m long, weighing over 30 t. Unlike Sauropods, it doesn't rely on a long neck for getting a lot of food, rather on a wide gape for swallowing a lot. These trees have a lot of leaves in their branches, so this is a good adaptation for that kind of food. Like monitor lizards, they have air sacks. These help them to grow faster, but due being exotherm, still not very fast, so the mothers have to lay lot's of eggs, to save the survival of at least some babies. The mammoth lizards are solitary animals, so are their babies, like that it is easier in the forrests. Large animals living in herds are usually found in the open plains. The gigantic animals in that forrest are also rather rare, so most of the time, it is peacefully quite here, with not many animals what can be seen.
However, this animal lives in these forrests, so does it's predator.
Another reptile. It is similar to komodo dragons, it's just it's 10 m long and equipped with a 1,4 m long skull, with serrated teeth. However, it has no venom. But it is still deadly. A 15 m long juvenile mammoth lizard is it's target. It tries to ambush the juvenile and to get a leg, to get a good grip on it and therefore a well placed bite, to let it bleed to death. However, it waits to long. The mammoth lizards spots it and fends it off. Both animals have semi erect limbs (like a crocodile, just that they don't crawl over the ground, they keep their bodies away from the ground all the time, due to their size), wo outmanuvering the mammoth lizard isn't easy for it's agressor, it has to give up.
Both of them can live very long, the mammoth lizard can live more than 100 years easily. These years however are a struggle to survive in the forrest of gigants. The old ones, like walking in rivers, there it is saver and walking isn't always easy due to their size, so they can be called semi-aquatic. They spend a lot of their day in the water, even juveniles, due to their enormous size. Some smaller animals (like birds) sit on their backs. In the water, fish eat their parasites.
That's how the live of these reptiles looks in the forrests of future north america.
Now, let's leave America and move towards Afrasia and travel further in time. Now, we see the world 75 million years in the future.
Morocco, 75 million years in the future
Let's take a look at the coast of the land what was once called Morocco.
Here, we have swamps with small to medium sized plants and a lot of water.
In that landscape we have large apex predators. Here is one.
It is belongs to the seriema clade, so it is related to the terror birds from the miocene. They migrated from south america, to the forrest in the future california. Than there was a colder period, with sinking sea levels, what created a connection between America and Afrasia. These species were well adapted at the cold weather, however, as they reached warmer regions, they lost these adaptations. Now, they are the apex predators on land and can be up to 3 m tall.
The animal is called "Moroccian terror bird". The specimen we see is fishing. It stays in the near of a river and waits for a good opportunity, to catch something tasty. However, it regulary stops look for dangers. It is an apex predator, but members of the own species and natural catastrophes, aswell as large, agresssive herbivores can be a hazard, even for it.
The Terror Bird spots something. It is a member of the own species. They don't stand close to each other, but they are in the range of each other's vision, because the landscape is quite open. The territory boundary was not respected, therefore the Moroccian terror bird shouts at the intruder. The intruder however seems to have not noticed it, as he is concentrated in his meal. So the bird defending it's territory get's noisier and starts flapping with the wings, while running towards it's enemy, who now noticed it. This takes his meal and goes away. Now, the search for food can be continued. In the water, we don't only have small fish species, but also octopi. Some of them have very long arms for catching their prey. That also includes other octopi species. But these aren't defenseless. Here, we have a species called "the running octopus". It has earned it's name. Because if there is danger in the water and it has no other chance to escape, it can use it's tentacles and run.
This isn't something new, as in the human era there are some octopi in Australia with that ability. But this little guy is able to do more. He can breath the air on land. So he doesn't just have an advantage over it's opponents in the very shallow water, due to the running ability, but he can also completely leave it, where the enemies can't follow.
However, the birds are a problem on land, but of course the possiblity to go back in the water exists too. Or to hide between the plants. This octopus is quite small (the body is 10 cm long). It can lay in the grass and change it's color. Than the bird can overlook it. The different strategies octopi can use, allowed them to survive so long, aswell as their intelligence. Now in the water, we have another apex predator. A 3 m long predatory freshwater fish lives here. In the water, it is the undisputed ruler. Like the running octopus, it can breath some air, what is useful, as it is big and the water is very shallow. Due to it's strong fins, it can crawl over the ground. That's also one of the reasons why the Moroccian terror birds have to be careful, but usually, they can stop the fish early enough, as it can't really hide in the very shallow water. So the land animals can run away quickly enough. Our bird had no succes at fishing. So it tries to find some terrestrial animals to feed on.
It hasto bequick, as a dry period is about to begin, such periods don't come regulary, there can be distances between them of multiple years, but they come. And when they do, it doesn't look good for some animals. Especially for the aquatic ones, as some of the big fish can strand. They may be able to breath air for some time, but they can't really live on land, so without water, they have to die.
The last thing we see in the future african swamps are two Moroccian terror bids feeding on the carcass of a gigant predatory fish.
Now, we'll move 5 million years further in time. Let's look at the future oceans:
The Indo-Atlantic Ocean, 80 million years in the future
Marine mammals got more rare now, because 80 million years in the future, their era is over. The humans have weakened them too much, trough bringing many of them to extinction. The marine marsupials aswell had problems, as marsupials were too affected by the extinction caused by humans. Instead, new animals inhabit the oceans.
Marine vertebrates were heavily damaged during the human era. However, jellyfish had no problems. They liked the warm water (global warning) and their natural predators got fished away. So, directly after the extinction, they were very abundant. Thus jellyfish were capable of evolving a great diversity. Some of them are quite toxic. We see a large, bell formed gelly fish, with a diameter of 2-3 m, who is around of as toxic as box jellyfish.
It preys on small, non poisionous related species, who use their large numbers to survive. But jellyfish are not the only invertebrates around here. We also have descendats of aplysia.
They of course got bigger. We have a group of indiviuals of different ages, genders and sizes. They are able to change their color, but they still have a "basis coloring". Like that it is possible to see if it is a male, a female or a subadult. The ability to change the colour can be helpful to get rid of predators, because that can confuse or suprise them. While the youngs are quite brightly coloured, the older specimen prefer using ink for defense. Their feeding habitus also changes when getting older. The youngs are swimming in the sea current (they are more adapted for swimming than their ancestors) and search there for small organisms they can inhale.
