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| Mission Wild Future; Life on Earth, 50 million years hence | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 22 2009, 09:46 AM (13,366 Views) | |
| SSJRaptog | Mar 22 2009, 09:46 AM Post #1 |
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Adolescent
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In this topic I want to tell about my vision of life on Earth in the distant future. The name: Mission Wild Future It's a manga concept I've been working on for some years now. To give you an idea how this future Earth came to be, let me first give you a time-line starting at the beginning of the Holocene (10.000 years ago) up to the point in the future I want to tell about the creatures living 50 million years from now and even what could happen on earth after that. Holocene (10.000 years ago – 2 million years hence) The Holocene marked the end of the last great Ice age. Humans started to establish the first true civilazations in the middle east, northern Africa and Southern Europe. Agriculture started to appear which also meant that many species of the bovid family were domesticated for food and clothes. Pigs, dogs, cats and fowl were also domesticated in the early Holocene. In the millenia that followed, humans conquered the furthest corners of the world. This expansion of the human race has unfortunately caused the extinction of many animal species. During the 20th and 21st century, humans see the errors of their ways and try to protect the biodiversity that is still left. By the second half of the 21st century, humans managed to produce as little waste as possible and many of today’s endangered species worked themselves of the endangered list and flourish as they did before humans disturbed their ways of life. By the time mankind secured the safety of Earth’s ecology, they started to explore space and in the upcomming 2 million years, mankind has explored and colonized the far corners of the milky way. Anthronecrocene (Human extinction era) (2 million – 3 million years hence) The Anthronecrocene is the final epoch of the Cenozoic era. Mankind lives in complete harmony with nature and managed to create great technological achievements, doing little to no harm to the Flora and Fauna. Many of today’s animals and plants (Even some of the critically endangered ones) still exist and have grown abundant in numbers. Even some new animal groups (such as the kroopooks and the ancestors of the Raptogs and bearcats) started to appear But this epoch also meant the end of the reign of humans when an earthquake in the Sahara desert releases a deadly virus from a deep cave that got to be known as the Sahara plague. The virus only affected humans and after 100.000 years, all forms of civilization (Except the ones formed on the colonies on distant planets) were gone. The few humans who somehow managed to survive the virus, lost their knowledge to rebuilt their civilization. This started the second stone age and humans had to fight the effects of the virus and large predators. Despite these efforts to survive the virus, around the year 2.900.000 AD, another Ice age starts and killed off the last remaining humans. The new ice age also brought the extinction of the rhino’s, bovids, hippo’s, manatees, great apes, big cats, horses and and most of the bears and whales. Surprisingly, the elephants, dolphins, tapirs, monotremes and most of the antelopes survive the late Anthronecrocene Ice age, together with the rodents, pigs, mustelids, pinipeds, canines, small cats, most primates, most marsupials and most of the birds, reptiles, amphibeans and fish. With the end of the Anthronecrocene, 3 million years hence, this also meant the silent fall of the Cenozoic and the dawn of a new era: The Neozoic Neozoic (3 million years hence – 90 million years hence) With the humans gone and many species of mammals gone extinct, the survivors of the Anthronecrocene ice age colonized a new world. Like the last few million years of the Cenozoic, the Neozoic will remain seasonal for the next 87 million years. This means mammals and birds will remain doing well and new forms start to appear to fill the niches left by the ones that didn’t survive. The main reason Earth remains seasonal during the Neozoic is because the continents remain distant from each other. Atemusic (3 million – 30 million years hence) The Atemusic period marks the beginning of