The Future is Wild: A Biology Fan Fiction | Billiam

"The Future is Wild" is a documentary-style miniseries speculating on how animals could continue to evolve! Speculative zoology! It's neat! It was based on the book, "After Man," by Dougal Dixon! it's all weird!
It wasn't produced by the Discovery Channel! That was a mistake!
EyeWitness theme covered by Amie Waters ► / amiewatersmusic
Twitter ► / billiamthies
Instagram ► / billiamthies

[@billiam]

Hey if you see this comment, share the video with someone somewhere 👀

[@samgreer6643]

hey love your stuff was wondering if you could do a review on shinzo?

[@Emotibeast]

But WHAT about the hopping snail

[@dutchlane2681]

I don’t even need a reminder to share these videos, I pretty much always send it to my brother so we can stumble down memory lane together

[@TheTattoodmama]

Ok I'll will this is a secret .(･-･)

[@roboslaya7890]

No

[@danstiver9135]

Watching this as a child, the mere idea that the last surviving mammals would be enslaved by giant spiders gave me a sense of existential dread that I had never felt before.

[@mlgodzilla4206]

It was,like it gave a feeling that the powerful lineage of mammals would go out not with a bang but with a whimper

[@dinosaurusrex1482]

That's the part that feels the most unrealistic to me

[@mlgodzilla4206]

Dinosaurus Rex tbh like there had to be a reason why only one was left,there could’ve been at least a few derived forms somewhere in the world

[@WoodCock76]

That's why pikmin future is better

[@JellyAntz]

@@dinosaurusrex1482 ya birds ARE THE DINOSAURS STILL ALIVE TODAY and mammals are the only synapsids alive today and our distant relatives were dimetrodon and gorgonopsids but our lineages are still around and dominant.

[@sunglassesskeleton]

Watching renowned biologists describe their DeviantArt original species with the same enthusiasm as actual DeviantArt kids is very wholesome

[@castlewhite1577]

Stephen Hawking must be one hell of a deviantart kid.

[@conanhighwoods4304]

You have good taste in profile pics.

[@theonlybilge]

@@castlewhite1577 Stephen Hawking was a physicist.

[@appalachiabrauchfrau]

speczoo is just closed species jfc thanks for making me realize that

[@funnyswangoosething5088]

Spec Zoo community is honestly hilarious because anything that DEVIATES a single bit from reality will make them get out their biology PHD and says why that is unrealistic even though things in the past and things now have the traits of the fictional creature.

[@Spookybluelights]

"My childhood was more than just Digimon!" Proceeds to talk about fictional monsters that are made entirely digitally.

[@jurassician3725]

They are animals you fool.

[@Andresfin]

@@jurassician3725 the ones in the books don't exist. I think that was the point. 😂

[@gabrieltallent1658]

@@Andresfin Of course they're animals, they just ain't here yet. Imagine it, you, me, we're on tiny xenomorph horse, megasquid waging war on the vent heads in the distance.

[@JamesonMcLeod]

@@jurassician3725 what do you think the difference is?

[@Vexin980]

@@JamesonMcLeod Art style

[@oni5963]

Hearing “remember those squids for later” awoke so many memories of what this show was about lol

[@craniifer]

My local Library has Man After Man. All knowledge, no matter how cursed, must be written.

[@vince6252]

OMG! Lucky you. No $800 shelling out for you. Haha, cursed.

[@loonardtheloonard]

Scan it. Scan. This. This cursed tome must be brought upon the world and people

[@tanookietoons]

Do not share this cursed knowledge, the universe will never be ready for that

[@thechickenwhosits]

There's a book called all tomorrows by C.M. Kösemen which is the most cursed work of speculative biology. Just google the books name if you're prepared

[@adenowirus]

From what I've heard Man After Man wasn't really Dixon's idea. His original concept for the third book was less cursed, but way more depressing. Basically humans were to return from their space colonies to the world from the original After Man. The book would then describe how they wrecked the ecosystem again and all those fantastical creatures from the first book are now dead or on the verge of extinction. On the subject of what we've got instead, It should be noted that while the first two books are speculative evolution the third one is pure (and not particularly hard) science fiction. It's still very enjoyable, just don't expect a scientific explanation of described events. The HTML version of Man After Man used to be hosted on Sivatherium website (a webpage about speculative biology) but was since removed. An older version of Sivatherium can still be viewed through WayBack Machine tho.

[@Myr642]

That CGI intro of going through a museum just slammed me back to middle school

[@yuzzem64]

The eyewitness tapes were a huge part of my childhood too probably why the ocean used to creep me out a little as a kid lol

[@dutchlane2681]

When I started reflexively singing along I felt possessed

[@shinbeet.5708]

Sent me back to primary school XD

[@akatuski420davis6]

For real.

[@SuperRat420]

They used to put it on towards the end of the year again when we were im high school and the class went NUTS

[@wendymccoy1093]

This looks like someone played Spore and liked it so much they made a show about their creations.

[@brainimpediment]

now im inspired to make these in spore omg, ,, , ,

[@sc7700]

Bruh Animal planet even had a special feature for Spore while marathoning this show; That's actually how I first got into that game.

[@AltairBlue]

@@sc7700 w a i t w o t

[@gkish0328]

I like your profile pic.