As their ancestors, the future aplysia have radula, but aswell small tube mouths, for an even longer range. The adults are more living at the ground and using their radula and tube mouths for "drinking up" soft plants (they suck the juice in them and the small, soft parts, which are easy to inhale). Fish still exist and they are aswell abundant. We have schools of bony fish. Some small ones eat what the large slugs leave for them. Others prey on these small fish. In these warm waters, lot's of animals are able to exist, as a result, predators are visiting these waters.
For example sharks.
After marine mammals disappeared, they were able to go for the top of the food chain. This shark is a descendant of the one which we have seen in the marine marsupial segment. This specimen is 4 m long, not very hungry, as sharks generally don't eat a lot, but curious due not being an adult and in the learning phase of it's life, therefore it goes close to the slugs. It sees the youngs, who are at roughly the same size as it is and wants to deliver a test bite, to one of them. The adults don't really care for their youngs, but the youngs still stay close to them, to feel more safe. As the adults feel threaten by the shark, one of them uses ink, what it a heavy attack on the fine senses of the shark. Therefore it leaves them.
Suddenly, a bigger member of the own species appears and cuts it in half with a bite. The agressor is at least twice as long as it's victim. However, these sharks can even grow larger, up to 10 m, however we do not know the exact size of that specimen, but we can suggest that it is somewhere in the 8 m range.
The adult sharks are able to team up for attacking large prey items. These include gigantic fish.
Gigantic bony fish, who are called "filter fish". Like modern whales, they are filter feedes, at around the same size as the whale shark. They remind a bit of Leedsichtys, just without armour and a larger size. A team of sharks (with specimen who are 6-10 m long) attacks them. They surround a 9 m long juvenile. It's mother tries to defend it, with powerful tail slaps. However, she is much less manuverable than her enemies, but safed trough size. Her young does not have this advantage. The sharks managed to isolate it and now begin to tear it into pieces. The water starts to dye red and the sharks have their meal, but first of all, they start to battle who is aloowed to eat first. They don't really battle, they rather intimidate their opponents. The large female (10 m) takes the first bite on the carcass, the others follow. In the end, everyone has got something.
Let's look at the final segment of the III episode.
South America, 90 million years in the future.
It's shape hasn't changed a lot, tough it is now moving towards Afrasia.
Basically a continent of rain forrests, like the south america we have today. Tough it has some major differences. The atmosphere is very oxygen-rich in that continent, because now the rain forrests are much larger in that continent today. That's because of the much warmer climate, what creates good conditions for a forrest planet. The trees here are on average 10 m taller than these in the modern amazonian forrests, however, these trees are rather rare. They are like single gigants between lots of smaller plants. These include medium sized trees, which are 20-30 m tall. Apart from large trees, there are also large flowers, with a much more stable petiole than modern ones have, to survive the own size. These also form forrests, so in the future, large forrests are not only made of trees. That may sound quite strange, but you also have to think of the fact that relatives of clubmoss also once formed large forrests. The conditions in the amazonian rain forrests were good for forming a second carboniferous-like period here, as they have a lot of water. We now have a new amazonas. After the human time, it got quite dry here, due to the El Niño. Remember the first episode. There it was said that the rain forrests in Africa and South America had to vanish, due to a lack of water. However, due to the South American contact with the "Western Atlantic Trench", a new mountain range has appeared in the east. In the west, the andes (which were born in a similar way as the mountain range in the east) disappeared within the time. The new mountain range in the east now spends the needed water for the new river. So, the amazonas got turned. That isn't the first time this has happened. There are suggestions of a pre amazonas in the past on Gondwana, going from Africa to South America, so aswell the opposite direction of the amazonas in the past. That's how the water world was reborn. As the planet climate got warmer (after the final end of the ice age), it kept getting warmer, so that especially here lot's of plants grew. The plants have pumped a lot of oxygen into the atmosphere, comparable to the carboniferus. But that isn't just a copy of the carboniferus. By far not, as this is not in the time were the land just started to be inhabited, here we have the diversity of the more modern times, while the carboniferus arthropods and plants were more basal:
The flowers demonstrate that quite well. Aswell as the animals who feed on them. Butterflies for example, who is currently not known to exist before the cretaceous terrestrial evolution. Like the insects of the carboniferus, it could grow very large thanks to the high oxygen levels here. Especially here in that continent, we have a thick atmosphere, because in the new mountain range of the east, a lot of volcanos were created. That doesn't just mean more oxygen (due to the carbon dioxid what has caused a lot of photosynthesis = a lot of oxygen), but also it makes it a bit easier to fly for the large animals. Large, meganeura-sized butterflies eat from the gigant flowers. The blossoms can have a diameter of up to 3 m, that's far larger than any blossom we have today. The butterflies have their predators. Birds of prey which are around of as big as they are (wingspan, not weight). The butterflies are quite defenseless, therefore they try to hide between the flowers. However, the bird detects one. It attacks its sensitive wings, to prevent it from flying and rendering it defenseless. After having done this, it starts eating it alive. Than, it carries the butterfly away.
That's how it looks here in the skies.
At the ground we too have terror bird like creatures, but they are herbivores, which feed on parts of these large flowers. These are more than 2 m tall and live in groups. On the ground, they are among the largest animals. They are also territorial, so they maybe herbivores, but not docile. Apart from them, there are large amphibians and arthropods, in that forrest, who are attacked. Huge millipedes who are up to two meters long, are their competitors, when it comes two the soft plants living in the rivers, which are desirable for both of them. Sometimes it happens that a large of these ground birds attacks a millipede and flips it. Their beaks are not designed for killing, but they have sharp claws, which are mainly use for not slipping down, when it is muddy, so with that, they can kill the millipede. Carnivorous amphibians, which live in the water, feed on the carcass.
In the oxygen rich atmosphere, storms are very common. Because they bring lightings with them, forest fires are common. The plants have adapted. The flowers' petioles are not just very tough, but also very fire restient. The blossoms regrow very quickly. Other plants grow close to the petioles, for not getting burned.
Other plants grow very fast and send lots of progenies in response to the forest fires. An example are large grasses, sending their seed via wind. They have their own forrests, next to the flower forrests, but they are not as tall, only roughly 5 m tall. Now, they send their seed (the storm is long over). It is not just stormy, but also very windy, so the seed can be trasported over large distances. Some animals feed on them. Small insects follow the seed, to eat it. They are followed by larger ones and these are followed by the birds of prey here.
