THE FUTURE IS WILD

One of my all-time favorite documentaries on speculative evolution would be The Future is Wild, which depicts how animals could evolve in three different time zones. Like books such as After Man and The New Dinosaurs, this documentary was partially created by Douglas Dixon. This documentary really stimulates the mind and makes one wonder what is evolutionarily possible. In order to gain inspiration for my dinosaur zoology book, I have been rewatching this documentary in order to better understand the functionality of an animal’s adaptations and how they would cope with extreme environments. Just as medieval documentaries helped me with my fantasy series, these kinds of documentaries will help me with both my zoology book and my dinosaur series as a whole.

LEARNING PREHISTORIC ANTHROPOLOGY

In order to create my new species of human for my dinosaur series, I have been binge watching a number of documentaries that talk about early humans. One such example is Walking With Cavemen, which covered seven million years of human evolution. I have learned about hominids that were specialists, some that lacked imagination, and a few that were innovators. I am thinking of combining traits from these various species into one group of humanoids. Compared to the hairy and rugged hominids of the past, my hominid will be sleek and graceful with a feral beauty about them. Unlike the reverse engineered dinosaurs, which were deliberately created, these hominids will be the result of a chance mistake.

PRIMORDIAL OOZE

Four billion years ago, a pool of volcanic water became inhabited by microbes. Over time, these microbes evolved into the ancestors of every creature that is alive today. I am thinking of doing a homage to the primordial ooze in my dinosaur series.

A NEW HUMAN

Once there were many species of human throughout history. Now, homo sapiens are the last of their kind. However, the origins of the human race played a significant role in prehistory. With this in mind, I am planning to introduce my own unique species of human in my dinosaur series. When I include it in the zoology book, I am planning to have the illustrator draw it like an anime character. Sadly, sharing the planet with other hominids has never been humanity’s greatest strength. It is what compelled us to murder our Neanderthal relatives. Because of this, this new humanoid’s existence will rustle a lot of feathers.

PROVIDING CONCEPT ART

In preparation for the illustrator for my dinosaur zoology book, I am in the process of collecting concept art. This concept art consists of images I find online and sketches I draw myself. Each of these images will provide a piece of each creature such as their head, body, legs, tails, and so on. They are like pieces to a puzzle and I instruct the illustrator how to put them together. While I am not a professional artist, I am able to give a decent idea of what I am envisioning. I specialize in drawing heads, but the other body parts require images I can find online in order to complete the idea for the creature. By utilizing these images, I am giving the illustrator a vivid idea of what I am looking for. I look forward to seeing the final illustrations of my creatures.

THE EIGHTH CONTINENT

I just learned something intriguing! It turns out there is a hidden eighth continent that sleeps under the Pacific Ocean: Zealandia. Zealandia is an underwater continent that is right next to Australia and connected to the Ring of Fire fault line. The only parts of Zealandia that are on the surface include New Zealand and a collection of smaller islands. 70 to 80 million years ago, Zealandia was on the surface and part of Australia, which in turn was a part of the ancient continent Gondwana. Sadly, after breaking away from Australia, Zealandia sank into the sea. Scientists discovered its existence and started studying it in 2017. Up until then, Zealandia was thought to just be a series of underwater mountains, but its geological composition proved otherwise. Because of its size, Zealandia tends to cause volcanic eruptions when it grinds against the surrounding fault lines. Because of its mysterious nature and prehistoric history, I am thinking of giving Zealandia a role to play in my dinosaur series.

THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE

One of the most famous achievements in alchemy would be the Philosopher’s Stone. According to legend, the Philosopher’s Stone could prolong life to the point of acquiring immortality and transmutating base metals into silver or gold. With the Philosopher’s Stone, one could attain an endless lifespan and potentially limitless wealth. The process of creating the stone is a mystery and has many interpretations. I am thinking of including something similar to the Philosopher’s Stone in my fantasy series. I will be drawing inspiration from Fullmetal Alchemist and The Dark Crystal.

