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Rating: 
Summary: Creative, educational, and just plain fun!
Review: "After Man" is one of the most engaging, creative books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. While one might think from its outlandish illustrations that it is a book for children, this is simply not the case. That's not to say a ten or eleven year old wouldn't enjoy this book, but there's plenty an adult can take away from it as well.Beginning with a basic review of the principles of biology and evolution, Dixon proceeds to apply them across a range of environments on an Earth 50 million years removed from mankind. The result is a menagerie of remarkable creatures. Remarkable in that they are frequently unique, even bizarre, but even more remarkable because they represent the result of a familiar creature's evolution. Dixon's world isn't a fantasyland, every creature in it holds true to the principles he so effectively explains in the first chapter. Moreover, they all fill an important ecological niche; he hasn't created 150 pages of carnivores. Rather, he presents a balanced, albeit limited, ecosystem that sheds light on the state of our own environment today. Beautifully illustrated and highly engaging, "After Man" is a must read for anyone interested in evolution and anthropology. Furthermore, this book is educational without being heavy handed. One by no means needs to be an expert to learn from and enjoy this very unique work.
Rating:
Summary: Evolution About 50 Million Years From Now
Review: According to Dougal Dixon in 50 million years man will be extinct. This certainly is a possibility. If this does not happen we certainly hope that man will have evolved away from war and greed. Based upon the life expectancy of our sun, the earth and evolutionary processes will be here for up to another 5000 million years.
Dixon does a masterful job of speculating how life forms will evolve over the next 50 million years. He presents detailed color drawings of the new life forms. His work is visionary and will help the reader form his own vision of the future.
Rating:
Summary: Never, EVER throw this into the trash can! This is cool!!!
Review: I bought my copy of this book in 1992 and not a day goes by since then that I haven't stopped imagining myself what the animals of the future world will look like. Unfortunately there aren't many scientists thinking about this side of zoology and evolution, so when I see a book about this kind of subject I snap it up like a flash! I was highly disappointed by Animal Planet's "The Future is Wild", but NOT this book! This book thrills me to no end. It only has a relatively few pages, but it has inspired a whole world of imagination for me! My favorite animals in this book is hands down the predatory rats. To look in this book is to view the "real" Age of Mammals in the way it should be. I refer everybody who views my webpage (about future mammal evolution) to this book, and I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful *and* Intelligent
Review: I've been sharing this book with my biology students as something to read when they're done with tests. It is an excellent tool for grasping the foundations of evolution. Dixon overviews the basics of evolutionary theory in clear and precise language at the beginning, and then provides amazingly beautiful (and in some cases, nightmarish) illustrations of what the future might hold for us. Or rather, not for us, since he posits that our species dies out, which is admittedly a little depressing. Similarly to Vonnegut's Galapagos, Dixon hypothesizes that a large brain might not actually be an evolutionary advantage, but rather a disadvantage. Through the disappearance of humanity he shows how our destruction of the environment is causing wholesale destruction of countless species, and causing damage to our own. It is only when our species disappears, and the earth has 50 million years to recover, that evolution can continue again. I love the drawings, particular of naked Sandsharks that look like something from the spice worms of Dune, Striger cats that have prehensile tails and grasping paws, Predator Rats, Swimming Monkeys, the penguin become 12 meter whale-like plankton-eating Vortex, Slobbers who catch insects with their slobber, and look like a marsupial bundle of moss, and bipedal walking screaming 1.5m tall bats, the Night Stalkers. Some of these ideas may sound outlandish- a good number of them certainly are. But the best part is Dixon gives solid evolutionary theory for how each would evolve, dictated by a changing environment and the raw material of previous genetic code. So we get classic island giganticism and the freedom of evolution on islands. We get the foreseeable continual development of symbiosis between antelopes and tick birds, such that now the tick birds nest in a special dorsal cleft on the antelope. And those animals that are the most successful today, such as the rodents, insectivores, and lagomorphs (especially rats and rabbits) are the ones with the greatest opportunity for diversity in the future. I would highly recommend this book for any student of evolution. It's not fact; it's simply based on sound theory. It's the best kind of science fiction, as it all could happen. It's certainly fiction, but more than fiction, as it will help you contemplate the foundational truths of evolution.
Rating: 
Summary: When we were all evolving brains, what was Dixon doing???
