This is a list of species in The Future is Wild and the tropes that fit them.
5 Million Years
Earth has entered another Ice Age 5 million years into the future. Many animals familiar to us have gone extinct, including human beings. In their place, other creatures fulfill the roles they used to play in the ecosystem.Snowstalker
The apex predator of the frozen tundra. The Snowstalker is a mustelid, descended from the wolverine. It hunts for prey while camouflaged against the blizzards that frequent the freezing winters. It preys on the Shagrat.
- Allegorical Character: Of the evolution of large, specialized carnivores from small, more generalist ones.
- Damage Over Time: It hunts Shagrats by inflicting a deep wound. Then it leaves the fight, and follows the wounded Shagrat until it bleeds out.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It stalks its prey in the snow.
- Expy: Of the Bardelot from After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of polar bears and sabre-toothed cats. Oddly also of Komodo dragons, as they are also stereotyped as wounding and tracking their prey rather than killing it outright (though reality is more complex). This was also once a theory on how the most derived sabertooth cats like Smilodon hunted, though it was already becoming obsolete when the show was made.
- Logical Weakness:
- Has a keen and powerful sense of smell. This makes it very susceptible to the Gannetwhale's defense mechanism, which is a mix of extremely putrid vomit. This is enough to drive it away.
- The animated series also shows that, like the polar bear, its specializations for Arctic life make it extremely vulnerable to overheating in warmer climates.
- Panthera Awesome: Well, it’s not actually a cat, but a mustelid. But it does resemble and fill the role of Smilodon.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Its persistence to hunt the Gannetwhales' eggs is subdued after one of the birds vomits a putrid mixture of fish and squid, overwhelming its nose and causing it to give up the hunt.
- Snowy Sabertooths: It's a large, saber-toothed predator with white fur living on the frigid tundra, except that it's not a cat but a mustelid.
- Stock Sound Effect: The adults make leopard roars and growls while their young make bear cub cries.
- Superpersistent Predator: Its preferred hunting method is to wound the prey in a quick attack, and then follow it till it collapses of blood loss.
Shagrat
These herbivores are descended from Marmots. Much like today's Musk ox, they live in herds and migrate with the seasons. Their special fur is doubly insulated to keep them warm in the freezing winter. They are preyed on by the Snowstalker.
- Allegorical Character: Of the evolutionary trend towards larger size and herd behavior in herbivores, and Allen's Rule that animals adapt to cold climates by evolving larger and thicker bodies to avoid heat loss.
- Expy: Of the Woolly Gigantelope from After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of the musk ox, being of similar size, having shaggy fur, and migrating in herds.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: They essentially resemble a cross between a capybara and a musk ox.
- Rodents of Unusual Size: Hard to believe, but they're rodents, much like the Capybara.
- Shout-Out: Seems to borrow its name from a minor character in The Lord of the Rings.
- True Companions: Shagrats have a strong herd instinct, living in groups of roughly 20 individuals. They also will huddle together for warmth.
Gannetwhale
Descended from gannets. The impact of various forces such as climate change, habitat loss, and human activity on sea mammals was too great. Most of, if not all of them, have gone extinct by this time. In their place, sea birds have filled in. However, these birds can't really cut their ties to the land completely, since they need it to lay their eggs.
- Acrophobic Bird: Having lost its ability to fly, the Gannetwhale instead spends its time either swimming or lying on a beach.
- Allegorical Character: Of whale and pinniped evolution, and the secondary adaptation of tetrapods to the sea in general.
- Author Appeal: Continues Dixon's authorial trend of birds and/or flying creatures becoming pinniped analogues (aside from the porpin and vortex, there's also the plunger from The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution).
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: They are descended from gannets, and they fill the niche of whales (although they can move on land like seals and walruses).
- Expy: Of the vortex and porpin from After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Not as much of whales (despite their name) but of seals and walruses.
- Feathered Fiend: Gigantic birds who, while rather clumsy on land, can defend themselves by vomiting on their opponents.
- Graceful in Their Element: Much like the seals they replaced, Gannetwhales are very vulnerable and clumsy on land, but despite their bulk, are truly fast and elegant swimmers when they are underwater.
- Toothy Bird: Downplayed Trope. Its "teeth", while functionally the same, are actually sharp projections of its beak's shaft. The same adaptation is present in the extinct pelagornithids and modern mergansers.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Its method of defense is vomiting. Since the Snowstalker has a very good sense of smell, this is enough to overwhelm and drive it away.
Cryptile
A lizard that has adapted well to life on the salt. It can maintain great speeds for its survival. It mainly subsists on brine flies, which it catches by using its frill, then licks them off with its long tongue.
- Determinator: When they detect a displaying male on mating season, female Cryptiles can cover great distances across the salt plains to greet their new companion.
- Expy: Of the fin lizard from After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of the Australian frilled lizard.
- Overly-Long Tongue: It has a long, chameleon-like tongue that it uses to devour any brine flies it traps in its frill.
- Sticky Situation: The creature's frill is coated in a sticky, waxy mucus. This allows for the fill to act as makeshift flypaper, trapping the brine flies that the Cryptile proceeds to lick off with its tongue.
Scrofa
A miniature descendant of the wild boar. The Scrofa is, like its ancestors, a species of pig. Unlike today's pigs, it has longer legs to leap across crevices and hooves that are modified to tip-toe on the uneven rocky ground. It is mostly herbivorous, but it won't turn down Cryptile eggs if they're not hidden well enough.
- Allegorical Character: Of ungulates like caprines evolving to climb steep terrains from running ancestors that lived in flat terrain.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: A baby Scrofa (or scroflet) escapes instant death from the jaws of a Gryken, but gets lost in the confusion. Separated from its family, it wanders the salty desert below. It wouldn't be able to drink any water from the scarce lakes that dot the salt flats, since they're hyper-saline and therefore lethal, containing 10 times more salt than modern day saltwater. It finally meets its end when it succumbs to the hellish heat. Becoming Gryken chops never looked better.
- Expy: Of the zarander and turmi from After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Bordering on Composite Character, the Scrofa is a long-snouted mammal adapted to suction feed from crevices, like an anteater, and has the compressed body and high hooves of the klipspringer, which is another artiodactyl adapted to climb bare rocks.
- Mama Bear: A mother Scrofa will be more then happy to murder any Grykens that try to attack her babies.
- Messy Pig: Averted, since they aren't that messy.
Gryken
Another saber-toothed mustelid. Its ancestor was the Pine Marten. When the forests disappeared, it evolved to live and hunt on the ground. It hunts Scrofa, mainly because the Cryptiles that use its rocky habitat to lay their eggs are far too speedy to catch.
- Allegorical Character: Of the evolution of cats (and other carnivorous mammals to a lesser extent, including mustelids themselves), who also started as small, tree-dwelling predators before becoming larger ground-dwelling stalkers.
- Expy: Of the Pamthret from After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Killer Rabbit: It looks adorable until it bares fangs.
- Wicked Weasel: Like the Snowstalker, the Gryken is a mustelid, and a pretty nasty one to its preferred prey. But unlike the Snowstalker, it is actually more weasel-like in appearance, having a slim and streamlined body to slip through the grykes to creep up on its prey.
Babookari
Among the last of the primates, having not gone extinct from the shrinking of the forests. The Babookari is descended from the Uakari, one of the few South American monkeys that was generalist enough to survive, as it was able to feel equally comfortable on the ground as well as the trees. It is colorful and intelligent, clever enough to weave spherical baskets to trap fish.
