# Pangaea Ultima, the Next Supercontinent, May Doom Mammals to Far-Future **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789 "2023-09-27T20:30:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/1 "2023-09-27T20:30:35Z")
> **[Pangaea Ultima, the Next Supercontinent, May Doom Mammals to Far-Future...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future-extinction/)** > > 250 million years from now, the emergence of a new supercontinent could render most of Earth’s surface uninhabitable for mammals It seems like we’d better get our affairs in order. The future is not looking bright for mankind. Who, or what, is going to succeed us? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/2 "2023-09-27T20:43:09Z")
Cockroaches. No matter what disaster you posit, it’s always gonna be the cockroaches. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/3 "2023-09-27T20:44:27Z")
I vote for Cats. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/4 "2023-09-27T20:45:23Z")
I’m pretty sure cats are mammals. It will probably be the lizard people. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/5 "2023-09-27T20:46:16Z")
Cats will survive though, they’ll be off-planet with their servants the humans. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/6 "2023-09-27T20:53:26Z")
We can’t wait until the last minute 250,000,000 years from now, we have to panic now! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/7 "2023-09-27T20:54:53Z")
I should have said human descendants. I doubt they’ll be Homo sapiens at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/8 "2023-09-27T20:55:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > We can’t wait until the last minute 250,000,000 years from now, we have to panic now! I think we could wait until mid-June 249,999,999.75 years from now, 3 months should be plenty of time to sort it out. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/9 "2023-09-27T20:58:47Z")
I’m skeptical of North America and Africa colliding. Their current relative motions are separating them, I think? And I’m also skeptical a supercontinent will doom mammals. In 250 million years, all surviving species will have evolved to survive in hotter climates. (Not because of green house gases, but because of the sun slowly increasing its luminosity.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/10 "2023-09-27T21:01:06Z")
Lizard Catroaches ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/11 "2023-09-27T21:03:51Z")
I read another article in Scientific American a few years ago about continental drift. Apparently it’s a cyclical thing, the continents are currently spreading apart, but at some time in the future they will coalesce again. It’s happened a few times before, and each time it’s accompanied by a mass extinction. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/12 "2023-09-27T21:07:29Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I should have said human descendants Will they still be mammals? Any more than birds are still dinosaurs? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/13 "2023-09-27T21:10:32Z")
Who knows? If we survive, we’ll probably be trans-human but still basically human except those that have become data-transfers. Our current evolution is very different already from natural selection. Who knows what we’ll breed cats to be. As to dogs, the border collies are already bred for intelligence and endurance. Can you imagine what they’ll be like in 300 more years, never mid 3000 or 3 million? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/14 "2023-09-27T21:13:54Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Can you imagine what they’ll be like in 300 more years, never mid 3000 or 3 million? Yes. But only because I’ve read my [Clifford Simak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_(novel)). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/15 "2023-09-27T21:15:27Z")
I haven’t read that since High School, over 40 years ago. I can’t even remember that one at all. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/16 "2023-09-27T21:28:54Z")
Uplifted dogs are our successor species after we’re mostly extinct. That and robots and ants. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/17 "2023-09-27T21:34:40Z")
I don’t know, raccoons seem to be well on their way to reutilizing our junk and trash. They might replace us. But AIs and Robots are a great bet. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/18 "2023-09-27T21:38:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Cockroaches. No matter what disaster you posit, it’s always gonna be the cockroaches. That cockroach thing is a myth: they need high humidity and can’t thrive in cold climates. In the OPs scenario the cold would not be the problem, but the aridity would do them in. Good! > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I vote for Cats. They surely like it hot. Them and the very cute [fennec fox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennec_fox), which would be my candidate. Both cats and fennecs would need prey, of course. Perhaps they would cyclically feast on each other. And bats. A pet monster of mine, big as a [Quetzalcoatlus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus) by then. Don’t worry, evolution will provide. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/19 "2023-09-27T21:41:12Z")
Yikes. Now I’m worried. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789/20 "2023-09-27T22:15:36Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > And bats. A pet monster of mine, big as a [Quetzalcoatlus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus) by then. Don’t worry, evolution will provide. Like this? [![](https://inquisitivebiologist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/after-man-internal-3.jpg?w=640) ](https://inquisitivebiologist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/after-man-internal-3.jpg?w=640) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pangaea-ultima-the-next-supercontinent-may-doom-mammals-to-far-future/990789.md?page=2)