A crowded world with a full ecosystem.
However, south america is not safe. This continent will be the place, where a new mass extinction starts
At that time, we have a comet hitting south america. Tough the plants are adapted for forest fires, the rubble (a result of the impact) is too much for them. It comes even worse, the seismic waves stimulate the volcanos to erruptions. Not just south america is affected by that, but also the rest of the world. A long darkness period starts. A million years after that, the earth is quite empty.
Episode IV, the end!
The earth now looks very strange:
250 million years have passed. We have a new supercontinent. Amasia! In the middle of it, we have a small ocean, the rest of the Indian Ocean. There is also another, gigantic ocean who surrounds the supercontinent.
The deserts of Amasia, 250 million years in the future
Now, we will look at the inhabitants. This world is already very strange, as it is 250 million years in the future. 250 million years in the past, we aswell had a completely different world. In this supercontinent, mainly deserts shape the landscape. That's also where we'll start. Here, the animals have to be adapted for the desert. This posed a challenge to some particular groups of animals. For example the desert squid, who followed the land octopi. Because they usually swam trough water, the dry land has been already enough of a challenge, but the desert is the maximal challenge now. The squid needed to evolve robust skins, what don't dry out so easily. These squid have a special strategy to catch their favourite prey (flies; their water and food source).
They use their swimming fin:
In the water, this was used for locomotion. However, as they left the water, it got a new purpose. Instead of reevolving it, the squid now use it for the hunt. The fin is covered with a slimy substance. In this substance, flies can get stuck. Than, the squid only needs to grab the fly with its forelinbs and eat it. In the praxis, the squid runs trough a swarm of flies, at a high speed. It has to do so, because it has to hunt when the sun shines, as it is hard to find flies in the night. Because the sand is very hot, the fast running is advantageous as the contact time with the hot sand is minimised. When they don't hunt, these squid lay in the shadow, changing their color for not getting seen and using their good vision to find a good swarm of flies.
However, when they hunt, their life is in danger, as the desert's skies are dominated by carnivorous flying fish (another TFIW reference).
(Think of a desert)
The squid also watches for them, but it is of course possible to overlook them. The squid however reacts to the attack and flees back in its cave (where the cephalopod usually spends its day), where it hides. The predator is a bit frustrated, but not for long. As it continues flying, there is a squid carcass. Not very fresh, but something to eat.
Our squid also continues its search for food. In this harsh world, there are some green places, with water and so on. Such an oasis still is not always safe. Here, gigant amphibians are lurking. The squid took the bait and is now attacked by a carnivorous toad, what has been lurking underwater:
(This is a frog, but I took it, because the toad I'm describing is similary large headed)
This is the end, of the squid.
Now, lets leave the desert and go on.
Coast of the centurm-Ocean, 250 million years in the future
To the Ocean in the centrum of the planet. On the coast, we see an intensive hunt. A group of pack hunting, running squid (similar to the one in the former episode) attack a herbivorous relative. The victim can't flee. The pack has surrounded it, it gets grabbed and torn into pieces.
Ocean in the centurm of Amasia, 250 million years in the future
No, let's move in the ocean. We have some simple built fish here of course, aswell as invertebrates. Some with, some without armour. Due to the mass extinction, marine vertebrates had a new chance. So, we have fish again, but they could not completely beak the dominance of the large jellyfish. Therefore, we still don't have that big fish. However, we have some worms now. (The clade doesn't exist, I know, but I will write what is ment, you know the clades which can be described by the word "worm". Let's say Protostomia.) They appear in all possible shapes. There is for example a predatory worm (a Nematoda, there are predatory forms), who attacks some of the large jelly fish and sucks the very soft body. The mouth structure is extremely simple and the mouth very small, so they rely on very soft prey, what can be easily sucked in. Other worms (similar tot he former) are colored and steal some of the toxic nettles, which are used by jellyfish.
Like this guy does today:
Plains of Amasia, 250 million years in the future
After the extinction in the last episode, marine worms really got very abundant. Some Turbellaria species, who were once marine now are going on land.
They are extremely slow, so they can't escape, but their color is very similar to the ground, so it is hard to spot their, especially because they are so slow. Like the other worms, they suck in their food. Here, it is harder to find food than in the sea current. Therefore, almost the whole day is spent for searching something like a larger plant or a carcass (omnivores). In hard times, the land-Turbellaria can survive for some years without food. Food can also include the carcass of a member of the own species.
Members of the own species in general are rarely seen. Like modern aphids, these worms don't need to mate.
Let's go back to the water.
Global Ocean, 250 million years in the future.
In the deep water, many creatures are bioluminescent:
Here, the world is even stranger, but life in the deep sea was never really normal. Bioluminescent squid exist here aswell. Here we have hardly vertebrates, because of the high water pressure. Animals in general are rare and small.
In the higher waters, we also have larger fish, even sharks. They are even larger than the ones in the last episode and eat some of the invertebrates here, but mainly the large fish.
This is the water world of the future.
Forrest at the western coast of Amasia, near the Global Ocean
Finally, we reach the forrests of this world, who are close to one of the two major oceans. Large strange looking trees shape the landscape here, similar to Lycopodium, just very large.
Here, we too have octopi of course. Some climb on the trees and suck the juice. For that, they nibble on the cuticula, to reach the softer parts. Other climbers hunt them. Large and powerful ambush hunters, but not quite as agile as their swift prey. Therefore, the predators often try to get their prey on the ground, because they are rather adapted for climbing than for fast running. But even the trees are not always safe. Large apex predators can be found in the air. These are again predatory flying fish, larger than the ones in the desert. Altough forrest animals are usually smaller, these guys are not, due to having much more food here. As generalists, they go fishing (I know, they are fish
) or hunt the animals in the trees. These include the octopi and other oxygen breathing fish, who climb in the trees, or stick themselves there, mostly a combination, where the latter is done while resting. Prey living on the ground is usually avoided, because it can be difficult to reach and it can easily hide.
The space, 5.000.000.000 years in the future
We know saw the future world. However, the world we know will not last forever. The sun will grow to a red gigant. First of all, the oceans disappear as the sun grows, due to the really extreme heat. Life is impossible now. Only a few very resistant bacteria survive. In the end, the sun will grow to such an extrme size, that the orbit of the earth hits the sun. This is the end.