Review: If you like unimaginative phony crap you'll love this book. The proposed animals within this book are utterly stupid and improbable. An antelope that feels through the snow with its incredibly dumb looking antlers? A DIURNAL and TERRESTRIAL mammal that for some God-forsaken reason lacks eyes of any kind? Primates that don't evolve to fit man's niche, but instead take on the roles of otters and flying squirrels? The thing has got nonsense written all over it. The "future animals" proposed for this book were not well thought out and somebody, please find Mr. Dixon a liguist, and FAST! Some of the names he gives these future animals are so stupidly childish that they actually detract from a creature's plausibility. A vortex? A posset? What jerk scientist of the future is naming these things? Can he please be institutionalized? I admit the pictures were well done and pre-teen children would probably enjoy this immensely. I know I would've when I was 10 or 11, and there's nothing wrong with that, it's just that Dougal Dixon begins the book in a very advanced scientific way discussing food pryramids, chains of evolution, and ecological niches, but then converts to unscientific baloney around page 30. All in all, I just don't think it's cut out for people over the age of 12 or so, unless you are just looking for fun and imaginative creatures. But in that case, why restrict your mind with the laws of evolution? Why not pick up a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual or something like that with lots of mythological and imaginary creatures? I find that books intended to showcase the fantastic, do much better outside the realm of (somewhat-boring) science.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Good Fun
Review: It is a bit hard to categorize Dougal Dixon's AFTER MAN. It is an
"imaginary zoology" of the Earth 40 million years from now, after
humanity dies out in a massive environmental disaster, and sits on the
fine edge between science and science fiction. All the large predators and most of the large herbivores died out with
*homo sapiens*. More resilient creatures expanded into new
ecological niches. Rats formed the basis of the primary predator
group, resulting in forms much like wolves, bears, and saber-toothed
cats, with little resemblance to modern rats except in dentition.
Rabbits and other small plant eaters form the major herbivore group,
resulting in forms somewhat like present-day llamas. My favorite, however, is the Vortex. The whales, not surprisingly,
went the way of humanity, and the penguin's descendants moved into the
vacuum. The Vortex is the Dixonian equivalent of a baleen whale: 12
meters (40 feet) long, with a beak modified to act as a strainer. The illustrations are good, but the text is little dry. It doesn't
matter, it's too much fun to page through this book and marvel at
Dixon's brilliant imagination. It's a flight of fantasy, to be sure,
but one with a detailed flight plan. Very much recommended if you
have a little imagination. [Minor update of review from 1989.]
Rating:
Summary: Check out "The Future Is Wild"
Review: Thank Goodness someone has taken notice of Dougal Dixon's work, and turned it into "The Future Is Wild", a documentary on The Animal Planet. However, while "The Future Is Wild" is interesting, it is very thin in comparison with "After Man", since it goes from 5 million years in the future to 200 million years. "After Man" focuses on a more recent future, and covers nearly all of the biomes on the Earth, so you get a fuller view of the ecology. Plus, nothing is extremely alien in "After Man" - you can see the creatures there - while the gigantic land-roving jungle squids a few times the size of elephants... oy! "After Man" should be a must-read, especially before you watch or read "The Future Is Wild"...
Rating:
Summary: Best "future evolution" book along with TFIW!!!
Review: This Dougal Dixon guy knows his stuff. I really enjoyed this book because the creatures in it could easily evolve alongside the ones from "The Future is Wild." Sure, they may look like Pokemon, but there'd be no reason or method for most Pokemon to actually evolve. These creatures actually *could* very well exist one day, if the Earth changes the way science predicts it will. There really isn't much to say except: 1) Good pictures, lousy cursive captions. They're tiny and hard to read. 2) IT'S A GOOD BOOK! You should read it. Now, to comment on some of the animals depicted within its pages.
---In the future, I might want to get reincarnated as a Rabbuck. These tall giraffe/deer/rabbit cross-looking things are cool, especially the Arctic one, which looks like some kind of llama mixed with a sheepdog and an Afghan hound.
---The Falanx is a brutal predator with the legs of a hound dog and the body of a very large weasel.
---The reedstilt, seen on the cover, is one fantastically imagined animal: using its thin legs to stand in the water and fish, it catches prey by pretending its legs are simply reeds. An interesting body with many extra neck vertebrae make this one of my favorites in the book.
---Hornheads are moose/mammoth looking creatures with large bony growths on their heads.
---The pamthret looks like a pine marten or some other creature from that family, mixed with a lion.
---The chiselhead is a bizarre squirrel with enormous teeth and jaws.