[@wendymccoy1093]

@@sc7700 HOLY HELL

[@ScarabD]

Ya know, the thing that always puzzled me about The Future is Wild was the fact they got such a variety of scientists to examine the possible Speculative Zoological advancement of the planet... And the best name they could come up with for a future flying fish/bird thing was "Flish".

[@re1010]

Look, the brain cell budget was all allocated to the biology R&D.

[@JinStreams]

Scientists are not renowned for their creativity

[@samwallace6708]

funnily enough, look at the names of modern animals scientists have come up with. Theres a running joke in science, specifically biology related fields, that scientists are not creative at all when it comes to naming things

[@Randerson2409]

Speculative Biology is genuinely kind of a fun rabbit hole to fall down

[@BIacklce]

Just compile all the gen 1 pokedex entries and you get a similar effect

[@DJWeapon8]

Pokemon and Monster Hunter come to mind

[@teawrecks1243]

especially when you get to projects like Serina where even the most ridiculous idea is built up in such a detailed lore that it actually seems believeable, like evolving guppies into sapient tripedal deer-rabbits with rotating jaws and prehensile antlers that are actually ears

[@hhoop3876]

All tomorrow's and the after trilogy are also rad

[@Dshortyviper]

@@hhoop3876 all tomorrows is so good

[@spaceycarchasey6656]

billiam, as a goof: they got WILLIAM GILLY me, a zoologist: 👀 oh shit

[@TotosTales]

me, not a zoologist, just someone who was weirdly obsessed with squid for a while: Oh wow 👀

[@RD1R]

Is his nickname squidbillie?

[@winggweeps]

Is.... Is he good? lol.

[@Red-yt2dk]

No really, is Dr. Gilly a big deal?

[@JackieMReacts]

@@Red-yt2dk yeah, looks like he studied how sea creature neurology works, like in starfish

[@schizokonoko]

nobody: Prof. William F. Gilly: "so this is my Original Character his name is Megasquid and hes like an elephant but hes a squid and he can eat anything and make Noise with his Sack and hes the strongest terrestrial squid who ever existed and also he could beat Goku"

[@RepKyle95]

I wonder what would happen if someone actually approached him and asked him who would win in a fight

[@christianboustani8284]

I could not stop laughing during the entire mega squid segment

[@vantablack6288]

the megasquid arc hits harder in the manga

[@averymartin1327]

Distinguished professor: this is my fursona, doughnut steal.

[@tsarmikislav938]

Actually all of the creatures in future is wild were apearently designed by Dixon himself Can we just add a new catagory in fanfiction.net called scientific fanfics

[@kovulover]

Hearing you mention Man After Man is hilarious to me because of how hard All Tomorrows is going off I'd LOVE to hear your take on All Tomorrows if you've taken a peek at that work of speculative evolotionary fiction

[@Seruphin]

I loved Alt Shift Xs video on All Tomorows, got my mind intrigued. Thought the same thing when I saw Man after Man too.

[@tnttiger3079]

Tbh, AT isn't as much biological as it is anthropological- it's more a polemic about how 'humanity' can be found in all walks of life, represented in literal alien forms of humans.

[@reeeeeee4831]

"to get a copy it is gonna set you back about 800 dollars" me, who has a copy of this book laying on my bookshelf: 👁👄👁

[@MauZangetsu]

Welp, guess you'll have a backup plan if you go broke

[@generik7414]

It's weird, because you can get a pdf of it pretty easily.

[@zerochrome85]

laughs in PDF rip

[@MauZangetsu]

People, the ORIGINAL PRINTED BOOK has the value, not the content of said book 🤦‍♂️

[@generik7414]

@@MauZangetsu well that's dumb

[@akasakikawasaki1890]

"That snail hops" has such good comedic timing

[@kasuraga]

I love that the future is wild is a periodically update thing. Like, years from now people are gonna find this shit on the internet and be like "Wow, these ancient idiots thought we'd have squids ruling the world" and then the roach people will laugh.

[@casper6405]

We all know penguins are gonna rule the earth

[@kaical8273]

Realisticly when humans go extinct just about every other living thing will too. Probably not including most insects maybe a very small portion of sea life and microorganisms

[@brandonlyon730]

@@kaical8273 That seems no different then other mass extinctions that happened over hundreds of millions of years. One mass extinction long even before the dinosaurs existed yet had killed off 90% of all life on earth and yet after that in a long period of time life eventually recovered, diversified, and prospered again.

[@kaical8273]

@@brandonlyon730 well the way humans are if we do go extinct it was most likely cause of a catisclismic event or we did it to our selves. If we did it to ourselves that would probaly mean we've our selves killed a unpresidented amount of species and have polluted to the point that the wavering tempatures just kill of trillions of migratory animals. Cause frankly besides things like bacteria and insects as a species we're extremely hardy. Also you have to realise st this point earth is pretty old and it has been on a decline resource wise slowly but surely. And the fact humans have had almost the most influence on all loving things on this planet in the world. There's alot if factors that makes humans going extinct and huge dinosaurs that needed extremely high food and energy cost and lived in a time where they were essentially roided cause of all the extra heat and oxygen. Frankly I'm saying something that took out the dinosaurs wouldn't be as effective against humans or most modern animals.

