The Future is Wild (2010)

200 Million Years: New World

The Endless Desert is set in the central desert of the new Pangea, 200,000,000 years into the future. At this point in the future, there are no mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians. The episode focusses on four species. Terrabyte - descendants of termites that live in massive air-conditioned underground cities where they farm algae. Each termite is built for a specific role. There are transporters, glue-spitters, diggers and other types too, which form a caste system. Gloomworm - a simple worm that is descended from a single type of bristleworm which survived the mass extinction. Slickribbon - a transparent creature with pincer jaws and a nasty sting. It appears to be descended from the same bristleworm as the Gloomworm. Garden Worm - another descendant of the bristleworm, the garden worm houses green algae in fleshy lobes that stick out like leaves from their backs. The algae convert sunlight into food to feed their host. With no rainfall reaching the middle of the single continent, the whole place has dried up. Patches of water are rare and in demand. Many of the animals here live in underground lakes and caves to get away from the heat of the desert.

The Global Ocean is set in the only ocean in the world, 200,000,000 years into the future. At this point in the future, there are no mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians. The episode focusses on four species. Rainbow Squid - although some cephalopods took to the land, this one did not. It is a massive squid which changes colour to hide. Ocean Flish - descendants of common fish like cod which have evolved to breathe out of water and have developed wings. Sharkopath - a descendant of sharks that have bio-luminescent patches on their sides to communicate with one another. Silverswimmer - descendants of plankton that have grown in size and evolved to fill the roles that fish previously held. There are many different species and they have different ways of life - some are predators, some are prey and some are scavengers. Since all the land is joined together, much like Pangea, there is only one ocean now as well. Some views from space show the Earth as just a blue circle now. This episode shows how weird things have got and, no matter what happens, life will continue to thrive in the oceans

Graveyard Desert is set in a rainshadow desert on the eastern side of Earth's only continent, 200,000,000 years into the future. Wedged between this desert and the Global Ocean is a series of very tall mountain ranges (which are comparable to the Andes in today's world) which are tall enough to block even the most powerful storms. At this point in the future, there are no mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians. The episode focuses on two species. Bumblebeetle - a species of insect that has been pushed to the edge of specialisation. They spend their lives searching for dead flish which are a good food source. Desert Hopper - a rabbit-sized snail that hops about on one muscular foot. They tend to bury themselves during the heat of the day and only come out at night. The episode also features Ocean Flish but these are not discussed in detail. (See the previous episode for details on this species). The desert has little food so the animals here must make use of what they can. During violent ocean storms, some ocean flish are thrown over the mountains and land in the desert where they die. Bumblebeetles spend their entire lives searching for these dead ocean flish so they can lay their young in them.

The Tentacled Forest is set in the northern jungle, 200,000,000 years into the future. At this point in the future, there are no mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians. The episode focuses on three species. Forest Flish - a smaller species of flish with hooks for feet so it can hang upside down to rest Megasquid - a four metre tall squid with rhino-like skin and three metre tentacles which patrols the forest. Its eight boneless legs are packed with muscles that act like bones. Squibbon - an arboreal species of squid with stereoscopic vision that could well be the next sapient life on the planet This forest is about the only place left on Earth where there is consistent rain and trees can grow. The trees here are lichen trees, descended from simple lichens. The forest is populated with a whole manner of creatures that would look out of place in our time. The episode shows how animals that were once aquatic have evolved to conquer the forests. It also suggests that the squibbon could become the next species to develop sapience and become the dominant force on planet Earth.