After Man: A Zoology of the Future by Dougal Dixon

Back in print for the first time in over a decade, and featuring a new introduction from the author and updates based on scientific discoveries made in the 37 years since its initial publication, this new edition of Dougal Dixon’s lavishly illustrated speculative zoology imagines the strange creatures that might evolve in a distant future after the extinction of man.

“Dougal Dixon has given himself the intriguing task of contemplating a future evolution on our own planet, closely based on species that exist at present. By waving a time-wand and eliminating today’s dominant species, including man, he has been able to watch, through his mind’s eye, the lesser animals gradually taking over as the major occupants of the earth’s surface.

Setting his scenario in the distant future, about 50 million years from now, he has given the members of his new animal kingdom time to undergo dramatic changes in structure and behaviour. But in doing this he has never allowed himself to become too outlandish in his invention. He has created his fauna of the future so painstakingly that each kind of animal teaches us an important lesson about the known processes of past evolution. By introducing us to fictitious examples of these factual processes, his book is not only great fun to read, but also has real scientific value” - from the introduction by Desmond Morris

“Uncannily believable. Dixon’s invented animals, some of them beautiful enough to live, engender reflection about the mysterious forces at work beneath the skin of real animals.” - The New York Times Book Review

“[Dixon’s] brief explanation of the principles of evolution is so lucid, and the detailed illustrations of futuristic beasts are so charming, that After Man is bound to captivate readers of all ages." - Chicago Sun Times