5,000,000 Years Hence - The Mediterranean Basin


We were walking on what looked like a huge white sand desert in between Europe and Africa.

Lola: Man is it so hot!

Lori: What kind of desert is this?

Lana licked the sand and she retched.

Lana: Blegh! It's salt!

Me: Believe it or not guys this is a salt flat basin. This whole basin is over 6,500 feet below sea level and this may shock you guys, but these salt flats are what was once the sparkling clear blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Everyone gasped in shock.

Lincoln: This whole desert is the Mediterranean Sea!?

Lola: But how did it become this?

I form a hologram of Earth and it showed The Mediterranean Sea.

Me: In 5,000,000 years we believe that the Earth will be in the grip of another Ice Age and Africa will push up against Europe and it will close off the Strait of Gibraltar. The Mediterranean Sea will be completely cut off from the Atlantic Ocean and it will become a closed landlocked sea. This will result in the Mediterranean drying out and with no water flowing into the sea to fill it back up it simply vanished and the holiday islands of Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Sicily and Crete will stand as small mountains here. The only water here left in the Mediterranean will be small lakes of hyper saline water and it'll be the only water left here.

Laney: That's rough. It's like Death Valley here.

Me: It is.

Lucy: Wicked. This is depressing that the Mediterranean would vanish like that.

Lisa: It is very likely. There are a few lakes that have high sea salt contents that are disappearing in our time.

Me: That's right and the most prominent examples are the Aral Sea in Central Asia, the Dead Sea in the Middle East and the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

We walk around the salt flats and it was a breathtaking sight. We came across a little lake.

Lana: There's still water here in the lake.

Me: Yes but it's lethal. It's loaded with too much salt.

Lisa took a sample and discovered that it's 100 times more saltier than ocean water.

Lisa: This water is very dangerous. It's 100 times more saltier than ocean water and is not meant for human or animal consumption.

Me: That's right Lisa.

We continued walking and saw a strange lizard with a frill and it was running fast across the salt flats without getting burned on the hot surface.

Lana: Look at that cool lizard!

Lola: That's an interesting one.

Lucy: It sure is.

Me: That lizard is called a Cryptile. It's a descendent of the Frilled Lizard in Australia.

Lincoln: That's an interesting lizard.

Lisa: Very fascinating specimen.

Nico: So that's a descendent of the frilled lizard? Amazing.

May: It sure is.

Lori: I've never been fond of lizards except for Lana's but that one is literally interesting.

Laney: It sure is Lori.

Lucy: What do they eat?

Me: They eat bugs. Let me show you.

We go to a hyper saline lake and saw a huge bunch of brine flies.

Me: These are brine flies. They are what Cryptiles eat.

Lisa: These are fascinating specimens. They are usually found in vast numbers at the sight of Lake Mono in California.

Me: That's right. These are what they eat. In fact here comes one now.

We saw a Cryptile running through the flies and using its frill as a net and it was licking them off with its long tongue.

Lori: That is literally clever.

Lisa: Very fascinating. It's using its frill as a fishing net and using its tongue to consume the brine flies.

Laney: That's very interesting.

Nico: It sure is.

We later went to the mountains of the basin and they were the holiday islands. We were walking on a broken cracked pavement called Karst.

Lucy: It's a shame that these were once the holiday islands of the Mediterranean.

Me: I know.

Laney: This rock is strange.

Me: This is limestone pavement called Karst.

We walked on the islands and saw it full of cracks and narrow crevices.

Me: It's full of crevices called Grykes.

Lori: Grykes? That sounds strange.

Me: It is.

We saw a Cryptile come out of a gryke and we then saw a strange furry creature come out and it had two dagger fangs and went after the Cryptile and it missed it.

Lincoln: What is that creature?

Me: That is a predatory creature called a Gryken. They are descended from Pine Martens, squirrel-like creatures that live in the forests of Europe in our time.

I show on a holographic orb what they look like.

Me: This is what they look like.

Laney: Ohh! They are really cute.

Me: They are cute. The differences with a Pine Marten and a Gryken is that Grykens no longer live in trees and they live in the narrow grykes here in the Mediterranean Basin. They don't need their long tails which are used primarily for balance and their paws are now adapted for clinging onto the walls of the grykes. Their bodies are now longer and are about 8 inches tall and this allows them to squeeze through the narrow grykes.

Lisa: What a very fascinating specimen.

Lincoln: It sure is. I didn't know that these creatures could become this.

Me: Well this is a hypothetical creature. We don't know what's gonna happen.

Laney: Do Grykens only eat Cryptiles?

Me: Not just Cryptiles but also those creatures.

I point to something and we saw a family of future pigs.

Lola: Are those pigs?

Me: Those are Scrofas and they are descended from the Wild Boar.

Laney: Oh they are so cute.

Lori: They sure are.

Lisa: Very fascinating specimens.

Me: Scrofas are much different than their ancestors.

Lucy: What's different about them?

Me: They had to adapt to living on bare limestone rock. They walk on their tiptoes and they have a strange stiff-legged gait.

Lincoln: That's really strange for pigs.

Me: It is but there are creatures in our time that have this kind of characteristic.

I show on a holographic orb an antelope creature.

Me: This is a creature called the Klipspringer. They are antelopes that live in Africa and they walk on their tiptoes to get on rocks.

Lincoln: It sure is a cute little fella.

Lana: It sure is. I didn't know there was a creature like that.

Lori: I don't think we saw a creature like this when we were in Africa.

Me: No I don't think we did.

Nico: That's an interesting creature.

May: It sure is.

Lola: What do Scrofas eat?

Me: They're omnivorous. Like their ancestors they eat roots, fungi, insects, worms and sometimes eggs.

Lana: That's an interesting diet. The plants here are in the Grykes.

Me: Yes and sticking a snout down into one is dangerous because of the Gryken.

Aylene: That's tricky. But these creatures are incredible.

Me: Yeah.

We then saw the Gryken attack and a Scrofa got away. But out came a big adult male of the family and the Gryken ran away and went back into the Gryke and the male pig squealed in rage.

Lori: That one is a mean one.

Me: Yes. The big adult males are really aggressive and they will do anything to protect their family from any kind of threat.

Lana: That is cool!

Me: It sure is.

We then proceeded to our next destination.

Continues in Part 8