It is ~50.000 years in the future. We've caused an El Niño effect.
In the pacific coast of South america, the climate rises. The coast get's flooded and the Galápagos Islands disappear in the water. Even North America isn't save from the water:
The plankton dies and the fish are forced to migrate. The few seals starve. Humanity starts to get less and less fish. The east coast of Africa also gets flood, while the southern areas in Africa dry out and deserts start to dominate the landscape. The Rain forrests in Africa and South America both vanish. The rain forrests in Asia and Australia get burned by bush fires. Coral reefs worldwide don't survive the storms and coral bleach. Europe gets a cold winter. The massive loss in plants and animals makes the humanity starve. The few surviving humans try to keep the nuclear powersations cool. However, they don't last forever and the powerstations cause cancer all around the world, with their rays. After all that, life can recover. A lot of species went extinct and it's time for a radiation. A La Niña effect makes the Sahara Green and there lifeforms can live. However, it's just an Interglacial period and a Glacial period is coming.
Episode II, life after man
India, 5 million years in the future
The Glacial period is finished and we are 5 Million years in the future in India. The land is covered once again in rainforrests, due to the end of the ice age, so the world got warmer. Of course the land is to covered in water and swamps. Most tracks left by humans vanished now. The deadly rays now vanished too. But the animals who extincton because of humans won't come back. Their nishes have to be filled. Now, after this extincton we see an ancestor of this bird:
Many pets went extinct, without humans who care for them. Chicken belong to them. However, the wild ancestor (Gallus gallus) of the chicken survived, because it was small. Now, the descentants of Gallus gallus murghi can be seen in these forrests. Of course it changed a lot, because in a radiation 5 million years are a LOT (you see it in the triassic period). Now a new species appeared. It is called Gallus struthions (it probably belongs in a new genus, but I were too lazy to invent one.
). It was called like that, because it reminds in it's shape of big walking birds, like Emus or Ostriches.But of course still chicken-like, tough they have quite long legs, so they are more than 1,6m tall and weighing 60 kg. They got that big, because when there are only a few species left, it's good to become big. They travel in groups trough the forrest. Becoming too big could be hindering in the forrest, because there isn't a lot of space. Like modern chicken, they are opportunistic feeders and they always pay attention. Like chicken, they too like hiding behind plants and other objects, what can keep them out of vision, so they walk bowed. It is also helpful, because the fruits they prefer can be found close to the ground. But because these birds are opportunistic, they also sometimes eat (like chicken) small animals, but because they are a lot bigger, the animals are also relatively bigger, so instead of worms, they pick up snakes. We have a group of 20 adults, but it can be up to 40 in other groups. They always stay in hearing distance, to warn each other, if there's trouble. Indeed, they have predators. Because they're among the biggest animals in this radiation (at least in their habitat), they have hardly predators. But the biggest predator in India is still a hazard for them. It is a descendant of the bengal monitor, called Varanus maximus. From less than 3 kg, this monitor grew up to more than 50 kg in weight and and 2,5-3m in length. It is the apex predator in this world and it likes eating birds. From small ones who weigh less than 5 kg, to the big chicken. It can find them, by smelling them with it's tounge. but when it gets noticed, the birds make noise and the monitor can't catch them. But they don't always run away. In this case they don't do it, because the have eggs to defend. The lizard faces an angry cock, who tries to intimidate it with it's wings. The Monitor gives up, because it's afraid of getting kicked and it may be able to kill that bird, but there are others in the near and it's going to have problems with them all. Also, in these forrests, there are enough other animals to eat and these monitors aren't picky with their prey. They even attack members of the own species as food source. V. maximus are not very active, due being ectotherm, but they are aggressive and can kill each other in territory fights or predation. While the V. maximus kills an immature member of the species, about half as long as itself, the birds search for food in shallow water.
At night, we're going to see more new future animals. It is a descendat of Megaderma lyra and it is called the Bengal Vampire (due being a false vampire bat). It is a false vampire bad, it doesn't go for blood. They were not in danger to extinct in the human time and they were small, by the way, bats are very adaptable animals, like rodents, so they were able to live in the rests of human citys, after rainforrests disappeared. Like many future animals, it grew a lot, to 50 cm in length and 8 kg in weight, making it a relatively heavy flying animal. They prey on small animals they find at the ground, smaller bats and they too eat juvenile Gallus struthions. Unlike their ancestor, their wings are quite long, so they are faster, but they can't fly at the spot in the air. Anyway, they got the rulers of the air in their envoirement. Unlike their ancestors, they sleep alone and if they sleep together, they rarely do it in big groups. This specimen is currently catching a reptile, maybe a juvenile V. maximus. It tugs it on a branch to eat it there. This was a lucky kill, because the night was almost over. Than the sun rises and another day in the future India starts.
We've seen how common days in the future India look, let's look at other continents:
Australia, 6 million years in the future
Australia for example. There most rain forrest vanished, but recovered, because now 6 million years are over after the human lived. Here, we have new and exotic animals. Today, Australia is inhabitated by Marsupials. Many animas went extinct, now the marsipial want to try something and fill nishes.
Now, we have 2m long marsupials adapted for living in the sea. Despite them living in Australia, they don't have australian ancestors. Their ancestors of the human time were didelphids, living in america. There is already a didelphids adapted for the water (Chironectes). This isn't a descendant, but convergent evolution. Marine mammals we know went extinct, due to the things the human did. So there is an oppurtunity, what has to be taken. This didelphid is the marsupial equivalend of seals, they also look similar to them, but of course they have pouches. Also, they use webbed, rather than real fins. Between them, they still have small claws. This is an Australian species. 6 million years of the future, they're alredy spread in the whole pacific. They mostly travel in groups, but not always when searching food. Like seals, they feed on fish. Humans are extinct now, but that doesn't mean they have no enemies. There are still predators around here, what prey on these mammals. Like shortly after the extinction of dinosaurs, sharks are the apex predators of the oceans, due to the extinction of the previous top-predators. The extinction humans caused, was a serious problem for sharks, many of them had to die due to finning. But very small sharks, living in the deep sea, like the dwarf lanternshark, managed to survive:
The descendant of dwarf lanternsharks is now 2m long and much bulkier than it's narrow built ancestor. It now wants to kill one of the sea marsupials, it is close to a 2m long adult, but it avoids it, because it doesn't want to be bitten and there are smaller, less experienced ones. There's a single subadult swimming around and searching for fish. Luckily it can be saved by an adult who detected the shark and scares it away by swimming agressively towards it. Like some modern sharks, this shark is a bit squeamish, so it doesn't want to risk a battle. Therefore it flees.