the Neozoic era. At the beginning of the Atemusic, the earth’s flora and fauna doesn’t look much more different from when it was at the end of the holocene, except for the absence of most of the hoofed mammals, large whales and big cats and other large groups that used to dominate the grasslands and rainforests, but this changed rapidly in the first 10 million years of the Atemusic period. Some of the birds (Like the ducks, geese and chickens) fill the niche once occupied by horses, cattle, deer and sheep. The big cats are replaced by giant decendants of the mustelids, rats, babboons and smaller felines. Despite surviving the Anthronecrocene ice age, the canids went into decline, but some of them managed to evolve into a new group of mammalian predators, namely the Raptogs. The first true Raptogs appear 25 million years into the future and remain a succes story, untill the end of the early Garfieldium period. The elephants, dolphins and pigs begin to radiate into a wide range of forms. The elephants and dolphins take it to a greater extreme. They begin to evolve into more humanoid forms. While the elephants started to walk on their knuckles while trying to evolve an upright stance, the dolphin’s fins evolve into usuable arms and hands. These are the ancestors of Elephantoids and Dolphinoids. Gokunian (30 million – 65 million years hence) By the dawn of the Gokunian period, life on Earth has fully recovered from the Anthronecrocene Ice Age and has transformed beyond recognition. The small felines have evolved into 2 seperate lineages. One family specializes into hunting arboreal creatures and evolved primate-like limbs. The other family specializes into hunting large herbivores and evolved large bear-like bodies. Antarctica has moved north to wear Australia is today, which causes to develop dense forests on the once icy continent. This increases the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere, fueling the growth of the arthropods. At the beginning of the Gokunian, the parrots start to evolve into humanoid forms and evolved into the parrotoids. Half way this period (50 million years hence), Earth is the home of 3 sapient species: The Elephantoids, the Dolphinoids and the Parrotoids. Around this period, the Saharah plague virus has dissapeared from the Earth’s atmosphere. The events in Mission Wild Future take place in the Gokunian period Garfieldium (65 million – 90 million years hence) The increase of volcanic activity marks the beginning of the Garfieldium. In the final period of the Neozoic, mammals are in decline and by the end of the Garfieldium, only the rodents, rabbits and some marsupials remain. Birds however become more and more succesfull. Most mammals are being replaced by large flightless birds, reptiles and amphibeans. The climate during the Garfieldium becomes warmer and wetter, which causes the land to transform into lush wetlands, pumping the atmosphere with oxygen and making arthropods larger and larger. At the end of the Garfieldium, life on Earth is struck by another mass extinction caused by a super heating of the earth’s atmosphere, wiping out 95 % of the remaining mammals, 75 % of all birds, 50 % of all arthropods, 60 % of all fish and all of the amphibeans. Surprisingly, the reptiles survive this mass extinction mostly unharmed. Information on the animals of Mission Wild Future will follow soon |
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| JohnFaa | Mar 22 2009, 09:54 AM Post #2 |
Adveho in mihi Lucifer
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Fantastic. Aside from the random selection of survivors, the humanoid elephants and dolphins (not only a humanoid body plan isn't required for sentience, but also dolphin flipeprs and elephant limbs are too specialized to turn into hands) and the primate like cats (carnivoran shoulder structure makes it unrealistic), thumbs up for your project |
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| ATEK Azul | Mar 22 2009, 12:05 PM Post #3 |
Transhuman
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i love the names of your periods and i like the ideas for the sentients along with the survivers of each age. as for likelyness i think that given enough time it could happen. and i beleave the goku era is about right. |
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| lamna | Mar 22 2009, 12:12 PM Post #4 |
In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice.