[@dudejoe24]

@@kaical8273 how would that be any different than a meteor flash evaporating the ocean and killing off the dinosaurs

[@leviroch]

My favourite thing about Dougal Dixon is his constant perspective that rodents, mustilids and bats will always be the most successful mammals lol. . . Like he just refuses to let that go

[@walrusArmageddon]

I have a theory that the animals we hate or find annoying are the ones that'll be the most sucessful, frigging mosquitos have been around since the dawn of time along with alligators

[@leviroch]

@@walrusArmageddon well just think of the word 'vermin'. What are vermin other than animals we find difficult to control, and if WE, the most badarse species at killing shit that has ever existed on this planet, find it difficult to control something? That kind of be default makes those animals unbelievably adaptive and tenacious.

[@Gemnist98]

Honestly, beyond us humans, he may be right.

[@MinatheRaichu]

To be fair, small mammalians have survived extinction after extinction. The logic kinda checks out

[@BiRios]

Mammals “began” with rodents, and thus shall “end” with rodents.

[@brycevo]

The Future is Wild was so wild. I remember, it even managed to spin off an animated kids show. I miss old Discovery Channel

[@GunmetalGator]

I thought it was the show he was reviewing

[@robertflores9917]

Gunmetal Gator so did I

[@rawrdino7046]

is that the one where a girl travels in time to find a place for her people to live cause in her time its freezing over or something?

[@majorRedelitE]

@@rawrdino7046 you are correct

[@amberwingtundrawing776]

@@GunmetalGator same i was especially confused bc i never watched the cartoon lol

[@clowTM]

My first thought "was this the thing with the land squids that can use tools?" These people predicted Splatoon.

[@thefancyconspiracist6257]

Dang I just made a comment about this

[@匚尺丂乇-k3v]

Biblaridion fan?

[@coleG112]

I LOVED this series as a kid tbh. It wasn't trying to be tricky or deceptive, it wasn't trying to be anything crazy, it was just scientists and creatives exploring the future together

[@adrammelechthewroth6511]

I still love it and I'm 32.

[@jaysonklein6018]

@@adrammelechthewroth6511 i still love it and I'm almost 39.

[@jart1984]

​@@jaysonklein6018 i still love it and im on my deathbed

[@noahkarpinski1824]

​@@jart1984I still love it even though humanity went extinct centuries ago

[@johnnodwarf1201]

I’m a few weeks old writing this from the womb and I also love it

[@blackheart_1852]

Scientists talking about their hypothetical future species is like a writer talking about their OCs and I think it's absolutely adorable

[@dionysusleon2033]

After watching ‘the future is wild’ I could never see splatoon in the same light again.

[@Drawceress]

It's the prequel

[@lucidlullaby894]

Hearing a studious old man say “...Flish...” sent me into a laughing fit Ok, you have a chance to put your future-world animal oc into the show, and you choose _Flish?_

[@kronemerj]

Time travel.

[@aitipsea3909]

Let's not forget the subspecies *F O R E S T F L I S H*

[@makeshift307]

The part where they ask if they can make an after man documentary and billiam personifies them by simply saying “no” was what got to me

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

@@makeshift307 man after man is absurdly cursed. I love it.

[@RokuroCarisu]

My mom picked it up, and refers to flocks of small, fast-flying birds as "flish" since.

[@clutzykanine]

This is literally just those professors elaborate fanfiction about the future

[@wafflefalafel9442]

@@LittleMissInvisible The Kheifah and the Striger actually had an enemies to lovers relationship. There was smut in chapter 6. I, personally, did not ship it.

[@GGchannel1025]

All Speculative Evolution is just fanfiction about real life.

[@scottpeltier3977]

MMM I think the toreton and the mega squid had a bit of a dramatic romance arc

[@kaical8273]

I think it kind of dived into more possibility instead of the details of why it couldn't happen. Which is kind of what science is until a certain point.

[@ell6470]

That’s literally what speculative biology is

[@VictorbrineSC]

The Future is Wild is literally inspiring, especially when I was a kid, it may be uncanny in ways but it literally is amazing and imaginative. Heck I am developping an idea of a future world with butterflies that hunt, dragon looking creatures that evolved from sharks, birds that have achieved human intelligence and start a civilization and giant plesiosaur looking bird whales.

[@wannabewyvern]

Yooo that sounds really cool, I’d love to see some of the creatures of your world.

[@KFrost-fx7dt]

But why? Why not just write fantasy? This is not scientific!

[@gwendalynnwatkins1296]

@@KFrost-fx7dt you're not scientific

[@ObeyKwat0z]

@@KFrost-fx7dt Probably a Combo of Both.

[@daiymohermitaurenjoyer9160]

@K. Frost did the commenter ever say they were gonna be scientifically accurate? They just said there idea

[@stoneprevious4294]

2004: "Oh, wow, the future is wild!" 200,000,2004: "How did they not know that Land Squids would have feathers?"

