In a toxic urban landscape of the future, what strange (and still oddly familiar) animals might have evolved to survive there?
A new book, “Beyond the Sixth Extinction: A Post-Apocalyptic Pop-Up” (Candlewick Press) by Shawn Sheehy, artfully imagines the grotesque creatures that could live in a possible future — one reshaped by disasters so destructive that 75 to 80 percent of life on Earth went extinct.
How odd would this world’s inhabitants be? Imagine a giant, flightless pigeon that carries its young in pouches under its wings, a freshwater turtle with a shell fortified by heavy metals, and a cockroach as big as your head.
Set in the year 4847, “Beyond the Sixth Extinction” is a bestiary representing inhabitants of nightmarish ecosystems of the future, and Sheehy uses intricately crafted 3D paper pop-ups to introduce a host of highly unusual animals. At first glance, they somewhat resemble wildlife alive today. However, the newly imagined species sport highly unusual adaptations that help them survive in harsh and extreme environments, Sheehy told Live Science.
By Mindy Weisberger – Full Story at Live Science