- Allegorical Character: Of the adaptation of tree-dwelling primates to the ground, particularly in a context of tree cover loss like it happened with baboons and hominids, and human evolution (though this has become a case of
Science Marches On after the show's production, as hominids are now known to have become terrestrial before the clearing of the African savana). - Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: They're among the most colorful creatures depicted on the program. Besides having evolved the uakari's bright pink face, their underbellies and bottoms are bright blue, and their faces have colorful markings that resemble tribal paint.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of baboons and primitive hominids, being able to make more complex tools than even current chimpanzees.
- Last of Their Kind: Speculated to be the last species of primates.
- Portmanteau: Baboon + Uakari.
- The Smart Guy: The most intelligent animal portrayed until the rise of squibbons some 200 million years later.
Carakiller
A predatory flightless bird descended from the Caracara that inhabits the grasslands. South America used to have something similar in the distant past. It preys on Babookari.
- Allegorical Character: Of the evolution of flightless birds, particularly predatory ones.
- Death by Materialism: Averted. Carakillers rush to a bushfire to gorge themselves any small creatures fleeing the flames (or those that have already succumbed). Their long, agile legs keep them just ahead of the fire. The modern African Secretary bird
is said to behave in a similar way. - Feathered Fiend: Large aggressive predatory birds who can easily kill Babookari. Like Babookari, they also operate in groups. These groups, referred to as "hunting parties", work together to draw the monkeys into a trap so at least one of them can be caughtd, killed, and shared among the birds.
- Hook Hand: The bird's wings have evolved into paws with a single claw; good enough to stab, but not so much to manipulate things.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: It has "killer" right there in its name.
- Portmanteau: Caracara + Killer.
- Prehistoric Animal Analogue: Of terror birds, down to having similar (now outdated) wing claws. This is further emphasized in one episode of the cartoon, where a stowaway snowstalker encounters and combats a flock of carakillers, mirroring the rivalry between Smilodon and Titanis.
Grassland Rattleback
An armoured, slow moving rodent descended from either the paca or the agouti. It resembles a cross between a turtle and a pangolin. It isn't fast, but its thick armor will protect it from virtually anything. A larger and more slender species lives in the North American Desert.
- Allegorical Character: Of passive defence-based evolutionary strategies against predation.
- Armor Is Useless: Averted - the Rattleback's armor, armored plates made firm from keratin, successfully protect it from every possible threat from predators to fire. They also have a collection of short spines along sides of their bodies. These spines help anchor the Rattleback into as it sinks into the ground, and are strong enough to prevent nearly anything from budging it.
- Bullying a Dragon: They eat the eggs of the vicious Carakillers. But it is of course justified, since the Carakillers can't get past their armored plates.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: They have rattles on their backs.
- Expy: Of the testadon and spine-tailed squirrel from After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of the pangolin, with a dash of tortoise. Their ability to withstand fire seems to specifically be inspired by box turtles.
- Immune to Fire: The scales covering its back allow it to survive wildfires without issue by simply hunkering down as the flames go over them.
- Nigh-Invulnerable: Neither Carakillers or fire can kill them easily.
- Stone Wall: Rattlebacks may not be very fast, but they're not easy to kill, nor is it easy to get past their armor.
- Super-Persistent Predator: It feeds on Carakiller's eggs and it doesn't give a damn if the parents are present.
Desert Rattleback
The larger and more slender relative of the Grassland Rattleback, having migrated from South America over millions of years. In contrast to its South American cousin, this Rattleback has smaller scales, as there are less situations in which it needs protective armor, a larger tail to store fat reserves, and a coat of shaggy fur on its face to protect it from the sandstorms.
- Allegorical Character: Of evolutionary divergence, as this and its relative above are the first showcased animals said explicitly to have evolved from the same modern day animal. Doubles as a reference to the Great American Interchange, and the evolution of new clades after the colonization of new landmasses and environments, in general (previous examples are all animals whose ancestors already live in the same area today).
- Expy: Of the Rootsucker.
- Mama Bear: A female will charge head on against a pack of Deathgleaners to save its only calf.
Spink
Descended from the quail, this bird has taken up an extremely unusual lifestyle. It is flightless, its wings having been reformatted into spades for digging. They live in a caste system, dwelling in massive networks of tunnels under the desert that are lead by a group of females, the queens, that are capable of determining the sex of the eggs. It has rather poor eyesight and relies on a clicking, squeaking song to communicate.
- Allegorical Character: Of the evolution of eusociality and subterranean life.
- Author Appeal: Continues the tradition of eusocial vertebrates in Dougal Dixon's work.
- Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: Males are black and white and females are a dull grey. Pretty bizarre for a creature that's almost blind.
- Expy: Of the termite burrower from After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of small burrowing rodents. Its eusocial behavior in particular is based on the naked mole rat.
- Hook Hand: Somewhat like the Carakiller, but their "hands" are not meant to hunt, only to dig.
- Super-Senses: Spinks have improved hearing and tact to supply for their difficulty with sight.
- Tunnel King: Like moles, these birds are capable of digging through the ground quickly and live in huge tunnels underground.
- Weakened by the Light: Spinks are both nocturnal and subterranean. While sunlight does not technically harm them, they keep away from it because the many predators lurking under it sure do.
Deathgleaner
A very large, carnivorous bat. Unlike most of today's bats, the Deathgleaner is completely diurnal, partly to take advantage of the warm air currents to generate lift, and partly to avoid the freezing cold nights. Taking on the role of vultures and hawks, they are both predators and scavengers; Spinks and juvenile Rattlebacks are their usual prey.
- Bat Out of Hell: A giant killer bat.
- Circling Vultures: They circle around like vultures, waiting for a Rattleback to accidentally dig up a Spink or two, after which they descend on the blinded bird and snatch it up.
- Diurnal Nocturnal Animal: Unlike most bats alive today, it's completely diurnal.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of desert hawks and vultures, as well as the spectral bat (a giant carnivorous bat found today).
- Giant Flyer: Giant by bats standards anyway. They're about the size of a large hawk.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Has the word "Death" in its name, and is indeed certain death to any unlucky Spinks, or any baby Rattlebacks who wanders away from their parents.
100 Million Years
95 million years have past since the 5 million year mark, and the Earth has become a very different place. The continents have moved to very different locations and there are far more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which is the result of extended volcanic activity. As a result, the climate is far hotter then it is today. There is also more oxygen in the atmosphere and much less ice in the polar regions, leading to lush jungles and warm shallow seas. However, this paradise is heading towards a great extinction event, one that will leave the fauna of the world unrecognizable.Swampus/Swamp Lily
An octopus that is equally at home in the water and on land. They live in close knit family groups, mostly comprised of females, and form a symbiotic partnership with a vase-shaped swamp lily, in which they raise their young. They only have four tentacles, as the other four evolved into stout "rudders" they use for moving about on land. They're fiercely protective of their kids, surprisingly good at jumping, and are dangerously poisonous.
- Allegorical Character: Of the colonization of land by once aquatic creatures.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Being cephalopods, Swampuses communicate to one another, and drive away potential intruders, with a vibrant display of colors.
- Author Appeal: Not the first time Dixon put an amphibious cephalopod in his work.
- Chekhov's Gun: When they're introduced, they seem to be a one-off evolutionary oddity. Then, an entire lineage of terrestrial cephalopods appears 100 million years later.
- Odd Friendship: With the swamp lily. The plant catches rainwater that protect the young Swampus from the predators in the swamp. In return, the plant itself is protected by the Swampus family, since they will ward off any plant eater who comes to close to it.
- Poisonous Person: Have a venomous bite that's enough to kill a baby Toraton. The venom is formed when, as babies, the Swampus ingest bacteria housed inside the nursery pools they're protected in.
