Question: in a thousand years if they looked at how animals look now which what do you think would of evolved the most and in what way

David Pyle answered on 19 Mar 2011:

In the natural world, evolutionary changes are usually a response to changes in environmental conditions – for example as new ‘niches’ open up. I would expect that the most dramatic examples of evolution could be in the shallow ocean waters. Here, the effects of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide look likely to change the pH (lower, more acidic) and dissolved carbonate content (lower) of the ocean. This will have a significant effect on both organisms that rely on growing calcium carbonate shells or cell walls (from corals to coccolithophores), and those that grow cell walls from silica (such as diatoms). I would expect to see rapid evolutionary changes among the marine phytoplankton as a result. (These are plants, not animals, but I hope that’s OK!).

The other area where there are ‘engineered’ evolutionary pressures is domestic pets and livestock, both for cosmetic reasons (e.g. dogs), and for productivity reasons (milk production). With increased pressures on food supply, and capabilities (genetic engineering) I would have thought some animals might change quite a lot..