[@jaysonklein6018]

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

[@NathanHorton-yq4uj]

200,002,004*

[@kerocz3363]

I knew there was something weird lol

[@imjustaguy4340]

Lolll

[@acrohasatablespoon1408]

Can we just appreciate the fact that the Poggle is called a Poggle

[@Am_Yeff]

Poggle's in chat

[@nicolasrocha4824]

it curses my mind that poggle is literally a hampter

[@PunchCounterpunch_Lizzy]

@@nicolasrocha4824 it’s a very efficient body plan, and since it lives in caves it has large eyes to see in low light conditions

[@JoetheDilo1917]

@@PunchCounterpunch_Lizzy in other words, hampter

[@charmyzard]

Future pog

[@thdenwheja756]

"The Future is Wild" is biology DnD. Change my mind.

[@richardcollins5189]

i wont

[@richardcollins5189]

its perfect

[@jonahjohnwayne]

Some of the creatures would make pretty good encounters though.

[@Bluecho4]

I, for one, am amenable to including any or all of these horrid monstrosities in my DnD campaign. I can do it, and no one can stop me!

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

@@Bluecho4 do a Man after Man campaign as well.

[@daisyelizabeth5462]

i love billy hyping up the scientists from the show, it always makes me smile. i have no clue who they are or what half of their fields are but im so here for them. you go dr. gily, you funky squid man, i love you and your giant turtle dr linley

[@williamhowland9977]

"if you don't recycle, we'll end up with walrus-sized penguins" is not the way to motivate anyone to recycle

[@marccamp6376]

So damn right :P

[@DisasterLord]

Let the thicc penguins rule the earth.

[@ell6470]

Let’s pollute more so we get the thicc boiz faster

[@brandonlyon730]

It’s to bad most things in Recycling is not really environmentally or economically efficient. Metals and organic compost are really the only things valuable to recycle, recycling paper and plastic is not at all.

[@tsarmikislav938]

Those are walrus sized ganets

[@javim5328]

about the After Man anime: apparently there's no anime, that "intro" was just a short music video aired in a TV block featuring several animated shorts. The singer is Nami's voice actress from One Piece!

[@frankwest5388]

No matter how great Oda’s writing might or become, she will never reach those heights in her career again.

[@donteatglass3472]

@@frankwest5388 Just wait until we find out the final villain has the Squid Squid fruit Model: Megasquid

[@GenericProtagonist118]

Reject Humanity, Abandon Monke, BECOME SKUIDD

[@alicemation]

Become inkling

[@Type75Advance]

@@alicemation woomy

[@jigniishvids9181]

No,monke forever

[@wikansaktianto9215]

Cthulhu won

[@ThePhantomSafetyPin]

The squids BECAME the kids.

[@marielangelavelasquez2783]

It is also heart warming how you talk about how fun this series is and how you watched it over and over as a kid.😊 Fellow scifi fan here. 👋

[@scotthoran6809]

So you’re telling me Splatoon is scientifically accurate

[@oualidbro.c6196]

No because the splatoon characters look like they're literally humans with some cephalopod traits.

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@oualidbro.c6196 Many cephalopods have the ability to alter the texture of their skin and the shape of their bodies. Splatoon characters actually change shape between large squids and a humanoid form which is achieved by altering the length, thickness, and color of their bodies. It's a bit cartoonishly exaggerated but based on real biology. Also, it was a joke, calm down.

[@oualidbro.c6196]

@@OtakuUnitedStudio I am calm, I wasn't really mad or anything the joke just flew over my head.

[@allianceofkings362]

@@oualidbro.c6196 ...i'm sorry i cant resist... r/whoosh

[@oualidbro.c6196]

@@allianceofkings362 What, this is youtube stop linking subreddits.

[@eeveeextreme]

"Nobody's eating this big turtle!" And that's how whales got so big. Their natural predators died out. I still have the DVDs of this, I love crazy evolution sh*t like this. And also dinos

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

Not actually, the Lyviathan was almost as long as a Megalodon and it was bigger in mass, and it was at the time, the biggest whale alive

[@croc_moat2327]

Same thing,dude:)

[@dismurrart6648]

I know a biologist and we have an entire future bio au where octopi basically have reached the stone age

[@Bruh-hq1hx]

I have the book

[@darkranger116]

Billiam has some serious "angry drunk uncle who cant let go of 2004" vibes in this one lol

[@Arsenicsquirrel]

He looks sick I'm worried ☹️

[@FeralUmbreon21]

He could have went pro if the coach put him in the fourth quarter

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

Oh you mean every millennial including me? :/

[@Eeveelover]

Lots of White Claw and Truly. Lol

[@jauhuanna819]

We're approaching 30, we are that uncle

[@PROTAsoloproject]

As a career researcher, it is my life goal to receive the sort of enthusiastic introduction that you gave to Doctors Aviles, Tiffney, and GIlly.

[@ChrimsonFoxdon]

"I realized that not everyone grew up watching nature documentaries and now just rewatch PBS Eons every night with Hank Green" THAT STATEMENT WAS WAY TOO CLOSE TO HOME

[@androidmk5987]

That's me

[@thegloriousdipshit4274]

Hank green is like the new Bill Nye and I love him [That's not to say that I'm denying all the great work Nye is doing right now, it just doesn't hit the same because of his disappointment with humanity]

[@mareksicinski3726]

when did he say it?

[@lambeflores]

I always felt bad watching this when they say "the last mammal" and I got legit really sad about it forgetting its not real...