- Portmanteau: Swamp + Octopus.
Toraton
Descended from tortoises, these creatures are huge, said to be (at the time) larger than even the biggest dinosaurs. Since it is so large, its ancestral shell has been reduced, and now serves mainly to support its massive bulk.
- Allegorical Character: The Toraton represents the culmination of the evolutionary trend towards greater size in a context of long-time stability and great abundance of resources, at which point physics is the only barrier left to grow even further.
- Kaiju: Without a doubt some of the largest animals ever to live. Their babies are even said to be as big as elephants.
- Mighty Glacier: The adults have no predators due to their formidable strength. But they can't move quickly or mate in the traditional way. A male and a female instead mate back-to-back, where the cloacas make direct contact, allowing the male to directly deposit sperm into the female's reproductive system.
- Portmanteau: Tortoise + Teraton
- Prehistoric Animal Analogue: Of the sauropod dinosaurs. They've even evolved to have their legs positioned directly underneath them, like the actual sauropods once did.
- Wham Shot: It's first introduced as an elephant-sized creature, which a Swampus soon kills. Later, the adults are introduced, showcasing just how immense they are.
Lurkfish
A descendant of the electric catfish, this well-camouflaged predator is incredibly sensitive. It's covered in prickly appendages, which help to disguise itself as a fallen log as it rests along the river bed. It utilizes an electric field to detect whenever potential prey (usually the Swampus) is approaching. When the prey is close enough in range, the Lurkfish shocks its unlucky victim with 1000 volts of electricity, paralyzing them or outright killing them before it swallows them whole.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a fish. It lurks in the water.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Partly of the electric eel and partly of the alligator (due to its sheer size and swamp habitat). Its face also appears to be similar to the monkfish.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: It's not a literal crocodile, but fills the same niche.
- Psycho Electric Eel: An electrical fish that hunts Swampus by shocking the daylights out of them before eating them.
- Shock and Awe: The output of this creature (1000 volts) is larger then any living electrical fish today though.
Ocean Phantom
A giant community of several jellyfish-like organisms living together, much like its ancestor, the Portuguese Man-Of-War. It is essentially an organic ship, utilizing maneuverable sails to catch the wind, and polyps on its end that propel it forward like rudders. They prey on juvenile Reef Gliders, but are eaten by adults. It strangely reproduces by riding the fierce storms fueled by the endless expanses of warm water. The storms may break it apart, but the pieces can still continue living and even regrow themselves like an amoeba, provided they have one of each of the essential organisms that make up the Phantom.
- Allegorical Character: Of communal organisms, and along with the Spindletrooper, of mutualistic evolution.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction: The jellyfish's means of reproduction is allowing itself to be ripped apart during brutal storms, then regenerating new jellies from each piece.
- From a Single Cell: Downplayed. The Phantom needs at least one of each of the organisms that make up a functioning Ocean Phantom in order to regenerate.
- Healing Factor: If the colony breaks apart, it can regenerate itself if it has one of each of the organisms that make it up.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: They prey on young Reef Gliders, but adult Reef Gliders will prey on them instead. As such, they employ Spindletroopers to act as defenses against adult Reef Gliders.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Ocean Phantom" would suggest something ominous, and to any small creatures it floats above, it does indeed.
- Odd Friendship: With the Spindletroopers. The Ocean Phantom allows the Spindletroopers to live within some of the bells and provides them with nutrients. In turn, the Spindletroopers help to fend off any adult Reef Gliders that feed on the Ocean Phantom.
- Planimal: The phantom's surface grows red algae in a form of symbiosis. The algae give the Phantom nutrients, while the Phantom gives the algae transportation. Despite this, it still eats juvenile Reef Gliders to balance its diet.
- The Worm That Walks: It's a colony of smaller organisms, similar to the Portuguese Man-Of-War.
Spindletrooper
Descendants of the sea spiders found in today's oceans. These creatures live within the Ocean Phantom. They act as the Phantom's personal armada, deployed to fend off potential threats much like ants. Hacking and slashing at any creature unfortunate enough to attack the Phantom, the Spindletroopers mob the intruder relentlessly until it finally leaves the Phantom alone.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Their legs can span a meter across.
- Giant Spider: Large sea-spiders that live within bell-shaped chambers the Ocean Phantom and act as its defenses.
- Odd Friendship: With the Ocean Phantom. They live in some of the bells of the Ocean Phantom, and are provided nutrients as an incentive to protect the Phantom against adult Reef Gliders.
Reef Glider
Enormous sea-slugs that will eat pieces of the Ocean Phantom when full grown. There are several species that live in the reefs, where their young feed on the red algae, helping the plants in pollination the same way insects pollinate land plants. Their young are preyed on by Ocean Phantoms.
- Allegorical Character: Of niche partition between adults and juveniles of the same species, and pollinization-like mutualism.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Averted. Reef Gliders are not as brightly colored and less flamboyant than their ancestors, apart from their red gills.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of various tropical fish and oddly enough, bees.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: While their larvae are prey of Ocean Phantoms, the adults, which can grow as big as seals, will eat parts of the Ocean Phantom instead.
Through a combination of rising temperatures and continental drift, the icy wastelands of Antarctica have given way to an immense rainforest. This rainforest is the site of an ongoing war between two types of organisms: Flutterbirds, descendants of the sea birds that once frequented the Antarctic coast when it was still frozen, and predatory insects that have grown massive due to the presence of more oxygen in the world's atmosphere.
Spitfire Bird/Spitfire Tree
A flutterbird that defends itself with a unique duo of chemicals. When mixed together in its nostrils, these chemicals become caustic, and burst out of the nose in the form of jets of a burning, corrosive substance. It hovers near the flowers of the Spitfire Tree, much like a hummingbird. But instead of consuming nectar, it really gathers up the needed chemicals from the plant. The tree is able to produce both male and female flowers, each with one of the Spitfire Bird's chemicals. Through visiting both flowers to refill its ammo, the bird ends up becoming a pollination service to the tree.
- Allegorical Character: Of hyper-diversification in a seed "world" colonized by a single ancestor (along with their relative, the Roachcutter) and hyper-specialization after a long time living in the same environment (manifested in complex, mutualistic coevolution with the Spitfire Tree, and the development of a chemically-based defence strategy).
- Bright Is Not Good: The bird's bright yellow-and-black coloration makes it a warning to Falconflies, and for an entirely justified reason.
- Dangerous Phlebotinum Interaction: Its chemical attack is armed by taking two different compounds from Spitfire Flowers, one from a male Spitfire Tree and the other from a female Spitfire tree. When the chemicals are fired out from two different compartments, they mix with each other and become caustic. This is also why male and female flowers must carry only one chemical. If both chemicals were stored in the same flower, they would cause the flower to explode.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a bird that spits fire. Well, burning chemicals.
- Feathered Fiend: Mostly harmless, unless threatened... or caught off-guard.
- Glass Cannon: Their chemical spit is lethal, but Spitfire Beetles can kill them by waiting until they run out of chemicals.
- Killer Rabbit: A small, brightly colored bird. That spits acid.
- Logical Weakness: As the bird's chemicals are obtained from the Spitfire Flowers and not produced by the bird itself, its stock is finite. It will need to be restocked when its surplus runs out. Finding one that's trying to restock is an excellent opportunity for a Falconfly to attack, and making oneself appear to be a flower for them to restock is how Spitfire Beetles hunt them.
- Nasal Weapon: Their chemical spray is delivered through their noses.
- Super Spit: Notably done via mixing of chemicals.