Geologically, Australia is like most other continents similar to today, just the animals are different. But there are major geological changes. Like in the Mediterranean Sea, 8 million years in the future.
Mediterranean Sea, 8 million years in the future
Because Africa moved towards Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar was closed and the Mediterranean Sea was seperated from the Atlantic Ocean (TFIW reference), therefore it could get new water and it dried out. What it left is a salty desert. Such salt pan's can be found today as for example the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Here, it is very hard to survive, because it is quite desert like. Most animals here are small insects or lizards. Very few large animals survive here, but some do. Some salt pans today (like the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana) are inhabited by flamingos in large numbers. Such salt pans have large salt seas, with a lot of small shrimp, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms and mollusks for the flamingos:
But that is in the rain time, in the dry season, very little can exist here. However, now in the rain season, it is less harsh. These birds are no flamingos, not even related, but agian convergent evolution. Due to a similar diet, they have a similar color, but there's a difference. Unlike flamingos, they rely on spoon shaped beaks (like Spoonbills) for a larger inhalling volume, rather than on hook shaped beaks. They appear in large groups. Of course they have to raise their youngs in the time where there is enough water left. Because when the dry season begins, they have to know how to fly, to escape from the desert. Otherwise they have to die, due to the harsh conditions in the dry season. Of course the rain time isn't friendly either, as there are predators. Lot's of carnivorans went extinct, but mustelids were able to survive. Like mustelids. There is a carnivore called "mega mustelid". It can be 1,5-2m long and preys on the more than 2m tall birds. They have proportionally slightly longer legs than flamingos, for running away more quickly, they need to, because of such predators. But there problem is that there are lot's of rocks what can be used for ambushing them. A quick jump of the predator takes one of them down, the others run away and start flying. Because the rain time just started, they have no youngs yet to protect. The poor bird caught is cilled with a neck bite in the water and dragged out of the sea. Than it is eaten. But the birds in the air aren't save either. There are falcons with 1m wingspan in the air. One tries to attack the birds. It is a much more mobile in the air than they are, but it is confused by the large number of them. Therefore it doesn't attack them and the birds are save. The large birds of prey evolved after the extinction of many land carnivores, they were able to survive in the left cities quite well, they manuvered trough them like trough canyons. But these falcons with 1m wingspan are just one example of the new birds of prey.
To view more of them, let's visit North America, 12 million years in the future.
North America, 12 million years in the future
Here in the future North America, we have open tundra plains:
These plains are inhabited by small, bipedal reptiles. They are 1m long and quite slender. They live together with rodents, who are as long (not the bodies tough, I'm speaking about tail+body length, these rodents have much shorter tails), but much bulkier than the rather slender reptiles. They live together. The reptiles are quite active, because they have air sacks (like monitors do) and they pay attention. The rodents protect them when there's a predator in the near. Like that, both have advantages. Both aswell are herbivores, feeding on what they can find in these plains. It is quite cold here, so the mammals have thick fur and the reptiles a substance in their blood, like fleas living on high mountains have, so they can survive here, despite having no fur and being ectotherm. However, due to their weaker dentition, they are a bit choosier with the plants they eat. Despite that, they inhabit the plains in overall larger numbers, as reptiles usually get more babies than mammals, they mostly don't care for them, but these reptiles do, due being quite social. Now, it's summer and there these plains are visited by large falcons, larger than the ones we saw in the salt plains, they are their descendants. We see a pair of them, stalking the reptiles. Because the reptiles are more numerous their mammalian friends, they are sometimes around without their friends, but that would anyway not make much of a difference against these enemies. Now, they go for the attack. But their prey is quite quick and nimble. The falcons are fast, but their prey is able to turn quickly. Therefore, it takes strategy to catch them. The falcons try to surround it, to prevent it from fleeing. After this is done, both throw the carcass to each other, like some falcon pairs of the human age do. When they are really hungry, they catch multiple of the reptiles (if they are able to do so), since they are quite slender. The female has to eat more than the male. For a good reason. Like penguins or pigeon species, these falcons feed their youngs with milk they produce. To produce it, the female has to eat a lot. When the youngs grow larger and their beak gets more robust, they start eating meat, they get from their parents.
Episode III, gigants of the future
We now see the world 50 million years in the future:
As we see here, the look of the earth drastically changed. The Mediterranean Sea now completely vanished. Africa didn't stop moving upwards, a new large continent called "Afrasia" was created (Eurasia + Africa). Australia is moving towards Indonesia. But it is changing it's course and is about to move towards India. Therefore the Indian Ocean is about to become an inland sea, surrounded by the other continents.
However, North America aswell changed it's course, due to a marine trench, going from north to south in the atlantic ocean (the "Western Atlantic Trench").
Let's travel 10 million years further. Now, it moves towards the western side of Afrasia (Europe + Africa).
North America in the future is going to be our next target.
California, 60 million years in the future
The Californian forrest is covered in forrests, as we see on the map.
We enter them. It is in the early morning. Very foggy. The fog is important, as it brings water to the huge trees here in the forrest. They are comparable to the modern sequoia in California, which also depend on fog, coming from the pacific:
No decendants, but again convergent evolution, as the sea current in that are is area are propitious for such trees. But we don't just have forrests with large trees. We also have animals eating them. As the sun rises, the forrests are more noisy, for example we hear lot's of birds. The ground is dominated by rodents and lizards. However, we don't just have such small animals here. We also have some true gigants here. Like gigant reptiles, for example the mammoth lizard. That is an animal what is more than 20 m long, weighing over 30 t. Unlike Sauropods, it doesn't rely on a long neck for getting a lot of food, rather on a wide gape for swallowing a lot. These trees have a lot of leaves in their branches, so this is a good adaptation for that kind of food. Like monitor lizards, they have air sacks. These help them to grow faster, but due being exotherm, still not very fast, so the mothers have to lay lot's of eggs, to save the survival of at least some babies. The mammoth lizards are solitary animals, so are their babies, like that it is easier in the forrests. Large animals living in herds are usually found in the open plains. The gigantic animals in that forrest are also rather rare, so most of the time, it is peacefully quite here, with not many animals what can be seen.