[@dinosaurusrex1482]

Pfft, mammals going extinct, like that'll ever happen

[@JellyAntz]

@@dinosaurusrex1482 dinosaurs still alive as birds so mammals aint leavin

[@mareksicinski3726]

why would you get sad, it is individuals that havmora import

[@Newbmann]

Should have been more like the last rodent. Or something like that Or the last thing we would classify as a mammal but most have evolved into something radically different like instead of having fur they have pterosaur pycnofibers something along those lines.

[@Newbmann]

Also its called POG GLES how could you be sad about a creature called POG gles.

[@Heroism4499]

When I was 12 I watched a show on Discovery called something akin to "The Last Dragons" and it was an hour and a half of "so if Dragons were real, they'd need to do this to survive" like breath only Hydrogen and eat Platinum in order to breath fire. They didn't state "hey, this isn't real" so my 11 year old brain thought that Dragons were legit.

[@onenerd9573]

Oh man, I remember that! I haven't thought about that in years!

[@sol-leksthewolf5854]

It’s called Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real! It’s originally from Animal Planet.

[@thewingedporpoise]

incredible documentary

[@aussiepuppet5250]

The exact same thing happened to me, but the only dragon I can vaguely remember is this green-is one that lived in a swamp.

[@simplesimply3753]

I remember something like that too. I legit thought dragons were real and that humans killed them off cause that’s what we do.

[@petersmith9138]

Subtle background music joke using Professor Sycamore’s theme when he’s the Mega Evolution Pokémon professor

[@unknown_k55]

Thank you, omg. I was going crazy trying to figure out from which Pokemon game was that music- like, I've heard it before, but where???

[@Raptorworld22]

I want "Man After Man" to be in print again, I would love to share the cursed origin of the "Season's Greason's" Image.

[@BG_NC]

Underrated comment

[@jaysonklein6018]

Also, "The Tic" lol

[@thoughtfuldevil6069]

It probably never will be. Dixon hated it, and referred to it as a 'disaster.'

[@TitansTracks]

Man After Man by Dougal Dixon, All Tomorrow's by Nemo Ramjet and Wayne Barlowe's Expedition are my favourite book by far. And like dude I never read books, but I was hooked on these 3. I can't get enough of speculative evolution! 💎

[@tomurashigaraklilbeanboi]

yeah but I want a movie just like this it would be so scary and funny at the same time XD

[@lucasstr5653]

I remember renting this to my local library and thinking "I too want to make custom species"

[@StarMechV]

Wait...are you telling me that The Future is Wild is actually the prequel OVA to Splatoon?

[@hunterv9983]

Holy Fuck. You are right! Those fucking squids evolved.

[@brainimpediment]

RARE splatoon CGI OVA (FOUND)

[@JadeFoxAlpha]

This was awesome. These scientists really love their science OCs.

[@mothmanisthebest7404]

19:47 The thing about cephalopods being the next humans is basically the origin of Splatoon.

[@maxthexpfarmer3957]

This is actually the deep Splatoon lore.

[@djprincegrandmasteryrjdalo2905]

And what makes it even crazier was that according to the development of Splatoon the ideas of how Splatoon came to V were all out of coincidence it was all picked out of like a random raffle basket so the fact that these two separate franchises in entities were based off of the same ideas in origins it’s just crazy to me…

[@komodoguy152]

I was looking for someone else who thought this

[@CybersteelEx]

@@komodoguy152 divergent evolution

[@inklovemail]

@@djprincegrandmasteryrjdalo2905 the squid choice was intentional that was not raffled

[@prettyprettydeath]

I was a huge fan of After Man and the Future is Wild as a kid, still am. I remember telling my best friend about how I saw a documentary that said squids might swing on trees in the future. She said "are you sure that wasn't a dream you had?"

[@Awesome_Pichu]

We need a final documentary to completely the trilogy, Driving with Dinosaurs.

[@wikansaktianto9215]

Zooming with Dinosaurs.

[@jah24car]

Flying with dinosaurs,

[@thewingedporpoise]

@@jah24car ahhh, the modern day one

[@LazyQahnaarin]

As a child, I always liked to imagine that these guys got together, slammed down a few beers and shots, started making up this shit in a drunken haze, and came up with the science afterwards. I love it.

[@dingdongbells3314]

Walking With Dinosaurs made me cry during the tragic ending as a kid- No, I'm not talking about the mass extinction- What really got to me is the part where it talked about a momma dinosaur dying, and its defenseless young hanging around the corpse like, "Uhh... what do we do?" Until they starved to death too :(

[@jackietang3789]

WWD had so many sad moments i.e Big AI's death, Liopleurdon beaching itself and suffering a slow painful death, the T Rex Babies being killed off by the asteroid after their mother died only moments prior, Ornithocheirus dying without ever getting another mate (the narration for that specific scene makes it even more depressing) 😔

[@brendanlogue5665]

Wwd had some heartbreaking scenes. But the ending of walking with beasts where you see all the animals in the series in a museum zooming out to see the earth.

[@maririntsw1517]

Me: I wonder what animal is gonna evolve to be the next sentience species, dogs? dolphins? Scientists: G I A N T E A R T H S Q U I D

[@q-miiproductions878]

Splatoon agrees.