Falconfly
A descendant of the sand wasp. This impressively-sized insect utilizes a venomous sting, razor-sharp, pointed legs to spear a flutterbird in mid-flight, and powerful jaws to tear them apart. It mainly preys on the Roachcutter, both to eat for itself, and to feed them to its larvae. Its larvae are large grubs scattered in burrows throughout the forest floor. If all the grubs were put in the same burrow, they would cannibalize each other. As such, the Falconfly has developed an impressive memory, recognizing landmarks as to where each burrow is.
- Allegorical Character: Of the evolutionary arms race between prey and predator. It also references island gigantism and the evolution of giant insects during the previous "greenhouse Earth" in the Carboniferous.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: It's a wasp the size of a crow.
- Glass Cannon: It's fast, agile, and powerful, but the Spitfire Bird's chemical spray can subdue it.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Falconfly's front legs act as spears, used to impale flutterbirds mid-flight.
- It Can Think: Female Falconflies have a fairly good memory, being able to recognize where each of their larva are hidden in the Antarctic Jungle (each maggot is hidden under a different patch of Earth).
- Wicked Wasps: Descended from the sand wasp, this insect regularly tears the flesh off of birds.
Roachcutter
A flutterbird that hunts insects. The Roachcutter may be small and rather generic, but its bulging eyes give it a wide range of vision. It is also fast and agile, able to nip small insects off a branch mid-flight.
- Death by Irony: It's introduced as a flutterbird that feeds on insects... and is promptly killed by the Falconfly.
- Flat Character: Its main role in the episode is as prey for the Falconfly.
- Fragile Speedster: Its only real defense is its impressive agility. It cannot defend itself from predators, unlike the Spitfire Bird.
Spitfire Beetle
These beetles live primarily in groups of four, and utilize cooperation to bring down their prey. They stand head to head, opening their wing cases to mimic the shape and color of the Spitfire Flower. They wait motionlessly for a Spitfire Bird looking to refuel its chemicals. When one comes close enough, the beetles lunge on it, dragging it down to the forest floor. Once the bird is dead, the carcass is shared by all four beetles.
- Allegorical Character: Of aggressive mimicry.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Downplayed. They seem to be about the size of the largest real beetles, and they have to work as a group to bring down a Spitfire Bird.
- Chest Monster: For Spitfire birds. Four of them cooperate to appear like the Spitfire Flower, and when a Spitfire Bird gets near, they all ambush and kill it.
- Combination Attack: In order to lure and kill a Spitfire Bird, they need a group of four to make the flower and to kill the bird via overwhelming it. This is fortunate and essential for the Spitfire Beetles, as they spend their lives in groups of four.
- Death Trap: And with a bait the bird cannot afford to resist, because it needs it to defend itself from Falconflies.
- Four Is Death: The beetles live in groups of four, and must do so to catch and devour their prey of choice.
- Mimic Species: They mimic the flowers of the trees where Spitfire Birds gather their reactive chemicals from. When a Spitfire Bird arrives at the fake flower to gather more chemicals, the beetles attack and kill it.
False Spitfire Bird
A relative of the Spitfire Bird. Unlike its more formidably defended kin, the False Spitfire Bird is harmless and relies on its mimicry to avoid predators.
- Allegorical Character: Of Batesian mimicry.
- Ass in a Lion Skin: It imitates a Spitfire bird to avoid being preyed on by Falconflies. However, it lacks the Spitfire bird's chemical spray.
- Bright Is Not Good: Has the same bright yellow-and-black coloration as the Spitfire Bird that makes them a warning to Falconflies, even though they're actually docile.
- Mimic Species: It looks identical to the Spitfire Bird, which can spray a caustic acid from its nostrils at predators. This resemblance means that predators avoid the False Spitfire Bird as well.
Great Blue Windrunner
A magnificent bird of enormous size. A descendant of the crane, the bird possesses a second set of wings on its legs that help it stay aloft in the thin air. Its blue coloration helps protect it from the harmful ultraviolet light of the plateau. It feeds on Silver Spiders, which it can snatch from their webs in mid-flight
- Allegorical Character: The peak of the evolutionary trend towards greater size like the Toraton, but in the air. Basically, where the Toraton is the second coming of sauropod dinosaurs, the Windrunner is of azdharchid pterosaurs (before Science Marches On showed azdharchids were better adapted to hunt on the ground than we thought).
- Expy: Of the Bootie Bird.
- Giant Flyer: Though sources can't agree on its size, varying from 3 meters to 15 meters.
- Light Is Not Good: An interesting variation. The Great Blue Windrunner's magnificent blue coloration is a strategy to reflect the harmful ultraviolet light of the thin atmosphere. The bird can also see in ultraviolet, which it uses to identify different individuals of its species. This is important, as no two Windrunners have the same unique UV pattern.
- Mercury's Wings: Its legs also have wings on them for extra surface area and updrift, so it can be more maneuverable at low speeds. They even have wing-like structures on their ears for further maneuverability.
Silver Spider
Large spiders that, unlike spiders today, live in a caste system. Whatever size a certain individual is details what function of the colony it provides. The smallest spiders, line-casters, begin the construction of their webs, which stretch across the plateau, by producing silk while gliding in the air using parachutes made out of the tufts of Grass Tree seeds. The next size bigger, web-builders, then construct the framework of the web, making them sturdy enough to catch the Grass Tree seeds floating on the breeze. The next size bigger, workers, spend their lives gathering the seeds, which they then collect in stockpiles throughout their burrows. The biggest spider of the colony is the queen. She is the only spider allowed to breed, and is fed and cared for by all the others. The spiders are preyed upon by the Great Blue Windrunner.
- Allegorical Character: The evolution of eusociality and predation-based mutualism (a.k.a. farming).
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: According to the book, the queen can grow to the size of a football.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The spiders feed Poggles with seeds without harming it. This is to fatten up the poor thing so that it will make a meal for the queen.
- Giant Spider: Again, they're pretty large spiders that are bigger than most small mammals.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: They're spiders that are silver.
- Expy: To the Morlocs from The Time Machine, being a new dominant species of critter that farms the last of a previously dominant lineage for food.
- Fattening the Victim: They keep Poggles as livestock and fatten them with seeds until it becomes a good meal for the queen.
- It Can Think: They're smart enough to have developed agriculture.
- Light Is Not Good: They're silvery and bright in color. Much like the Great Blue Windrunner, their reflective color scheme protects them from the ultraviolet light. They also take care of the cute poggles.... before using said poggles as livestock for their queens.
- Spider Swarm: Unlike modern-day spiders, they function in a eusocial caste system, with workers, web-builders, and a queen.
- Vegetarian Carnivore: Subverted. They're not gathering those seeds to eat them.
Poggle
The very last mammal on the planet. A weird-looking rodent with large, bulging eyes. It lives in the caves of the Silver Spiders, and regularly pilfers their seed reserves. The spiders seem to tolerate the Poggle's thievery, as if they are treating it as some kind of pet. In actuality, the Spiders are treating the Poggle as livestock, giving it more and more seeds to eat it until it's fat and nutritious enough for their queen to devour.
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade: In the companion book the Poggle is not the last, but one of "a few" last mammals, only described as "strange, highly specialized creatures".
- Allegorical Character:
- Of endlings, the notion that even a dominant group of animals can be reduced to just one relict species over geological time, followed by complete extinction.
- Moreover, of the fact that no species or group of species is intrinsically "superior" to others and that everything can (and will) go extinct. The election of mammals for this role, the group humans belong to, is poignant and deliberate.
