What animals are good example of natural enemy in PA setting

AI Thread Summary
In a story set 1,000 years in the future, the evolution of animals like wolves and dogs may not show significant physical changes due to the relatively short time frame. However, behavioral adaptations could emerge as they fill new ecological niches. Potential natural enemies for humans in this scenario could include feral dogs, which are intelligent and hunt in packs, as well as large predators like big cats in certain regions. Smaller threats, such as aggressive rodents, insects, and diseases, may pose greater risks to humans than larger animals. The concept of invasive species, including adaptive insects, could also play a role in the ecosystem. The narrative suggests that in a post-apocalyptic world, humans may face more danger from other humans and competition for resources from intelligent animals like raccoons and bears, rather than from traditional predators. The lack of education and information could lead to a misunderstanding of the surrounding wildlife, heightening the sense of danger.
Graw
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I am writing story about Earth set 1000 years in future and I am looking for good example of living animals. So far I had wolves or dogs on my mind, how would they change in 1000 years?
 
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Natural enemy of what?
 
I'm going to use my powers of psychic ability to guess that PA stands for post apocalypse.

This is my contribution to this thread.
 
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Bystander said:
Natural enemy of what?
Man
 
Googling around, "natural enemy" appears to be dramatic overstatement of a "predator-prey relationship." Biological hazards? Pythons --- seem to be thriving in Florida; you might postulate "giant" cane toads; big cats could make a comeback in the time frame you've given.
Graw said:
how would they change in 1000 years?
"Rough" estimate of speciation/evolutionary rate for vertebrates is one species per three thousand generations given circumstances in which a population is isolated, moves into a new niche, isolated from the parent species. You might see emergence of aggressive rodents, several generations per year; larger species won't really have had time to change much.
This the sort of thing you're after?
 
Rats and roaches would abound. Cats might survive, they tend to be able to survive without humans fairly well, 1,000 years wouldn't be long enough to see much change for them though, if any. See what bystander said.

You failed to say what happened and how animals/humans were affected. We can't help you if we don't know.
 
Bystander said:
larger species won't really have had time to change much.
not physically but as you mention they may adapt behaviour to fill new niches.
 
Graw said:
I am writing story about Earth set 1000 years in future and I am looking for good example of living animals. So far I had wolves or dogs on my mind, how would they change in 1000 years?
Too short time for any story interesting evolution process. All what you'd get would be wolves (or so wild dogs, that you'd barely see any difference)

Adaptive invasive insect species from a different continent would not be cool enough, right? (bees, wasp, whatever)

Before the apocalypse there were no military genetic projects which test subject could go wild?
 
Well it's story about humans who were forced to leave to an another planet which is colonised by that time they leave, most of cities are forests now and I need some dangerous animals to live there.
 
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Graw said:
Bystander said:
Natural enemy of what?
Man
Feral mothers-in-law?
 
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In groups, the only real danger to humans is other humans. We were apex predators long before we civilized. Individually, we are weak, in groups, with weapons, and fire, nothing's going to attack us for food.

For individuals, feral dogs would probably be a big threat, they're smart, tough, and hunt in packs, a single human would make a nice meal. In parts of the world were big cats are common, they will be a major threat. I think the biggest threats would be small, not large: rats, bugs, infection... Most of the animals big enough to kill a person to eat it, are very intelligent, they weigh risk vs reward and in terms of the amount of meat we have for the hassle and risk it'd be to kill us, they'd rather hunt rats.

Raccoons and bears would probably be a really big problem because of their intelligence, not a danger to us per ce, but competition for resources.

In a post apocalyptic world, I would think the monsters in our minds would be worse than the monsters outside. Without education and a connected network of information, we'd quickly become ignorant of the nature of the outside world. They'll know the animals in their immediate vicinity, but beyond that... here be dragons.
 
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smallpox
 
  • #13
How about huge swarms of killer ants?
 

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