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Sounds like a great idea, as JohnFaa pointed out it has a couple of issues but it looks like you have a great concept. |
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| SSJRaptog | Mar 22 2009, 01:58 PM Post #5 |
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Adolescent
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I'm glad you guys like my ideas so far ^___^ For that I'll show some of the animals in this future world  German Raptog (Caniraptor Germanicus) Raptogs (Caniraptoridea) The Raptogs are the decendants of the domestic dogs of our time. They are among the last of the canid family (Like wolves, foxes and dogs) and live in the mountain and polar ereas, all though they sometimes hunt in the lower forests. The Raptogs have evolved a body similar to the dromeosaurs (Dinosaurs like Velociraptor, Deinonychus and Dromeosaurus) with as difference that they are furry and the head is still mammal-like. Raptogs hunt in packs and feed on large herbivores. There are many different species of Raptogs, depending on the breed they evolved from. A pack of Raptogs are like modern day wolves led by an Alpha Male and Female. They use their hind claws to kill their prey, just like the Raptors did 100 million years earlier and communicate by howling.  Hoofhens (Gallogulatidea Hoofhens are totally new family of birds (Gallogulatidea (Combining Gallus (Chickens) and Ungulatidae (Ungulates)) that have evolved from domesticated Fowl. These strange birds ocupy the mountain regions (once the territory of such animals as Yaks, Llama's and other large mountain herbivores) and feed on the grasses and moss which grow on the barren tops. Hoofhens have completely lost their ability to fly and their wings have evolved into strong and powerfull hoofed frontlegs which helps them to have good grip on the steep mountains of Europe, South East Asia and North America. Hoofhens grow to the size of a modern horse, but they still lay eggs. At 2 times the size of a soccer-ball their eggs are some of the largest bird-eggs ever in the entire history that birds have roamed the Earth. Hoofhens live in large herds consisting of 1 or two dominant males and up to 20 females. Their hide is covered by a thick layer of feathers which protects them from the sub-zero temperatures on higher altitudes and harsh winters. Their greatest threats are stronger herds of their own kind and the Raptogs.  Garfield's Bearcat (Felirsus Garfieldensis) The Garfield's Bearcat lives 50 million years hence in what is now North America and Europe. These large predators are the decendants of the domecticated cats and grow as big as modern day cattle. The Garfield's Bearcat is a lone hunter which preys on large herbivores, which it kills by biting in it's prey's neck with it's large saber teeth, slashing the windpipe and arteries. These massive felines only come together during mating season and the fight between males often end up with lots of blood spilling. Info on Bearcats: Bearcats are a group of feline carnivores which very from agile grouphunters no bigger than a small dog to huge lone hunters which grow as big as modern day cattle. Bearcats can be recognized by their bear like bodies and their saberteeth. Bearcats live on all continents except for antarctica.  The Spruck (Anatodromeus Equumimus) Size: 6 to 7 feet tall and weighing up to 250 kg Habitat: Grasslands Lives: 50 million hence in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia Diet: Grass and other low growing vegetation The Spruck is a large flightless bird decending from modern day ducks. After the extinction of large grassland herbivores (Like horses, cattle and antelopes), ducks left their aquatic existence and started to roam the grasslands of Eurasia, Africa and Australia. These large birds live in large herds containing 1 - 3 dominating males and 5 - 12 females. They lay eggs which are about the size of a Rugby-ball and the hatchlings stay with their mother untill they are about 2 years old. Sprucks are able to reach speeds up to 60 km/h. For reaching these speeds, Sprucks have lost their webbings between the toes and their claws became more hoof-like. Despite being flight-less, their wings are used for intimidating rivals and predators. Despite their size and speed, Sprucks still have to fear from large carnivorous rats, bearcats and Raptogs. So far the future animals for today. More will follow in....the future XD |
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| Venatosaurus | Mar 22 2009, 02:06 PM Post #6 |
HAUS OF SPEC
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While the Hoofhen and Rapdog are unlikely I still quite like them, though the Hoofhen could have a bit of a more wild appearance , more like a pheasant coat pattern rather than the usual white hen appearance. Though I did notice your art got better, if the two first drawings are recent, then wow, good job buddy 
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| Giant Blue Anteater | Mar 22 2009, 02:35 PM Post #7 |
Ich bin ein Großer Blau Ameisenbär!