The Truteal is an extremely cute little teal thing. A blind, nocturnal animal might not sound too adorable, but it is. ---My favorite animal in "After Man" is the Shurrack, which strikes me as a cheetah crossed with a Scottish Deerhound. Its thin legs, long striped tail, leopard pattern, and short, bristly grey coat give it a super-cool look. Reincarnate me as a Shurrack, if you please!
---But *whatever* you do, don't bring me back as a Desert Leaper! These kangaroos look disgusting both when their bodies are bloated with fat, and then when it fluctuates and they become emaciated, with wrinkly folds of skin all over...and they do NOT look like cute little Shar Peis or Sphynx cats!
---Horranes are weird; they have the head of a gorilla on the tiger-striped body of a cheetah. Try to imagine this. *nuumm*
---The Striger looks like something out of T.S. Eliot's Book of Practical Cats.
---Khiffahs look like the Warner Brother's interpretation of the Tasmanian Devil with blue chests.
---Okay, NEVER EVER EVER do I wish to reincarnate as a Slobber! This aptly named "sloth of the future" is truly a vile imaginary creature.
---The Gurrath is another cheetah-looking thing, but it's not the coolest form the cheetah will take on in the future (go Shurrack! That honor rests with you, buddy!)
---Wakkas look like two-legged giraffes. They also remind me of something out of a Salvador Dali painting.
---The Flooer disguises itself as a flower but is still ugly with those beady little eyes and teeth. On the other hand, the Night Stalker is just plain hideous, looking like a monstrous explosion of other random animal parts thrown together. With a face not even a mother could love and a pair of "legs" that look like arms, this has more of a Pokemon appearance than anything else in "After Man."
---If I get reincarnated as every other animal in this book, please let there be one that I NEVER become, and I must save this for last because it is so revolting. The poor, miserable creature that is (or will be, rather) the Cleft Back Antelope is truly something to pity. First of all, their vertebrae have large "clefts" that grow upwards and form a "nest" along their backs for birds to lay eggs in. If I were a Cleft Back Antelope, I'd say, "Forget you, birds!" and shake the eggs from my back, then try to remove those ugly protrusions. Symbiosis, whatever. It's just too unsightly. But that's not even so bad when you consider this: They grow warts on their bodies that ooze pus. Flies lay their eggs in the pus. The baby birds hatch on the backs and eat the fly eggs. Can you imagine all this happening on the poor Antelope?! "After Man" is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Imaginative, interesting, and logical
Review: Very interesting stuff. Dixon essentially took knowledge of evolution and brought it up a whole new level, giving a very interesting prediction of life 50 million years after man. The main 'theme' of this, if you will, makes quite a bit of sense. When Man went, he took a lot of the larger creatured with him. Small, adaptable creatures survived and began to take their foothold, filling in the niches left by other animals. thus, almost dog-like rats have replaced cats and dogs as the world's prime predators, and rabbucks have replaced deer and antelope. And why not? After all, the grimy cockroach has lived longer than any other species on Earth. It truly is a very imaginative, vivid fantasy based on fact. It is also a very interesting, original idea rooted in general evolutional knowledge and plate techtonics. I picked up the book something like 5 years ago and decided to again a few days ago. Still very captivating. The ilustrations are also a definite high point. Gorgeous full-page illustrations (like the two Falaxes chasing down the rabbuck) are superb. Very interesting stuff. I recall the introduction where the man writing it says that one may feel a bit of disappointment that some of these creatures don't exist. well, I do know that I, for one, would love to find animals like these predatory rats and Pamthrets (kind of a cross between a weasel and a lion) on Earth today. Fascinating book that I, for one, found hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever
Review: What would happen if mankind disappeared and the animals of Earth went back to following the rules of evolution? This book will show you. Each part of the book deals with another region of the Earth; deserts, glasslands, polar regions and so on. See meat-eating predators evolved from rats and bats, large grazers and browsers developed from fast breeding rabbits and the sea going creatures descended from penguins.
Like the book 'Man After Man', the book starts off with science chapters that in this case do their best to explain evolution, the food chain and the history of life on Earth.
Unlike 'Man After Man' it is not set up like a story, but a true non-fiction text book, like one you might have in a class room or while out camping. It also has maps and gives you information on the environments and what changes have happened to the Earth during the 50 million years. With just over 120 pages and full of color pictures, I wish there had been more! 'Man After Man' felt longer because it had more text and less pictures.
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