- Despite the Persecution Flip involved (or oddly because of it), of rodents being the most successful and adaptable mammals ever (also exemplified earlier by the shagrat and rattlebacks). 100 million years on, rodents are still there and have colonized this completely new environment and niche, even if both are kind of pathetic.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Poggles are vital to the survival of a Silver Spider colony. It regularly pilfers the Spiders' seed reserves, but the spiders tolerate its actions and leave it alone. This is because they want it to fatten itself up so it will make a good meal for their queen. Poggles also produce a lot of offspring, giving more flesh to be distributed throughout the colony. Female poggles are just as essential, if not more so, as they carry hormones in their bloodstream that stimulates the queen's reproductive system, allowing her to lay more eggs to fuel the colony more efficiently.
- Crapsaccharine World: Its habitat, the burrows of the Silver Spider It keeps them safe — but only because they're saving them for later.
- Expy: Of the Eloi from The Time Machine. Last member of the lineage humanity belonged to? Check. Raised for slaughter by the world's new dominant creatures? Double check!
- Last of His Kind: It's the last mammal species.
- Mix-and-Match Creatures: Though a rodent descendant, it vaguely resembles an ant in head shape.
- Persecution Flip: The last mammal, a group that once mastered farming, is reduced to farm equipment.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Not only does it resemble a small rodent, its bulging eyes also make it look rather adorable.
Grass Tree
The dominant plant species in the Great Plateau, a giant and contorted woody species of grass. Its seeds disperse through the air and feed most animal species in its habitat including Poggles and Silver Spiders.- Allegorical Character: Of the evolution of trees from ground-level, non-woody plants (trees are not a natural group, but have several different ancestors).
200 Million Years
A massive extinction event has come and gone 100 million years prior, and the animals left have since adapted to the new world. The continents have once again come together to form a global super-continent, surrounded by one giant ocean. All terrestrial vertebrates have gone extinct, leaving the planet to be dominated by insects, fish and mollusks. This is an entirely alien Earth now, but intelligent life is on the rise once more.Located in the center of the new Pangaea, this immense desert is now the driest landscape ever. The only remaining water is a series of small pools connected to an underground network of tunnels; a naturally made reservoir. With a lack of rain, very few plants, and hardly any shelter from the relentless sun, survival in this habitat would be nearly impossible. But despite these hardships, life does thrive here.
Terabyte
Descended from termites, these insects are highly efficient and highly specialized. Colonies of them live in vast towers scattered all across the desert. The towers themselves, made from a mixture of sand, feces, and terabyte carcasses, are only a small part of the Terabyte habitat. They're often used farm algae, the Terabytes' main source of food, as they allow access to the underground reservoir and funnel in the right kinds of air for the algae to grow. As they live in a caste system, there are various forms. Gum-spitters immobilize other creatures with a sticky glue. Water-carriers bloat themselves on whatever water is available to moisten the algae that the terabytes farm. Rock-borers spit concentrated acid onto the rocks below the towers to weaken them. Biters use powerful jaws to carve the weakened rock into new tunnels. The last remaining caste are transporters, the only terabytes with functioning legs. Their main role is to carry the other castes on their backs and take them to where they're needed.
- Allegorical Character: A logical progression of present day eusocial insects, which already behave more like a single organism than a community.
- Artistic License – Biology: Somewhat - they're mentioned as having queens, but no mention is made on whether or not they have kings (termites are the only eusocial insects to have both kings and queens).
- Balloon Belly: Pretty much the main task of the water-carriers. All they have to do is to drink water from the moist underground caves below. This causes them to swell up with water, after which the transporters can carry them back and use them as watering cans for their algae farm.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Quite literally in this case. Gum-spitters, water-carriers, rock-borers and queens are so specialized to the tasks they do that they have vestigial legs. They require assistance from the transporters to move around. Transporters are slightly less specialized, since they're able to cut off algal tissues from Garden Worms.
- Equippable Ally: Enforced with their evolution. Since transporters are the only caste equipped with functioning legs, they have to carry every other caste on their backs.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of termites and leafcutter ants, descending from the former.
- Hive Mind: An entire Terabyte colony functions as though it has a single mind, interconnected with all its members.
- Portmanteau: Terra (as in earth)+ Termite. Also, it's a pun on the word terabyte.
- Sticky Situation: Gum-spitters are able to shoot a sticky substance onto Garden Worms, trapping them so that the other Terabytes can harvest their algae.
- Super Spit: Gum-spitters shoot a sort of organic glue onto Garden worms to restrain them while others sever the algae-rich lobes from the worms' sides.
- Too Important to Walk: Every caste that isn't a transporter has vestigial legs, and cannot move around without being carried by transporters.
- Zerg Rush: Being evolved from termites, Terabytes tend to group together in order to restrict a Garden Worm and harvest its algae.
Garden Worm
A strange worm that resembles a fern. Much like it's ancestor, the convoluta worm, the Garden Worm forms a symbiotic relationship with green algae. The wide, leaf-shaped appendages at its sides help the algae in its skin gather sunlight, which in turn becomes nutrition for the worm. From time to time, Garden Worms are captured by Terabyte raiding parties, where the gum-spitters spray their glue over it. When the worm is restricted, the terabytes crop whatever algae they can from its algae lobes for their algae gardens. A Garden Worm can also free itself from the Terabytes' chemical weapons with its own chemical defense: a secretion produced from in between its segments that dissolves the terabytes' glue. Whenever it's not sunbathing, it lives in the dark underwater caves, where it's vulnerable to being preyed upon by the Slickribbon. If it's being pursued by a Slickribbon, it can spew a cloud of obnoxious liquid right into its path.
- Allegorical Character: Of photosintetic/non-photosintetic mutualistic "organisms", like lichens.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Large worms with algal structures.
- Planimal: They're worms with fern-shaped appendages that store algae, allowing said algae to photosynthesize and give the worm nutrients.
- Smoke Out: Sort of. It can spray an opaque cloud of nasty tasting/smelling fluid to disorient any Slickribbons chasing after it.
Gloomworm
Rather generic creatures, Gloomworms often spend their lives swimming in the vast underground reservoir of the desert, eating the bioluminescent bacteria that provide light. They're also a food source for the Slickribbon. They're descended from bristle worms, the only marine worms that remained after the mass extinction. Over time, they settled into the various aquatic cave systems. Eventually, bristle worms evolved into multiple new species of worms.
- Allegorical Character: Another example of diversification from a single ancestor in a stable, new seed "world". Also of ecosystems without sunlight, like cave galleries or the depth of the sea.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: They're around half a metre long.
- Flat Character: They aren't touched upon as much as the other creatures, largely because they don't have any unique features.
Slickribbon
The top-predator in the darkened, underwater caves of the desert. A large predatory worm that carries a deadly weapon: a powerful clasping jaw mounted on an extendable trunk. It catches other swimmers such as Gloomworms with this deadly maw, which it can extend in a fraction of a second.
- Allegorical Character: Of diversification from a single distant ancestor and the evolution of predators, as it shares ancestry with its main prey, the Gloomworm.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Even larger than Garden Worms and Gloomworms.
- Nested Mouths: Its jaw is connected to an extendable trunk, and it uses that jaw to catch Gloomworms and Garden Worms.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: It gives up its chase against the Garden Worm after the Garden Worm sprays a cloud of disgusting fluid to disorient it and escape.
Silverswimmer
These are curious creatures, descended from larval crustaceans that practiced neoteny (the ability to breed in a larval stage). There are numerous species of them swimming all over the global sea. Some are predators, some are scavengers, and others are filter-feeders. They have occupied the niche formerly filled by fish, but are themselves prey for Flish.