However, this animal lives in these forrests, so does it's predator.
Another reptile. It is similar to komodo dragons, it's just it's 10 m long and equipped with a 1,4 m long skull, with serrated teeth. However, it has no venom. But it is still deadly. A 15 m long juvenile mammoth lizard is it's target. It tries to ambush the juvenile and to get a leg, to get a good grip on it and therefore a well placed bite, to let it bleed to death. However, it waits to long. The mammoth lizards spots it and fends it off. Both animals have semi erect limbs (like a crocodile, just that they don't crawl over the ground, they keep their bodies away from the ground all the time, due to their size), wo outmanuvering the mammoth lizard isn't easy for it's agressor, it has to give up.
Both of them can live very long, the mammoth lizard can live more than 100 years easily. These years however are a struggle to survive in the forrest of gigants. The old ones, like walking in rivers, there it is saver and walking isn't always easy due to their size, so they can be called semi-aquatic. They spend a lot of their day in the water, even juveniles, due to their enormous size. Some smaller animals (like birds) sit on their backs. In the water, fish eat their parasites.
That's how the live of these reptiles looks in the forrests of future north america.
Now, let's leave America and move towards Afrasia and travel further in time. Now, we see the world 75 million years in the future.
Morocco, 75 million years in the future
Let's take a look at the coast of the land what was once called Morocco.
Here, we have swamps with small to medium sized plants and a lot of water.
In that landscape we have large apex predators. Here is one.
It is belongs to the seriema clade, so it is related to the terror birds from the miocene. They migrated from south america, to the forrest in the future california. Than there was a colder period, with sinking sea levels, what created a connection between America and Afrasia. These species were well adapted at the cold weather, however, as they reached warmer regions, they lost these adaptations. Now, they are the apex predators on land and can be up to 3 m tall.
The animal is called "Moroccian terror bird". The specimen we see is fishing. It stays in the near of a river and waits for a good opportunity, to catch something tasty. However, it regulary stops look for dangers. It is an apex predator, but members of the own species and natural catastrophes, aswell as large, agresssive herbivores can be a hazard, even for it.
The Terror Bird spots something. It is a member of the own species. They don't stand close to each other, but they are in the range of each other's vision, because the landscape is quite open. The territory boundary was not respected, therefore the Moroccian terror bird shouts at the intruder. The intruder however seems to have not noticed it, as he is concentrated in his meal. So the bird defending it's territory get's noisier and starts flapping with the wings, while running towards it's enemy, who now noticed it. This takes his meal and goes away. Now, the search for food can be continued. In the water, we don't only have small fish species, but also octopi. Some of them have very long arms for catching their prey. That also includes other octopi species. But these aren't defenseless. Here, we have a species called "the running octopus". It has earned it's name. Because if there is danger in the water and it has no other chance to escape, it can use it's tentacles and run.
This isn't something new, as in the human era there are some octopi in Australia with that ability. But this little guy is able to do more. He can breath the air on land. So he doesn't just have an advantage over it's opponents in the very shallow water, due to the running ability, but he can also completely leave it, where the enemies can't follow.
However, the birds are a problem on land, but of course the possiblity to go back in the water exists too. Or to hide between the plants. This octopus is quite small (the body is 10 cm long). It can lay in the grass and change it's color. Than the bird can overlook it. The different strategies octopi can use, allowed them to survive so long, aswell as their intelligence. Now in the water, we have another apex predator. A 3 m long predatory freshwater fish lives here. In the water, it is the undisputed ruler. Like the running octopus, it can breath some air, what is useful, as it is big and the water is very shallow. Due to it's strong fins, it can crawl over the ground. That's also one of the reasons why the Moroccian terror birds have to be careful, but usually, they can stop the fish early enough, as it can't really hide in the very shallow water. So the land animals can run away quickly enough. Our bird had no succes at fishing. So it tries to find some terrestrial animals to feed on.
It hasto bequick, as a dry period is about to begin, such periods don't come regulary, there can be distances between them of multiple years, but they come. And when they do, it doesn't look good for some animals. Especially for the aquatic ones, as some of the big fish can strand. They may be able to breath air for some time, but they can't really live on land, so without water, they have to die.
The last thing we see in the future african swamps are two Moroccian terror bids feeding on the carcass of a gigant predatory fish.
Now, we'll move 5 million years further in time. Let's look at the future oceans:
The Indo-Atlantic Ocean, 80 million years in the future
Marine mammals got more rare now, because 80 million years in the future, their era is over. The humans have weakened them too much, trough bringing many of them to extinction. The marine marsupials aswell had problems, as marsupials were too affected by the extinction caused by humans. Instead, new animals inhabit the oceans.
Marine vertebrates were heavily damaged during the human era. However, jellyfish had no problems. They liked the warm water (global warning) and their natural predators got fished away. So, directly after the extinction, they were very abundant. Thus jellyfish were capable of evolving a great diversity. Some of them are quite toxic. We see a large, bell formed gelly fish, with a diameter of 2-3 m, who is around of as toxic as box jellyfish.
It preys on small, non poisionous related species, who use their large numbers to survive. But jellyfish are not the only invertebrates around here. We also have descendats of aplysia.
They of course got bigger. We have a group of indiviuals of different ages, genders and sizes. They are able to change their color, but they still have a "basis coloring". Like that it is possible to see if it is a male, a female or a subadult. The ability to change the colour can be helpful to get rid of predators, because that can confuse or suprise them. While the youngs are quite brightly coloured, the older specimen prefer using ink for defense. Their feeding habitus also changes when getting older. The youngs are swimming in the sea current (they are more adapted for swimming than their ancestors) and search there for small organisms they can inhale.
As their ancestors, the future aplysia have radula, but aswell small tube mouths, for an even longer range. The adults are more living at the ground and using their radula and tube mouths for "drinking up" soft plants (they suck the juice in them and the small, soft parts, which are easy to inhale). Fish still exist and they are aswell abundant. We have schools of bony fish. Some small ones eat what the large slugs leave for them. Others prey on these small fish. In these warm waters, lot's of animals are able to exist, as a result, predators are visiting these waters.