SHIGARAKI’S COMEBACK

The following contains spoilers from chapter 282 My Hero Academia. You have been warned.

It has been a chaotic chapter this week and a lot has happened. It turns out Aizawa got hit by the quirk-destroying bullet. However, Aizawa, ever the pragmatist, chopped off his own leg before the bullet could take effect. This saved him from losing his quirk, but it has weakened him from blood loss. Izuku was more brutal than usual as he desperately tried to stop Shigaraki. He even resorted to using 100% of One For All, which he is not ready to wield on his own. When the bullet failed, Shigaraki broke free from the superheroes restraining him and tried to crush Aizawa’s skull with his bare hand. However, his attempt was thwarted by the timely arrival of Shoto Todoroki, who blew Shigaraki away with a shockwave of ice. Izuku then proceeded to wrap his Blackwhip quirk around his fists to cushion the kickback One For All would have on his arms before pummeling Shigaraki.

Unfortunately, the superheroes are in big trouble. Even though Aizawa did not lose his power negation, the damage was done. The wounds on Aizawa’s face caused blood to flow into his eyes, forcing him to blink. After keeping his eyes open for so long, Aizawa won’t be able to use his power negation for a while. Weakened by blood loss from his maimed leg, Aizawa has also become unconscious. If Aizawa does not get medical attention fast, he will die from his wounds. For the moment, Aizawa is out of this fight for the remainder of the battle. Even if Aizawa gets a prosthetic leg, it will take an extended period of physical therapy before he is in fighting condition again.

With Aizawa’s power negation out of commission, Shigaraki regained all of his quirks including All For One. Thanks to his regeneration, Shigaraki’s wounds healed up instantly and his stamina returned. He is ready to pay the superheroes back for all the punishment they gave him. To make matters worse, Gigantomachia has finally arrived and about to unleash hell upon the superheroes. If Gigantomachia is present, the Paranormal Liberation Front is not far behind. The superheroes had one chance to bring Shigaraki down when he was most vulnerable. That chance has come and gone. Shigaraki managed to survive the superheroes’ onslaught long enough for his followers to come to his aid. Now that he has regained his quirks, Shigaraki is now ready to unleash his true power upon the superheroes, which includes who knows how many powers All For One accumulated. Due to Shigaraki’s tendency to evolve from his experiences, he will likely take measures to make sure he doesn’t become this vulnerable again, which may include putting a bounty on Aizawa’s head.

All that has happened in this war arc proves that despite the superheroes’ best efforts, they never could quell what Shigaraki represents. There was never any stopping what he was going to unleash upon the world. In the immortal words of Thanos, “I am inevitable!”

PREHISTORIC CANNIBALISM

There have been several prehistoric creatures that performed cannibalism. Such creatures include Dunkleosteus, Dimetrodon, and even Tyrannosaurus Rex. These animals would often target their own young. Sometimes they would try to eat their young after a few months and sometimes they attack their young as soon as they hatch. This practice may seem cruel, but it is a pragmatic survival strategy. The adults would weed out the weakest of the juveniles so that the strongest would thrive. This guarantees the long term survival of the species as a whole. Several of the carnivores in my dinosaur series perform this version of cannibalism.

SPECULATIVE EVOLUTION

As I mentioned before, my dinosaur zoology book will be based on a concept known as speculative evolution. Speculative evolution is the practice of theorizing how certain species would evolve under certain circumstances. Even though these animals are fictional in nature, their biology and behavioral traits are based on scientific concepts. These hypothetical creatures provide scholars a chance to provide educated guesses on how the planet’s biosphere would develop under certain conditions. With my dinosaur series, I am depicting how manmade genetically engineered prehistoric lifeforms would adapt to an equally artificial habitat. Above are three videos that talk about the origin and history of the study of speculative evolution.