THE FUTURE IS WILD: A Natural History of the Future

In this clever and highly entertaining natural history of the future (and companion to the recent seven-part series on the Animal Planet cable channel), geologist and paleontologist Dixon and natural history television special-producer Adams imagine what life on Earth will be like over the next 200 million years. Using approximately 110 computer-generated illustrations of the planet's evolution, the authors fill this sprawling supercontinent, which they call Pangaea II, with amazing new creatures like the flying great blue windrunner, the oceanic sharkopath and the colossal forest-dwelling megasquid, which combines the body of an elephant with the tentacles of a squid and the face of Jabba the Hut from Star Wars. The creatures are presented with an amazing amount of detail; by imagining a living future, the authors, assisted by advisers in all areas of science, hope "to ensure that the plants and animals of our future worlds are viable, and could evolve from existing species in the time available." While some of the illustrations border on the cartoonish, the majority of them are quite realistic and will captivate the minds of children and young adults; the high quality of the research and writing in each provocative chapter clearly presents a great deal of scientific information in a way that will engage and challenge teenage and adult readers. (Jan.)