For example sharks.
After marine mammals disappeared, they were able to go for the top of the food chain. This shark is a descendant of the one which we have seen in the marine marsupial segment. This specimen is 4 m long, not very hungry, as sharks generally don't eat a lot, but curious due not being an adult and in the learning phase of it's life, therefore it goes close to the slugs. It sees the youngs, who are at roughly the same size as it is and wants to deliver a test bite, to one of them. The adults don't really care for their youngs, but the youngs still stay close to them, to feel more safe. As the adults feel threaten by the shark, one of them uses ink, what it a heavy attack on the fine senses of the shark. Therefore it leaves them.
Suddenly, a bigger member of the own species appears and cuts it in half with a bite. The agressor is at least twice as long as it's victim. However, these sharks can even grow larger, up to 10 m, however we do not know the exact size of that specimen, but we can suggest that it is somewhere in the 8 m range.
The adult sharks are able to team up for attacking large prey items. These include gigantic fish.
Gigantic bony fish, who are called "filter fish". Like modern whales, they are filter feedes, at around the same size as the whale shark. They remind a bit of Leedsichtys, just without armour and a larger size. A team of sharks (with specimen who are 6-10 m long) attacks them. They surround a 9 m long juvenile. It's mother tries to defend it, with powerful tail slaps. However, she is much less manuverable than her enemies, but safed trough size. Her young does not have this advantage. The sharks managed to isolate it and now begin to tear it into pieces. The water starts to dye red and the sharks have their meal, but first of all, they start to battle who is aloowed to eat first. They don't really battle, they rather intimidate their opponents. The large female (10 m) takes the first bite on the carcass, the others follow. In the end, everyone has got something.
Let's look at the final segment of the III episode.
South America, 90 million years in the future.
It's shape hasn't changed a lot, tough it is now moving towards Afrasia.
Basically a continent of rain forrests, like the south america we have today. Tough it has some major differences. The atmosphere is very oxygen-rich in that continent, because now the rain forrests are much larger in that continent today. That's because of the much warmer climate, what creates good conditions for a forrest planet. The trees here are on average 10 m taller than these in the modern amazonian forrests, however, these trees are rather rare. They are like single gigants between lots of smaller plants. These include medium sized trees, which are 20-30 m tall. Apart from large trees, there are also large flowers, with a much more stable petiole than modern ones have, to survive the own size. These also form forrests, so in the future, large forrests are not only made of trees. That may sound quite strange, but you also have to think of the fact that relatives of clubmoss also once formed large forrests. The conditions in the amazonian rain forrests were good for forming a second carboniferous-like period here, as they have a lot of water. We now have a new amazonas. After the human time, it got quite dry here, due to the El Niño. Remember the first episode. There it was said that the rain forrests in Africa and South America had to vanish, due to a lack of water. However, due to the South American contact with the "Western Atlantic Trench", a new mountain range has appeared in the east. In the west, the andes (which were born in a similar way as the mountain range in the east) disappeared within the time. The new mountain range in the east now spends the needed water for the new river. So, the amazonas got turned. That isn't the first time this has happened. There are suggestions of a pre amazonas in the past on Gondwana, going from Africa to South America, so aswell the opposite direction of the amazonas in the past. That's how the water world was reborn. As the planet climate got warmer (after the final end of the ice age), it kept getting warmer, so that especially here lot's of plants grew. The plants have pumped a lot of oxygen into the atmosphere, comparable to the carboniferus. But that isn't just a copy of the carboniferus. By far not, as this is not in the time were the land just started to be inhabited, here we have the diversity of the more modern times, while the carboniferus arthropods and plants were more basal:
The flowers demonstrate that quite well. Aswell as the animals who feed on them. Butterflies for example, who is currently not known to exist before the cretaceous terrestrial evolution. Like the insects of the carboniferus, it could grow very large thanks to the high oxygen levels here. Especially here in that continent, we have a thick atmosphere, because in the new mountain range of the east, a lot of volcanos were created. That doesn't just mean more oxygen (due to the carbon dioxid what has caused a lot of photosynthesis = a lot of oxygen), but also it makes it a bit easier to fly for the large animals. Large, meganeura-sized butterflies eat from the gigant flowers. The blossoms can have a diameter of up to 3 m, that's far larger than any blossom we have today. The butterflies have their predators. Birds of prey which are around of as big as they are (wingspan, not weight). The butterflies are quite defenseless, therefore they try to hide between the flowers. However, the bird detects one. It attacks its sensitive wings, to prevent it from flying and rendering it defenseless. After having done this, it starts eating it alive. Than, it carries the butterfly away.
That's how it looks here in the skies.
At the ground we too have terror bird like creatures, but they are herbivores, which feed on parts of these large flowers. These are more than 2 m tall and live in groups. On the ground, they are among the largest animals. They are also territorial, so they maybe herbivores, but not docile. Apart from them, there are large amphibians and arthropods, in that forrest, who are attacked. Huge millipedes who are up to two meters long, are their competitors, when it comes two the soft plants living in the rivers, which are desirable for both of them. Sometimes it happens that a large of these ground birds attacks a millipede and flips it. Their beaks are not designed for killing, but they have sharp claws, which are mainly use for not slipping down, when it is muddy, so with that, they can kill the millipede. Carnivorous amphibians, which live in the water, feed on the carcass.
In the oxygen rich atmosphere, storms are very common. Because they bring lightings with them, forest fires are common. The plants have adapted. The flowers' petioles are not just very tough, but also very fire restient. The blossoms regrow very quickly. Other plants grow close to the petioles, for not getting burned.
Other plants grow very fast and send lots of progenies in response to the forest fires. An example are large grasses, sending their seed via wind. They have their own forrests, next to the flower forrests, but they are not as tall, only roughly 5 m tall. Now, they send their seed (the storm is long over). It is not just stormy, but also very windy, so the seed can be trasported over large distances. Some animals feed on them. Small insects follow the seed, to eat it. They are followed by larger ones and these are followed by the birds of prey here.
A crowded world with a full ecosystem.
