Children’s Documentary: Your Ancestor Is A Monkey…But He Was Also A Fish!

The creators of the series Prehistory in Quebec Once again they unite their passion for science and history to present the documentary for children Your predecessor is a fish! Patrick Couture and Martin BM explain why human evolution is such a strange adventure…

Your predecessor is a fish!… It’s a title that’s getting a lot of attention! Why this address?

Patrick Couture: To say your ancestor was a monkey is a cliché said, repeated and repeated… While going back a bit and saying your ancestor was a fish, that catches. This children’s documentary is part of the puzzle which is the fundamental question “Who am I?”.

Where did you get the idea for the new children’s documentary?

PC: I wanted to tackle a really important question that kids are very interested in: human evolution. So we had to break out of our established “limits” with our prehistoric series in Quebec, although there are small Quebec tie-ins, including our famous fish starting to have bony fins. Well, we found it in Quebec! However, the heart of human evolution is in Africa.

For the illustrations, what was the inspiration for creating the images for this type of work?

Martin PM: I am a biologist by training and have studied ecology, so these are questions that also directly interest me and interest me. For me, the idea, when I do the illustrations, is to have strong images that help remember the message conveyed.

History, science and humor: a winning trio, in your opinion?

MR PM: Yes. Humor is a way to make people uninhibited and introduce them to a scientific universe, without scaring them too much. My idea was to create graphics that don’t necessarily relate to each other. Also play on positions.

Image courtesy of Editions Fides

In what prehistoric period would you like to live?

PC: We’ve built modern artificial societies, but our biology and psychology are evolving so slowly that we haven’t really adapted to the world we’ve created. Physically and psychologically, we will be happier and more adapted to the life of hunter-gatherers in Africa 20,000 years ago! Perhaps I will choose to live with our ancestors 20,000 years ago. There will be physical discomfort, but as humans, I think we would thrive most in an environment like this!

MM: sea scorpion, an exotic crustacean; I would take a long trip to see the full range of what was there. I would also be curious to see the evolution of forests and plants over time. I’m going to make a big expedition through the animals and plants before and after the dinosaurs.