- Allegorical Character: Of neoteny, in particular in the context of the early evolution of vertebrates; and as successors to fish, of the emergence of new dominant classes in the oceans that completely replace previous ones (like how jawless fish replaced trilobites, then were replaced by jawed armored fish, then by jawed unarmored fish).
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Compared to their modern-day counterparts, they're gigantic. Some of them get as big as whales.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: They swim. They're silver. Or at least, one species of them shown is silver.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of fish. Oddly, fish still exist and prey on them, but occupy a completely different niche.
- Giant Enemy Crab: They're massive compared to modern crab larvae.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: They have a truly unprecedented variety of forms, some of which resemble hybrids between arthropods and fish.
- Older Than They Look: An unusual case. They apparently evolved from crustaceans that developed the ability to breed at the free-floating larval stage, rather than the adult stage.
Ocean Flish
While gone from the seas, fish are still very much in evidence in this new ecosystem. These particular fish, descended from cod, have evolved to breathe air and even fly, taking over the skies after the birds went extinct. Sometimes, they may get flung by the global sea's hypercanes all the way to the Rainshadow Desert, where they they'll certainly perish under the hot sun. But in doing so, their carcasses, referred to as "flishwrecks", play a vital part in the desert's ecosystem.
- Allegorical Character: Of the evolution of flight, and the idea that a group of animals could go completely extinct in one medium, yet become dominant in another (like how dinosaurs lost the rule of the land, yet gave birth to birds which are still the dominant lifeforms in the air, even though pterosaurs were dominant air lifeforms during most of the time of dinosaur dominance).
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of seabirds. In the book, it's taken further by noting that flish of different sizes fill different, seabird-like niches (duck-sized flish filter-feed, albatross-sized ones soar long distances, skua-sized flish steal food from other flish, etc.).
- Flying Seafood Special: Unlike today's flying fish, who can only glide, Flish can achieve true powered flight.
- Nested Mouths: Ocean flish contain protrusible jaws, designed to snatch and grab Silverswimmers beneath the waves.
- Portmanteau: Flying + Fish.
- Series Mascot: Often shown accompanying the title, likely because a flying fish is strange yet oddly familiar.
Rainbow Squid
This absolutely colossal cephalopod is the biggest thing in the Global Ocean. Like its ancestors, it utilizes chromatophores, special muscles controlled by the nervous system, to change color. This squid, however, has a much more developed brain, and utilizes its color changing abilities to its benefit. It can disguise itself as a shoal of Silverswimmers to trick Flish into diving towards it, then uses a tentacle to snatch them out of the sky. They gather in the shallows every year on the night of the autumnal equinox to breed, with males competing among one another each other to produce the brightest color displays. Unlike their ancestors, who die when they mate and lay their eggs, Rainbow Squid don't follow this "coded death" after breeding, even being able to live for as long as a century. Sadly, their size doesn't always protect the Squid, as a certain predator can overcome its color changing abilities.
- Allegorical Character: The culmination of the evolutionary trend towards greater size, this time in the aquatic medium.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: With a name like "Rainbow Squid", this trope is a must.
- Artistic License – Biology: The franchise only portrays them as eating Flish, which are thousands of times smaller than the squid. Unless they also eat larger varieties of Silver Swimmers, there's no way they'd be able to sustain themselves on such tiny fare. But they might very well eat the big Silver Swimmers, judging by how common they are. Also, modern cephalopods can change colour just like the Rainbow Squid does, but the show treats this as something new and unusual.
- Chameleon Camouflage: It can turn "invisible" by changing itself blue, blending in with the ocean's surface. Unfortunately this does little to help against Sharkopaths, which have super smell and electrical detection.
- Chest Monster: Acts as these to Flish. They use their color changing ability to simulate a shoal of Silverswimmers. Any unlucky Flish that takes the bait will get grabbed by a huge tentacle instead.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a squid that can change into any color. Modern squid are already very close to this.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of the giant squid. Perhaps also of whales.
- Giant Squid: It's a huge squid that preys on Flish, and also can change into colors that modern squids can't change into.
- Invisibility Flicker: When they panic and give up their disguise.
- Long-Lived: Unlike modern squids, they don't die after mating, and are even able to live for as long as a century because of that.
- Shapeshifter Swan Song: After its invisibility fails, the Rainbow Squid targeted by the Sharkopaths starts frantically cycling through different colors in a futile effort to drive them off.
- Shown Their Work: Modern cephalopods can change colours in a similar way to the Rainbow Squid.
Sharkopath
Sharks are tough and resilient creatures. They've not only evolved long before the dinosaurs, but they have survived several mass extinctions throughout Earth's history. The Sharkopath is no exception. As the only fish still clinging to water in the Global Ocean, it's the most advanced and ferocious form of shark ever to live. Unlike today's sharks, the Sharkopath hunts in groups, partly because of the advantage of strength in numbers, and partly because the sea of the future is so immense, so this helps to cover more distance in search of food. It uses bioluminescent patches on its sides to signal to its fellow sharks when it finds food. The closer potential prey is, the faster the markings flash.
- Allegorical Character: Of the sharks longevity as a largely unchanged group.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: They have a bioluminescent trail of markings on their sides, which can be used to confuse targets and direct the group to potential food. The markings flash faster whenever food is close by.
- Light Is Not Good: They have ridges of yellow bioluminescent markings to signal to their own kind and confuse their targets, and are vicious apex predators who hunt and kill the relatively gentle Rainbow Squids.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Being named after both Shark and Psychopath generally is something to be afraid of.
- The Nose Knows: They find the Rainbow Squid by tracking down its scent in the water.
- Portmanteau: Shark + Psychopath
- Super-Senses: Like today's sharks, they can trace electrical signals, a sense they use to overcome the Rainbow Squid's Invisibility Cloak. The ridges on their heads are full of sensory organs, making them more efficient at this trait than today's sharks.
- Threatening Shark: The apex predator of the Global sea. They hunt in huge packs, cooperating in taking down something as huge as a Rainbow Squid.
- Zerg Rush: Unlike most other sharks, Sharkopaths hunt in huge numbers, since food is more spread apart. They cooperate by using bioluminescent signals to alert the others of any nearby Rainbow Squids before they converge on and overwhelm their bigger prey through the advantage of power in numbers.
Desert Hopper
Despite its size and appearance, the Desert Hopper is actually a snail. A modern snail's foot is a powerful muscle coated in mucus to assist in locomotion. To prevent the creation of this mucus, since water is far too important to waste, the Hopper's foot has evolved into an entire leg. This single leg gives the Hopper an advantage, since jumping allows it to cover great distances in search of food. It also has tough, scaly skin to assist in the prevention of secreting slime. Like modern snails, the Desert Hopper has a radula, a tongue coated in rows of tiny, hook like teeth, to eat its food. The Hopper's radula is razor-sharp, allowing it to dig through the hard cuticles of what little edible plants can survive in the desert so it can reach the watery tissues inside. Desert Hoppers are particularly active in the night. During the day, they keeps themselves cool by burying themselves in the sand. When the sun goes down, they rise out of the ground shell-first, then begin hopping to whatever plants are available.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: A rabbit-sized snail that uses a single foot to hop around.
- Bizarre Alien Locomotion: It hops around on a single foot instead of crawling on the ground. This is fortunate for the creature, as water is too important a resource to waste in its environment.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It hops through the desert.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of jackrabbits and wallabies, being a herbivore living in arid areas that moves around by hopping.