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I think I saw your art when I was first browsing DeviantART. But anyway, I would like to point out that mammals are not able to converge to a dinosaurian posistion. Sure, a human can bend over and act like a dinosaur, but that is because the spine is bending, not the hips leaning foreward. If you try to posistion your hips fully forward while walking on two limbs, you may fall over. A mammal who would have dinosaur-like hips would be upright like a human or a kangaroo. A mammal who is horizontal and has dinosaur-like hips would have problems walking, due to muscle constraints. For a mammal to walk like a dinosaur would require a complete restructuring of the skeletal and muscular system around the hips, which is frankly not possible. As for quadrupedal birds, they are unfortunately not possible either. You see, a bird's wing is too specialized to fly. The muscles in a bird's wing are designed to flap up and down, although they can reach foreward too. However, they may not become weight-bearing limbs. Besides, if a bird becomes flightless, their wings will either be useful only for display or degenerate like in a moa. Besides, a chicken is fast enough on two legs. Harsh I may sound, but in order to accurately predict the future, look at how animals evolved in the past. If dinosaurian mammals are possible, then you may see them in the fossil record. But they are not possible, so they don't exist. I'm not saying you shouldn't have any imagination, there are some rules in evolution that you cannot ignore. The last two creatures are alright, although herbivorous mammals would likely take the niche of the spruck before it. Edited by Giant Blue Anteater, Mar 22 2009, 05:22 PM.
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| Titanomonstrus | Mar 22 2009, 02:45 PM Post #8 |
Legendary Beast Tyrant
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Very cool. Some of the animals are a bit out there but O' well. |
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| ATEK Azul | Mar 22 2009, 03:47 PM Post #9 |
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Transhuman
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is this you by chance http://ssjgarfield.deviantart.com/ just wondering. and i disagree with most of these complaints i beleave they are possible, but hey thats what you hear in the narrow minded fiction of spec evo(thats why i like fic evo instead.). and may i piont out that he said this is for manga and so would definately have some fantastic elements too it. too me this sounds like it would fit perfectly in fic evo stuff mostly becouse of the manga element and the sapients which has a more fantastic and unrealistic side too them plus some of the evolutions that they have issues with are not possible in spec evo but fit very well in fic evo. sorry if i am ranting i was just trying too make a point and complement your work. |
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| Rodge the Linkbot | Mar 22 2009, 04:17 PM Post #10 |
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Infant
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Actually, mammals can evolve into a raptor like position. Think of the Australian Hopping Mouse. As for quadrepedal birds, it's highly improbable they would use their wings as legs. I really don't have much of an argument except their wings DO support their body weight and even more force when they lift off or glide, but it's spread out pretty far. A tendon structure could be used along with the hoof, but I don't know if one could evolve. All improbable, but it's fiction so probability really doesn't matter. |
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| colddigger | Mar 22 2009, 04:30 PM Post #11 |
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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the bird could have a massive crop that put its ancestors off balance and that caused them to use their wings as legs etc. (the ancestors would quickly be wiped out, but a small girl thought it was cute so the humans kept the line alive and it eventually became grotesquely misshapen, once the humans were fed up with caring for this abomination of a bird they 'freed' it into the wild where it survived to become a hooved chicken.) as for the dinosaur thing, the hips are different right? so it can't be exactly the same, but kangaroos are similar, just give'm bigger tails and have'm lean forward. Edited by colddigger, Mar 22 2009, 04:33 PM.
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| JohnFaa | Mar 22 2009, 04:40 PM Post #12 |
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Adveho in mihi Lucifer
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Quadrupedal birds and theropod like mammals could be created via genetic engineering, but naturally don't expect them to evolve. ATEK Azul is just saying those things to annoy me, cos he/she knows I get pissed of with those comments |
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| colddigger | Mar 22 2009, 04:46 PM Post #13 |
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Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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or HIGHLY controlled selective breeding, HIGHLY controlled.... |
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| Venatosaurus | Mar 22 2009, 04:51 PM Post #14 |
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HAUS OF SPEC
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If such dogs evolved they'd be like this http://www.faiththedog.net/ |
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| Giant Blue Anteater | Mar 22 2009, 05:23 PM Post #15 |
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Ich bin ein Großer Blau Ameisenbär!
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Whoops, my mistake, fixed. |
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