However, south america is not safe. This continent will be the place, where a new mass extinction starts
At that time, we have a comet hitting south america. Tough the plants are adapted for forest fires, the rubble (a result of the impact) is too much for them. It comes even worse, the seismic waves stimulate the volcanos to erruptions. Not just south america is affected by that, but also the rest of the world. A long darkness period starts. A million years after that, the earth is quite empty.
Episode IV, the end!
The earth now looks very strange:
250 million years have passed. We have a new supercontinent. Amasia! In the middle of it, we have a small ocean, the rest of the Indian Ocean. There is also another, gigantic ocean who surrounds the supercontinent.
The deserts of Amasia, 250 million years in the future
Now, we will look at the inhabitants. This world is already very strange, as it is 250 million years in the future. 250 million years in the past, we aswell had a completely different world. In this supercontinent, mainly deserts shape the landscape. That's also where we'll start. Here, the animals have to be adapted for the desert. This posed a challenge to some particular groups of animals. For example the desert squid, who followed the land octopi. Because they usually swam trough water, the dry land has been already enough of a challenge, but the desert is the maximal challenge now. The squid needed to evolve robust skins, what don't dry out so easily. These squid have a special strategy to catch their favourite prey (flies; their water and food source).
They use their swimming fin:
In the water, this was used for locomotion. However, as they left the water, it got a new purpose. Instead of reevolving it, the squid now use it for the hunt. The fin is covered with a slimy substance. In this substance, flies can get stuck. Than, the squid only needs to grab the fly with its forelinbs and eat it. In the praxis, the squid runs trough a swarm of flies, at a high speed. It has to do so, because it has to hunt when the sun shines, as it is hard to find flies in the night. Because the sand is very hot, the fast running is advantageous as the contact time with the hot sand is minimised. When they don't hunt, these squid lay in the shadow, changing their color for not getting seen and using their good vision to find a good swarm of flies.
However, when they hunt, their life is in danger, as the desert's skies are dominated by carnivorous flying fish (another TFIW reference).
(Think of a desert)
The squid also watches for them, but it is of course possible to overlook them. The squid however reacts to the attack and flees back in its cave (where the cephalopod usually spends its day), where it hides. The predator is a bit frustrated, but not for long. As it continues flying, there is a squid carcass. Not very fresh, but something to eat.
Our squid also continues its search for food. In this harsh world, there are some green places, with water and so on. Such an oasis still is not always safe. Here, gigant amphibians are lurking. The squid took the bait and is now attacked by a carnivorous toad, what has been lurking underwater:
(This is a frog, but I took it, because the toad I'm describing is similary large headed)
This is the end, of the squid.
Now, lets leave the desert and go on.
Coast of the centurm-Ocean, 250 million years in the future
To the Ocean in the centrum of the planet. On the coast, we see an intensive hunt. A group of pack hunting, running squid (similar to the one in the former episode) attack a herbivorous relative. The victim can't flee. The pack has surrounded it, it gets grabbed and torn into pieces.
Ocean in the centurm of Amasia, 250 million years in the future
No, let's move in the ocean. We have some simple built fish here of course, aswell as invertebrates. Some with, some without armour. Due to the mass extinction, marine vertebrates had a new chance. So, we have fish again, but they could not completely beak the dominance of the large jellyfish. Therefore, we still don't have that big fish. However, we have some worms now. (The clade doesn't exist, I know, but I will write what is ment, you know the clades which can be described by the word "worm". Let's say Protostomia.) They appear in all possible shapes. There is for example a predatory worm (a Nematoda, there are predatory forms), who attacks some of the large jelly fish and sucks the very soft body. The mouth structure is extremely simple and the mouth very small, so they rely on very soft prey, what can be easily sucked in. Other worms (similar tot he former) are colored and steal some of the toxic nettles, which are used by jellyfish.
Like this guy does today:
Plains of Amasia, 250 million years in the future
After the extinction in the last episode, marine worms really got very abundant. Some Turbellaria species, who were once marine now are going on land.
They are extremely slow, so they can't escape, but their color is very similar to the ground, so it is hard to spot their, especially because they are so slow. Like the other worms, they suck in their food. Here, it is harder to find food than in the sea current. Therefore, almost the whole day is spent for searching something like a larger plant or a carcass (omnivores). In hard times, the land-Turbellaria can survive for some years without food. Food can also include the carcass of a member of the own species.
Members of the own species in general are rarely seen. Like modern aphids, these worms don't need to mate.
Let's go back to the water.
Global Ocean, 250 million years in the future.
In the deep water, many creatures are bioluminescent:
Here, the world is even stranger, but life in the deep sea was never really normal. Bioluminescent squid exist here aswell. Here we have hardly vertebrates, because of the high water pressure. Animals in general are rare and small.
In the higher waters, we also have larger fish, even sharks. They are even larger than the ones in the last episode and eat some of the invertebrates here, but mainly the large fish.
This is the water world of the future.
Forrest at the western coast of Amasia, near the Global Ocean
Finally, we reach the forrests of this world, who are close to one of the two major oceans. Large strange looking trees shape the landscape here, similar to Lycopodium, just very large.
Here, we too have octopi of course. Some climb on the trees and suck the juice. For that, they nibble on the cuticula, to reach the softer parts. Other climbers hunt them. Large and powerful ambush hunters, but not quite as agile as their swift prey. Therefore, the predators often try to get their prey on the ground, because they are rather adapted for climbing than for fast running. But even the trees are not always safe. Large apex predators can be found in the air. These are again predatory flying fish, larger than the ones in the desert. Altough forrest animals are usually smaller, these guys are not, due to having much more food here. As generalists, they go fishing (I know, they are fish
) or hunt the animals in the trees. These include the octopi and other oxygen breathing fish, who climb in the trees, or stick themselves there, mostly a combination, where the latter is done while resting. Prey living on the ground is usually avoided, because it can be difficult to reach and it can easily hide.The space, 5.000.000.000 years in the future
We know saw the future world. However, the world we know will not last forever. The sun will grow to a red gigant. First of all, the oceans disappear as the sun grows, due to the really extreme heat. Life is impossible now. Only a few very resistant bacteria survive. In the end, the sun will grow to such an extrme size, that the orbit of the earth hits the sun. This is the end.
There is also a future world made up by carnivora member Temnospondyl. I can post a link to it if you want. Some of his worlds looked broadly similar to mine.