Bumblebeetle/Grimworm
A rather peculiar insect with a rather peculiar life cycle. The Bumblebeetle spends its life in a race against the clock. It can only live for exactly one day, and it spends that one day flying over the desert in the hopes of finding a "flishwreck". No two Bumblebeetles can share a carcass, and if two of them come across the same one, they engage in an aerial dogfight over it. The carcass is the only essential place where the Bumblebeetle can release its young: large, carnivorous maggots known as Grimworms. After splitting its abdomen open to release the Grimworms, the Bumblebeetle then dies. The Grimworms then spend every moment they can munching away at the carcass. Grimworms also practice neoteny, mating before they reach adulthood. During mating, the largest female Grimworm eats all of the males (plus any smaller females), then digs itself underground to pupate. As a result, every single Bumblebeetle is female, already pregnant with new Grimworms.
- Allegorical Character: Of the idea that the only motor of evolution is reproduction success, exemplified by the acquisition of a mayfly-type life cycle in which most of the time is spent as a larva and the adult only exists for enough time to lay the next generation, at the cost of the parent's own life.
- Big Eater: Grimworms spend all of their lives eating the Flish carcass they live in. It's actually the first thing they do when they crawl inside the carcass. As an advantage to their impressive gluttony, they have three sets of jaws, able to slice and grind any meat they can sink them into. Females also eat males during mating. This is sharply averted with the adult Bumblebeetle. It's unable to eat anything since it lacks a functioning mouth. The closest thing it has to eating is the ability to digest its fat reserves on the wing.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction:
- Grimworms reach maturity and mate as larvae, and can even reproduce via parthenogenesis. Unfertilized eggs will develop into identical Grimworms.
- The adult Bumblebeetle does not lay eggs. Grimworms hatch and develop within the parent. When an adult releases the Grimworms into a suitable Flish carcass, its abdomen splits open and it dies shortly after.
- Death by Childbirth: Once it finds a suitable and vacant Flish carcass, the Bumblebeetle will break its abdomen apart to release the Grimworms. It does this so the Grimworms can get out of the sun and crawl inside the carcass to begin eating it straight-away. It dies shortly after this task, completing its sole purpose.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of flies and mayflies.
- One-Gender Race: Every Bumblebeetle is female. This is because female Grimworms are the only ones that live long enough to pupate, since they eat all the males when mating.
- Portmanteau: Bumblebee + Beetle.
- Your Days Are Numbered: An adult Bumblebeetle can only live for 24 hours. And to raise the stakes higher, it's unable to eat properly, lacking mouth parts and having only a rudimentary digestive system filled with fat reserves.note It uses that one day to find a Flish carcass to deposit the Grimworms it's carrying inside itself.
Deathbottle
Since water and quality soil are practically nonexistent in the Rainshadow Desert, the plants here have to take drastic measures to function. Among the most successful and hazardous of these plants is the Deathbottle. It feeds on Desert Hoppers with a crafty trapping system. A Hopper is first lured to the leaf covered stems of the plant, then suddenly falls into a hole in the sand. This hole is actually the Deathbottle's feeding chamber; its walls lined with poisonous spikes. Over time, the spikes begin constricting toward the struggling Hopper, eventually piercing the snail's skin, and allowing for digestive juices to start breaking it down. To reset the trap, the plant regrows the thin membrane above the entrance to its feeding chamber and waits for it to become covered in sand. For reproduction, the Deathbottle also makes use of Bumblebeetles looking for "flishwrecks" to deposit their Grimworms in. To this end, the Deathbottle grows flowers that mimic the appearance and stench of a rotting Flish. After a while, a Bumblebeetle will notice the flower and crawl into a hole in its center, cleverly made to look like a flesh wound. Inside the flower is another chamber, one full of sticky seeds. The Bumblebeetle will begin frantically flying around the chamber looking for an escape. In the process, the seeds become stuck to its abdomen. The Deathbottle also has a built-in eject-mechanism for getting rid of the Bumblebeetle. When the insect hits a certain spot in the seed chamber, the plant literally tosses the Bumblebeetle out. When engaging in a dogfight over a "flishwreck", the seeds coating the Bumblebeetle become loose, and land in the ground next to the carcass, as they are the only nutrition in this harsh environment.
- Allegorical Character: Of carnivorous and animal-mimicking plants.
- Chest Monster: For Bumblebeetles. Thankfully, it doesn't harm them, only covers them in seeds. Its manner of preying on Desert Hoppers also qualifies, since it uses its own leaves as bait for them.
- Death Trap: Any Desert Hopper that lands into it is killed by the spikes within. These spikes begin to contract over time, so that it will be eventually pierced. Bumblebeetles are thankfully more lucky. They only get covered in seeds within another special chamber before the plant punts it out.
- Shout-Out: To the Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars.
- Spikes of Doom: The spikes that line the walls of its feeding chamber are poisonous, used to kill any unlucky Desert Hopper that lands inside.
- Trap Door: It covers its "lid" with sand to make it resemble the ground. Unwary Desert Hoppers will jump onto that, and fall within into spiky doom.
Megasquid
A member of the Terasquids, this elephant-sized cephalopod is the giant of the forest. A solitary creature, the Megasquid spends its life shuffling along the forest floor, looking for food to please its endless hunger. Being boneless, eight of its tentacles have evolved to become pillar-like legs supported entirely by muscle. It is also able to emit calls through a bladder on its forehead filled with thin membranes that are vibrated by the air it breathes. Omnivorous and not in the least choosy, it happily devours anything it can catch, a trait that is utilized by different organisms.
- Allegorical Character: Of full adaptation of once aquatic groups to land and once again, the evolutionary trend towards greater size. In practice, the Megasquid is equivalent to prosauropods and other giant reptiles of the previous Pangaea.
- Bizarre Alien Locomotion: It isn't easy to move on eight legs that are completely boneless. To avoid tripping over itself, the Megasquid moves by moving the second and third legs on one side of its body in unison with the first and fourth on the other side, producing a gait not seen in any animal alive today.
- Dumb Muscle: Though not exactly stupid, they are clearly dumber than their Squibbon relatives, and much larger and stronger.
- Extreme Omnivore: It is indeed omnivorous, eating anything it can get its tentacles on, from Lichen Fruits to baby Squibbon. The Slithersucker makes use of this to propagate itself. It disguises itself as a Lichen Fruit, and when the Megasquid devours it, it hijacks the squid's brain, driving it insane and forcing it to "sneeze", propelling chunks of it onto trees so it can regrow itself.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of the elephant.
- Giant Squid: Elephant-sized land-bound squid, to be more precise.
- Shout-Out: To the obscure Kaiju Gezora from the movie Space Amoeba. At least, the two sure do look similar.
- Vegetarian Carnivore: Well, maybe not outright "vegetarian", but it's a squid that's decided to add fruit to its diet.
Slithersucker
A unique organism, the Slitherslucker isn't a plant or an animal. It's a slime mold; a community of single celled organisms that move and operate as one being. Slime molds today are reather small and simple, but over millions of years, the Slithersucker has evolved to become more adapted to whatever the forest throws at it. It takes on the shape of Lichen Fruits, a favorite snack of the Megasquid. Once eaten, it then makes its way into the Megasquid's brain, controlling it until it reaches a specific destination. Upon arrival, the Slithersucker makes the squid sneeze, making the cephalopod spew chunks of the slime mold out of its vocal sac. This is how it spreads, as the expelled chunks grow into new Slithersuckers. The Slithersucker is also predatory, draping itself on the branch of a Lichen Tree to catch any Forest Flish that flies into its path. Once a Forest Flish is caught in the slimy curtain, the Slithersucker begins utilizing digestive juices to enjoy its meal.
- Blob Monster: They're a form of slime mold. 200 million years have made it more... everything. Bigger, creepier, and even smarter.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: While "fauna" is stretching it a little, it's generally based on behavior-altering parasites such as horsehair worms or the famous Cordyceps, which alter a host animal's behavior to use it a means to propagate.
