The Frontierman's Blog (Where We Talk About Random/Mundane Stuff)

What is Speculative Evolution?

Speculative evolution is something I am very fond of. It’s a subgenre of science fiction and a form of “fictional biology” that explores what the next possible stage of evolution is for a specific species or even ecosystem.

Some examples I can think of are “After Man” by author Dougal Dixon, “Expedition” by Wayne Barlowe, the Animal Planet mockumentary “The Future is Wild”, and the anthology book series “Tales of Kaimere” by Keenan Taylor, which is one of my favorite projects regarding speculative evolution.

To summarize those,

1. After Man is a book by Dougal Dixon that explores a hypothetical future where certain animals have evolved into unrecognizable species.

2. Expedition is a book by Wayne Barlowe that focuses on what life could look like on another planet.

3. The Future is Wild is an Animal Planet mockumentary (Fake documentary) that explores several different points in the future to show what different animals can evolve over the course of millions of years.

4. Tales of Kaimere is a fantasy anthology series set on the planet of Kaimere, where every fantastical concept, even down to how magic works, is explained in depth scientifically.

Why I love Speculative Evolution?

As someone who is really into sci-fi and fantasy, ESPECIALLY prehistoric animals and palaeontology, I am fond of these types of thought experiments. Especially, people’s different takes on how and what specific animals would evolve. For example, in Keenan Taylor’s “Tales of Kaimere”, a species known as the Komatu are rabbits that have evolved to be pursuit predators that hunt their prey.

Plus, I get to think outside the box and use actual science to explain how creatures from mythology could plausibly exist if they were real, like dragons. I imagine evolved dragons in one of two ways. One: They are descended from a type of dinosaur called “Yi qi”, a dinosaur with bat-like wings. Two: They are their own genus with their own species that evolved alongside the dinosaurs.

Honestly, I could go on and on and on about why I love speculative evolution, but we would genuinely be here forever.

Honestly, I am curious to hear from you guys: What do you think of speculative evolution and speculative fiction in general? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it soon.

See ya, Frontiermen, and stay good.

-Omer.