[@gerrardjones28]

FLISH

[@Anon26535]

Squid people, or "squeople".

[@firemanloiroxd]

*bass boosting giant earth squid

[@M259-u3c]

The terrestrial MEGA SQUID

[@ianhammock4564]

Bruh, you had a physical copy?!? I saw rerun of it when I was 11 and spent the next eight years convinced I had imagined the whole thing.

[@wight2211]

I also had a physical copy growing up! My brother really liked walking with dinosaurs and some of the other dinosaur shows so we ended up with a lot of stuff like this.

[@sarahtelles1931]

You are not crazy Ian and this is the proof it existed.

[@forestskilbred9461]

BRO I KNOW NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT

[@SporeDemigod]

ngl, some of my proudest possessions are physical copies of this series and the "Walking with ..." collection. Got them both as gifts back in middle school when the (physical) Discovery stores were still around.

[@tatehildyard5332]

The same thing happened to me when I saw that episode of The Golden Girls where they go to Soviet Russia. Then a professor played a clip of it to set up a lecture and I nearly lost my dam mind

[@emdoubleyew3788]

You embodied a scientist perfectly- lots of alcohol and generally asking “what the HELL is going on!!???” With each new discovery!!

[@Darkfortune629]

God the Eyewitness video montage made me smile so hard. I've never seen this before but I got super into it, the bad cgi, the scientists getting really excited over their made up animals, and the actual science going into it. Was awesome seeing you go into it and branching out more into other cool things that you experienced as a kid. Would love to see you do a whole video on the Eyewitness ones. The transitions they have with that white museum going into the paintings and models was like way ahead of it's time in coolness.

[@londoncintron680]

I’m loving that you’re taking a step into the world of documentaries, maybe discuss Dinosaur Planet one time

[@cassidyszewczyk5029]

Wasn't that the name of the game that became Star Fox Adventures?

[@Kbwtor19]

This mockumentary foreshadowed the Avatar creature craze of 2010.

[@PunchCounterpunch_Lizzy]

The avatar creatures were designed by a great artist named Wayne Barlow who wrote The Expedition. That book inspired a special on animal plant called Alien planet about a simulated mission to a fictional planet called Darwin IV

[@aitipsea3909]

@@PunchCounterpunch_Lizzy WOAH WOAH WOAH The same guy who created Sea Striders, Eosapiens and Gyrosprinters made the creatures of Pandora? WHY ARE THEY SO UNIMAGINATIVE THEN?! They are usually just earthish creatures, the ones on Darwin IV were truly alien

[@PunchCounterpunch_Lizzy]

@@aitipsea3909 minus the na’vi the aliens of avatar are actually pretty scientifically accurate to what alien life could look like.

[@xc809]

@@aitipsea3909 Well the na'vi are human-like because that makes them easier to emphasize with to the average person. I don't think the average movie go-er would get to attached too the mc if he looked like a gyrosprinter.

[@ratillecebrasquedubitantiu4451]

I love how you spoke about the scientists sarcastically, but in their fields they are superstars

[@lazyurchin]

Weird underground rat thing: dies Spiders: POGGLES

[@pokemonfanmario7694]

Spiders then get cancelled on twitter for inciting violence

[@Penguin_nerd__]

Hi penguin?

[@logangleed]

SHUSH😭😭😭

[@hondaaccord1399]

*POGGLE POGGERS*

[@stevenandersen6989]

@@pokemonfanmario7694 I feel like PoggleChamp could be used to honor the late Pog Champ

[@Bosschoice95]

“The POGgle”. How this isn’t a meme yet, is beyond me.

[@bluesteno64]

Please make this, someone please-

[@kieranmilner4208]

Poggers

[@liquidsandwich1052]

Poggles in chat

[@unrightist]

"Flish" always stuck with me

[@45nyron]

"In the future all clothing is soy based, i could eat my boots if i wanted to"- the only line i remember from the future is wild kids cartoon

[@aitipsea3909]

I actually remember an episode where the animal b story was about the Amazonian terror birds and one of them it's like comforting the other like "bro, you failed once but now we got chu fam, let's go be the murderous bastards we were born to be k?" and I thought it was real wholesome

[@Crabeman16]

Its wild that this vid is 3 years old, i honestly remember it like it was yesterday. Big thanks for making this video as it was an introduction to speculative Zoology!

[@vampireinsomniac2251]

Wait, you're telling me that cheesy cartoon I loved as a kid wasn't a strange fever dream?

[@liamc.h.2691]

Welcome to the Club. XD

[@Greyheart67]

OMG SAME!!! 🤣🤣🤣 Honestly for the longest while I couldn’t find it anywhere so I just generally assume it was some kind of fever dream too! 😅

[@ACT8113]

Awkward fact: cg was Mai first waifu back in high school

[@TheSpearkan]

I can't stop laughing at the long-snooted lion presentation.

[@mr.poohmakes2041]

You’re laughing now but won’t be when a lion can bite you from 2 feet away

[@wikansaktianto9215]

@@mr.poohmakes2041 Long Ranged Lion..so..the lion becomes Venus Flytrap?