- Puppeteer Parasite: It fools a Megasquid into eating it by disguising itself as a Lichen Fruit. Once inside, the slime mold hitches a ride with the Megasquid, hijacking its brain to take it where it wants to go.
- Shapeshifter: Like today's slime molds, it's able to change its form into different objects, such as the Lichen Fruits that the Megasquid prefers. This is how it can get inside the Megasquid to control it, and ends up using the Megasquid to spread itself around.
- Sticky Situation: Any Forest Flish that ends up flying into its sticky tendrils will get stuck and digested.
Forest Flish
The smaller and more colorful cousins of Ocean Flish. Like Ocean Flish, these fish have left the water completely to fill the niche of birds, and their pectoral fins have become wings. But unlike Ocean Flish, Forest Flish have had their pelvic fins evolve into hooks. These hooks help them to roost upside-down on branches like today's bats. Like the birds today, they fill the forest with their songs. The only difference is that their chirps are more reminiscent of grasshoppers than of birds.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: They fill the same role as tropical birds. Though in comparison with their size, they also fill the niche of butterflies.
- Flying Seafood Special: Like Flish, they're capable of flight, and even hang upside down like bats.
Squibbon
The last organism shown in the program. Another kind of Terasquid, these cephalopods are the opposite of the Megasquid in every way. They're small, incredibly active, and live in large numbers. Squibbon live high in the forest canopy, jumping and swinging around on the branches like today's gibbons. They're actually even more flexible than gibbons since they have no bones to impede movement. Unlike the Megasquid, Squibbon have their eyes mounted on stalks, which they can extend to vastly improve their range of sight. Squibbon are also known to be quite knowledgeable. They're not only the smartest animals in the forest, but they're said to be the most intelligent lifeforms since humans. They have a complex form of communication, live large in social groups with parents, sibling, and relatives, and have even developed the capacity to learn, training and playing at a young age by swinging in the branches helps to sharpen their senses as they grow. With all these advantages at their disposal, it's heavily implied that Squibbon will eventually become the next dominant species of planet Earth.
- Abnormal Ammo: They can throw random stuff like branches and fruit at the Megasquid.
- Allegorical Character: Of the evolution of intelligence.
- Big Damn Heroes: When they save their young from a Megasquid.
- Edible Ammunition: They won't hesitate to mob any Megasquid that captures their young.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of apes, particularly gibbons and chimpanzees.
- Mama Bear/Papa Wolf: Squibbon are very protective of family members, especially children. If a young Squibbon gets caught by a Megasquid, the entire group will attack it, pelting it with objects until the captured Squibbon is recued.
- Portmanteau: Squid + Gibbon
- Zerg Rush: In contrast to the solitary Megasquid, Squibbon use numbers to confront danger.
The Animated Series
The animated series stars a team of human teenagers (and their pet Squibbon) exploring the different time periods mentioned above and encountering the strange lifeforms that inhabit them. Many of the creatures mentioned above appear in the cartoon as wellnote .
- Voiced by: Ashley Peters
- Ambiguously Brown: She and her father are both brown-skinned, but she has red hair and blue eyes, and it's unlikely any modern-day countries still exist 10,000 years in the future.
- Animals Hate Him: Extremely Downplayed, but C.G. is the only member of the team who never bonds with a wild animal during one or more of the show's episodes - Emily is a Friend to All Living Things (especially Squibby), Ethan has bonded with a Shagrat and a Megasquid, while Luis briefly adopted a pair of Toraton hatchlings that imprinted on him.
- Friendless Background: Explicitly stated in one episode, but Ethan, Emily, and Luis are the first friends she has ever had.
- Missing Mom: Her mother isn’t even mentioned in the series.
- No Social Skills: C.G. has trouble interacting with others, and is especially awkward when trying to spend girl time with Emily. It's confirmed in a later episode she didn't have any friends before going on the mission to the future, so it can be assumed that she never had anyone to develop those skills with.
- Only Sane Man: Downplayed, but she is the one most devoted to the Time Flyer's mission, and her personal quirks (e.g. No Social Skills and Control Freak tendencies) normally aren't as pronounced as her teammates.
- Statuesque Stunner: Meets the boys at eye-level.
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"Stop Having Fun" Guys: C.G. tends to get annoyed whenever her teammates goof off during a mission. Justified in that she is from an apocalyptic future and has a vested interest in completing the mission over relaxing. - The Stoic: She doesn't show a lot of emotion. If she is being openly emotive, it's usually a sign she is very stressed out or really enjoying herself.
- Uniformity Exception: While the rest of the cast wears clothing from The New '10s, C.G. wears a futuristic body suit from her home time, ten-thousand years in the future.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: C.G. has Arachnophobia (fear of spiders), and is noticeably uncomfortable whenever she has to deal with Silver Spiders. She’s also quite unhappy when dealing with Spindletroopers, but since she has her laser cutter to defend herself, her reaction is more one of annoyance than fear.
- Voiced by: Miranda Jones
- Friend to All Living Things: She's helpful to all animals she encounters, even predators. However, she seems to make an exception for bugs.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: For all that she loves animals, bugs still seem to creep her out.
- Voiced by: Marc Donato
- The Big Guy: The largest member of the cast, and the one most physically oriented.
- Book Dumb: Somewhat - he doesn't care much for the Techno Babble that C.G. and Luis use, but is still fairly smart and has moments of wisdom.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: It's eventually revealed that he has Claustrophobia - fear of being in small spaces.
- Voiced by: Taylor Abrahamse
- Bigotry Exception: C.G.'s Father seems to hold him in higher regard than Ethan and Emily. This stems from how the two have similar interests in technology and thus have common ground to work with.
- Deadpan Snarker: Always has a dry remark on the events around him.
- Emo Teen: Has the look.
- The Smart Guy: The smartest of the trio from the present. This endears him to both C.G. and her father.
- Voiced by: Richard Binsley
- Non-Human Sidekick: The only non-human member of the team.
- Voiced by: Cedric Smith
- Ambiguously Brown: Like his daughter.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: While he's right that C.G. is letting her feelings get in the way of her judgement regarding her "stowaways", he fails to realize that C.G. needs human companions to function as a person, and that the robots prepared to act as her crew can't actually address her human need for companionship.
- Fantastic Racism: Doesn't think too highly of Ethan, Emily, or Luis on account of them being "primitives". That being said, he does bond with Luis because the latter has shared interests with both himself and C.G., giving him someone to relate to.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Notes in one episode that if C.G. keeps her friends around with her too long, they will likely be unable to reintegrate into life in the present day. C.G. concedes his point.
- Parental Neglect: Implied by just how much C.G. wants to earn his approval.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: For all his mistrust of Ethan, Emily, and Luis, he is willing to allow them to stay with C.G. until the mission to save mankind is complete when they prove themselves devoted to said mission... though he's also motivated by the robotic crew going haywire at that moment and deciding to fight over a snack.
- The Spock: He's the most logical member of the human cast, due to both age and the ongoing climatic apocalypse in his home time. This clashes with the C.G. and the rest of the crew for a few reasons — while some of it is understandable (the team spends a lot of time goofing off while he has to face The End of the World as We Know It), he also fails to consider some important issues that have a significant impact on the mission. Case in point, while he's correct that C.G. taking Ethan, Emily, and Luis along with her both jeopardizes the mission and will make it difficult for the trio to re-acclimate to the present, he fails to the consider that C.G.'s robotic crew cannot provide proper comaraderie to her, which could make it difficult for C.G. to reacclimate to being among humans in her time.
