The result of musings on the implications of such a brilliant world as Zootopia, the questions scientists would be asking and some possible answers. Simian is based on the great David Attenborough.
...
A miraculous convergence
The lectures of the Animalia festival
The officers of ZPD shuffled in to the auditorium seats. This was far from the usual office night out, all were sharply dressed, even officer wild had dispensed with his favourite loose tie in favour of an open necked white shirt and blazer; the press, they had been warned, would be watching.
The invite had been received at the station with some confusion, tickets to the opening night of the Zootopia Animalia festival, an event with the aim of increasing understanding and integration between species. After a certain high profile case in the previous year the festival, usually a popular but low profile event (save the final parade) was under pressure to put to rest the remaining tensions on both side. As such the usually artistic festival had been coupled with a lecture series disguising the currently tenuous understanding of Zootopia's history. It had been decided that the heroes of the ZPD should attend, symbols of recent victories.
The audience was filled with dignitaries, the acting mayor sat in a box to the right of the stage. TV cameras at the back pointed toward the stage while others at the front captured the audience. A chubby cheetah waved as one swiped past.
Tonight's lectures were to be introduced by the beloved biologist David simian. While none of the department had much of a history in biology many had grown up with simian's documentaries, as had many of their parents. A chance to meet him had been a deal breaker for many a sceptical officer.
The lights dimmed and the audience hushed. The curtains drew back to reveal a stage populated by mounted skeletons, posed as in life, sitting, walking, one caribou wielded a cricket bat. Standing amongst them was a chimp, hunched with age but rocking from heel to toe with a youthful energy, long arms behind his back and a glint in his bespectacled eyes. The audience applauded, the familiar kaki shirt returning them to family evenings in front of the TV as its occupant clambered over rocks in some far off jungle introducing some new discovery, creature or culture.
…
The applause died down as he eyed the crowd, seeming to make eye contact with everyone simultaneously
"How is it that we may have this miraculous convergence?"
Began Simian, his voice hushed, his elocution sharp,
"that we may all sit here, together, Related by only the most tenuous strands of genetics and not tear one another to pieces. That through no deliberate coercion I may speak and you may understand, and share in my wonder of that of which many suggest is incapable of arising from in eons of random mutation, environmental change, and savage nature."
He spoke the last two words slowly, with conviction; a ripple moved through the crowd, the accusatory words still had a powerful effect.
He smiled reassuringly. Behind him a cross-section of two skulls appeared, one a lion the other an antelope; a familiar paring from natural history museum dioramas.
"These are the MRI scans of the skulls of two of my associates, you will notice the obvious morphological differences, however you many not notice the brain cavities" he outlined them with a laser pointer. "Are of similar volume when compared to body mass and while the lion has a larger visual cortex and the antelope a larger auditory cortex the frontal lobes a similarly enlarged, the amygdala (the heart of aggression) similarly small. Pleas recognise that the overwhelming scientific consensus is that, regardless of PHDs, everyone in this room is a psychological equal." The room relaxed, the tone set.
"However, therein lies our problem," (two new skulls appeared, once again a lion and an antelope)
"These skulls were excavated from rock strata five million years old; you will notice far more significant differences. The brain of the antelope is considerably smaller and the jaw considerably more specialised, it has only one purpose, to chew. Meanwhile the lion is somewhat better off, the frontal cortex is already predominant but his jaw is constrained by these massive muscle anchors; you won't be having a conversation with either of these chaps any time soon, and as seen by these tooth marks on the back of the head, the lion did not meet a happy end."
He turned back to the audience. "These animals are so different in their lifestyles, intelligences and physiology it seems that it seems no singular environmental factor could have pushed them in the same direction, to provide an evolutionary pressure two these two animals would be like throwing a stone in a pond, each would move but in entirely different directions."
"And do not think that intelligence is a common occurrence in nature, because until recently it wasn't. Why did the dinosaurs die out I ask you? Because they didn't have a space program. There are no fossilised civilisations of insects from the carboniferous and no current signs of intelligence in the oceans."
"Then came the Chenozoic explosion and seemingly overnight we have animals from every genus on two legs and using tools." Ghostly images of shapes etched on to deserts, colourful LIDAR scans of geometric patterns on forest floors and stone tools flashed up behind him. "earlier and earlier civilisations are being discovered as we speak and the earliest species to reach that status is unconfirmed, we still have little clue as to how first peace ever occurred between predator and prey. But I will leave that subject to Dr Parcat." He nodded to a female ocelot seated in the front row, where the day's speakers were seated.
"And so" he raised his eyebrows "we have a problem" a large flow chart appeared behind him, one side showed a lion lunging at an antelope, claws extended the antelope's eyes wide in fear; the next a similar pair playing golf the lion sticking his tong out as he went for the putt. In-between the two an arrow label; a miracle occurs. A polite chuckle rippled through the audience.
... more to come.