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

In the words of Futurama's title captions: "You can't prove it won't happen!" Although, many scientists nowadays think some of the future animals (or at least certain elements of some animals) are a bit too outlandish. Animals like the Spink (the "mole-rat bird"), Desert Hopper (the "snail-kangaroo") & the Toraton (the Godzilla-sized Tortoise) just to name a few species with problems... Though many scientists are still fans, even if there are some issues with the show. Just like how Walking with Dinosaurs is outdated, but still enjoyable. Fun Fact: Dougal Dixon has a strange obsession with naked mole-rats. To the point of including some kind of naked mole-rat like animal in most of his works.

[@eliburry-schnepp6012]

Yeah, the Toraton would be impossible b/c of how tortoises breathe compared to dinosaurs

[@Nick-zn1vj]

What episode PLEASE????

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

@@Nick-zn1vj "Obsoletely Fabulous" S4 Ep14

[@SollowP]

One of my absolute favorite "Walking With Dinosaurs" serie was the Sea Monsters Trilogy. I can honestly attribute just that series to my fascination of sea monsters now, fiction or real ones.

[@JokerJQKA]

I remember seeing The Future is Wild when I was a kid and falling in love with it. The windrunner, a six-winged bird, was legitimately one of my favorite animals for a time. I had OCs based on a lot of these animals or that used weapons inspired by them. Then a few years later, I found the book version and it was like finding it for the first time. Reading through it reawakened all of that. THEN a few years after that I found the cartoon (I believe it was on the Hub), but unfortunately it just...never seemed to be on aside from the one time I found it. Now, a few years after that, I'm learning there's a manga? And talks of an updated remake and/or VR experience? Sign me the hell up.

[@tzlawnszarcone3322]

As someone who lives off of speculative zoology, The Future Is Wild is a godsend

[@mlgodzilla4206]

Bruh we need a new series

[@OnyxXThePunch]

@@mlgodzilla4206 facts

[@velocipastor676]

@@mlgodzilla4206 l heard that they're considering making a remake for HBO max

[@mlgodzilla4206]

@@velocipastor676 where’d you get that info?

[@velocipastor676]

@@mlgodzilla4206 Wikipedia

[@Darth_Melek]

The reason why I love this channel so much is because most of things that Billiam talks about from his childhood are the same things that I experienced as well. His whole channel is just one big nostalgia trip everytime I watch his content and I wish people appreciated that more

[@deerecoyote2040]

God that Eyewitness theme makes me so nostalgic. When I was little, my mom took me to the local library every week, and I always got one of the Eyewitness documentaries on DVD to watch at home. I watched all of them multiple times, and that theme gives me chills. I absolutely love it!

[@animeninjayaya]

The Future Is Wild just sounds like a out of control DND campaign.

[@isaiahmendivil3835]

Big Squid is my favorite Ranger companion

[@timothymclean]

I now want to run a D&D campaign in that universe. Which is gonna be tricky because they don't have elves. ...though this dies remind me of an idea I had when I was a kid that squibbons might evolve into illithids. The big tentacles turn into arms and legs, the vestigial tentacles become the mouth tentacles, it gets smarter, and I guess a torso and cerebromorphosis come from somewhere?

[@Ramash440]

Holy shit I recognize that Man After Man thing, that's where that "There must be more to life than this" meme with the 2 big apes fighting comes from.

[@RockLikeABoss]

It's also the source of the "Season's Greetings" meme

[@SugarVampieArts]

Seasons Greasons

[@perhapsahuman7213]

no joke, I'd watch a whole series of Billiam explaining basic evolutionary science that I forgot about from school

[@Boggythefroggy]

As a biotech grad and also just bio nerd, the science break made me realize people don’t know these things lmao - also just was going to say that convergent evolution can also be figured out through genetics. Fun example of convergent evolution of mine are hummingbirds and hummingbird hawk moths, moths that drink flower nectar with a butterfly like probuscis and look really similar to hummingbirds. Anywho, great video!!

[@cait7470]

Had a dream with the animated show version of the megasquid months ago and couldn't remember what it was. thank you for reminding me of his existence

[@PunchCounterpunch_Lizzy]

If you wanna watch the animated series it’s on Tubi for free

[@ChaozAgent]

Professor William Gilly is a legend for giving us the mega squid.

[@Vailskibum]

thanks for the lecture, Professor B

[@tsarmikislav938]

Shut up Mr Boring

[@frostbitetheannunakiiceind6574]

@@tsarmikislav938 rude

[@frostbitetheannunakiiceind6574]

Hi Vail

[@onlychrisallthetime]

@@tsarmikislav938 you realize he was complimenting him right🤦🏽‍♂️

[@robertoazuaje9279]

I watched two episodes of this back in 2004, I think. The only thing I remembered clearly from it was the giant terrestrial squid. I was like 5 years old at the time, meaning that one of the earliest memories I can recall clearly is of a giant terrestrial squid on TV, thinking that was 100% how the animals of the future would look like.

[@barrybend7189]

What about Alien Planet? Aka the adaptation of Wain Barlow's Expedition? If you don't know Wain Barlow he designed the third space aliens from Babylon 5 movie third space.

[@TJones2013]

Barry Bend Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHusmJafnc6qaLs

[@barrybend7189]

@@TJones2013 yeah I know I own it on DVD.

[@AThousandSons1]

Yes yes yes!

[@Mariusioannesp]

Oh yeah that too. I Remember seeing that as well.

[@lizerdspherex]

Don't forget Hellboy, Pacific Rim, Avatar, and John Carter of Mars.

[@Dogy0909]

5:42 I expected the “Seasons Greasons” image when you mentioned Man After Man, but I didn’t expect it to be so subtle.

[@NoGoodNik1]

5:40 never in a million years would I think that THIS was the origin of the Seasons Greasons meme

[@edgytoucan3444]

ME TOO

[@katiasofiagonzales1235]

As an aspiring scientists fangirls over scientific journals and their authors I found his presentation of the scientific paper titles absolutely hilarious. I m sending the clip to my professors😂😂

[@anbuagent12]

This reminded me of all those old Discovery Kids cartoons i used to watch. Kid Tut, Kenny the Shark, and the best show don't @me, Time Warp Trio

[@jjrambles683]

Time Warp Trio was absolute fire!

[@rwiseart2269]

God I loved all of them, especially Time Warp Trio xD Also I think it was Tutenstein, not Kid Tut :)

[@takitaki202]

Time Warp Trio was/is god tier

[@skootergirl22]

I remember time warp trio since some of those shows aired on ITV in the UK or channel 4

[@raisumi7105]

Omg I be watching time warp trio on KZbin sometimes that show always got me into history

[@alexkuhn5078]

"Poggle, what did you do??" Poggle: "they took my stapler..."

[@Dragonkin7]

I'm convinced him & I had the same childhood. Thank you for reminding me of so many things I've forgotten!

[@SirPhysics]

This sounds a lot like Alien Planet, but in the future instead of on a distant planet. Both have very similar setups

[@MisterBones2910]

They are very similar, but I seem to remember this one having slightly higher production quality. The AI probe character bits in AP were charming, but kind of slowed the whole thing down a little; I think they just didn't have the same amount of ideas and having it all set in one general area and geological period might be partially to blame for that. Still loved both shows as a kid though.

[@michaelmurdock9856]

I could be wrong but I think Dougal Dixon worked on that too

[@Sara3346]

@@michaelmurdock9856 I can't remember but it was also based on a book and the book was written by Wayne Douglas Barlowe not not Dougal Dixon.

[@Finchyay]

“The series implies that the next sentient species is big brain squids.” So.... Vademon from Digimon?

[@Signedcentaur]

It's more Splatoon tbh

[@InfyFish]

*The digimon fans are rising again-*

[@turbothecat3811]

Yes

[@samuelpayne1563]

Holy crap this is real, I’ve always had vague memories of watching this thing when I was a little kid, but after not being able to find anything I had just about decided it was some sort of fever dream

[@давидцыгановский]

Man, I have the book! I begged my mom to buy it as a kid even though it was expensive as fuck in Russia, but I just couldn't get over how fucking cool those animals looked.

[@maxthexpfarmer3957]

@@давидцыгановский Yeah, I remember reading the book after I took it out from my elementary school's library. I had no idea that it was a show until now. My favorite was the huge siphonophore thing, though the photosynthetic centipede was cool, too.

[@scepticalhyenas5750]

I LOVE speculative biology and LOVE the "after man" & "all tomorrows" franchises, and honestly I'm a fan of the TFIW series too! But the cephaloparkour? Oh boy. Oh... oh boy.

[@jacobjerny7502]

As someone who grew up with a very similar obsession (albeit 1-2 generations after you) that into hit DIFFERENT

[@theburgerking1236]

I miss the most extreme tbh, that show was my jam as a kid

[@jaysonklein6018]

Same here.

[@sophiethegreat9]

same

[@LunaRyuugamine]

Same.

[@gadielgonzalez2755]

I'm pretty sure it's on KZbin for free.

[@ctusiard9755]

My friend and I loved The Most Extreme, we would make random top 10 in school like "top ten pranks" or "top 10 evil people at school".

[@mehhh8888]

I never thought I'd find so much enjoyment in watching a KZbinr with sparkling seltzer in his hand attempting to explain evolution. And as the nerd who became friends with my paleontologist professor years after graduating, I can confirm that yes, it is just a fancy way of saying "I like dinosaurs."

[@commander-fox-q7573]

*Mega Squid will return in Mega Squid 2: Electric Boogaloo*

[@tuckerwhite4164]

I haven't thought of the discovery channel store in at least 16 years

[@ThePigKnight]

I love how “drunker” and more unhinged Billiam gets.

[@kronemerj]

So anyway Thanos is back and he wiped out all the crocodiles....

[@ghostsospooky7017]

I also absolutely love to rewatch the Eons videos with Hank Green. I fall asleep to them quite often

[@vichobocho_archivo]

You know what strigers are implaing? cat girls in the future.

[@ripleyandweeds1288]

how do i delete somebody else's comment

[@tinaro3611]

the tree squids have lived rent free in my head for over a decade now. thank you for finally giving me context for this weird childhood memory.

[@tatertotsalad]

I remember watching this series as a kid and being so utterly disappointed when I found out that humans were going to be replaced by giant land squids. I expected more from evolution.

[@abbycollins]

At least Splatoon exists

[@kabobawsome]

The best part of the video is the genuine excitement and awe when he's talking about the very strong science staff the show had.