Welcome to my Metazoic site! This site discusses the existence of the creatures to come along after humans will be extinct. I first became interested in a world after man when I acquired my first copy of Dougal Dixon's After Man: A Zoology of the Future in 1992. However, I unwittingly created creatures that did not exist from the time I was about 8 years old. But it was after I obtained a copy of that book (now a collector's item) that I decided to take these same creatures I created as a child and make them more realistic in an evolutionary sense. Though it may be hard for a lot of us to grasp, humans will soon become extinct. One of the biggest factors of how this will happen is the current overpopulation rate. Which is why I don't contribute to the population. I created this world with little more than mammals fulfilling all ecological niches with the help of some friends. I even gave the era of the age after man a name, I called it the Metazoic, derived from the words for "After-era" (Meta, meaning after, and zoic meaning era). We are now in the Cenozoic era. To view all the animals I have created since I began this project, you can go to the "Meet the Mammals" section of this site. To discuss your own ideas about what you think will happen in the future world, and share your ideas with others, please feel free to leave a comment.
One more thing, some of you may find this site quite offensive, and you have a right to your own opinion. But please respect my right to have an opinion too. I'm not saying there is no GOD, I believe it was HIM who got the ball rolling. But I believe after that, evolution took over. There is so much more evidence of evolution than there is of creation. Even that going on right under our noses. Other than that, enjoy yourself and visit our many links.
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Armadillos: Family of the Week!
Giant Armadillo
Pink Fairy Armadillo
While the smaller armadillos can roll into a tight ball when attacked and defend it's self effectively against all but the biggest predators, the larger armadillos cannot. Though they are also equipped with the sharp claws of their modern counterparts to slash at predators with, a lot of the larger armadillos of the Metazoic also have sharp edges on the armor or spikes. In Grammoclavia, they have sharp, scissor-like plates that stick out on the sides, they use this to crush or tear any predators that may attack. Unlike other armadillos, Grammoclavia is not stiff anywhere in the body, they are very flexible. The placement of the body plates allows these armadillos to turn into a U-turn or touch their feet with their nose if they have to. These animals even have a saw-like structure of the armor on the tail. The plates are sharp, thin and triangular, and they can swash their tail at an attacker and those razor-sharp blades on the tail can rip the flesh of a predator, even disembowel it! To top it off, Grammoclavia is also equipped with a blunt club at the end of the tail to enable it to stun the predator with sharp blows. Few predators will attack this armadillo. The only predators they really have to worry about is Deinognathus, which are virtually undetered by Grammoclavia's defenses. Dasyventris is the largest armadillo of all time. Their armor is a bit less extensive than that of Grammoclavia, but they are big and tough animals that are built like tanks! The armor on the back has a series of rows of short, sharp, conical spikes. Just behind the head is 6 sets of sharp horns. The armor on the tail consists of tough plates and at the end of the tail is a set of 4 very sharp spikes they use to swat at predators. All this is in addition to the 4 sharp, curved claws they have on the front feet. It is a very well-armored animal, that you would think would be safe from all predators. The only true predators of this armadillo is Deinognathus, who are ingenius enough to figure out how to by-pass that armor and get to the animal's soft belly, it's most vulnerable spot.
The armadillos tomorrow, like today, are found only in the New World. One species of Dasypus has even made it's way pretty far into North America. In my own opinion, they will continue to migrate further until they reach Canada. These are not listed on my checklist as of yet, but these "fluffy armadillos" will have thick fur underneath and a hard shell on top, with small ears, long noses, large eyes, and will hibernate during winter months. They may even get larger than most species of Dasypus. Larger animals exist better in the cooler climates. These will probably be the bears of the Metazoic.
All armadillos are omnivorous. The smaller species feed primarily on invertebrates. This includes insects, snails, earthworms, etc. The larger species can feed on any of these plus more. The largest species are opportunists, and feed mostly on insects, invertebrates, amphibians, other small vertebrates and carrion. Armadillos are not chasers, so their conquering of small vertebrates is mostly the slower-moving animals such as flightless birds, small rodents, even smaller armadillos. They will even scavenge the kills of such animals as the viverrids, and even smaller deinognathids that they can intimidate off their kills.
Anyone who wants to read about the armadillos of the future, here is the link once again: http://www.metazoica.com/armadillos.html
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Evolution vs. Creation, Why I Believe One and Not the Other
OK, so it says GOD created the Heavens and the Earth in a period of 7 days. Many creationists believe that each one of GOD's days consists of 10,000 years. That is still too little time!!! The Earth is proven to be MUCH more than 70,000 years old!! However, if one of GOD's days were to consist of 1 billion years, I would believe that! The Earth has been proven to be about 6 billion years old now. Maybe in the future, it will be proven to be 7 billion years old. THAT would make the theory of creation a bit more believable. Many new creations in the world are being discovered, including a new island that just popped up in the south Pacific just last year. It's cool!! It is feasible that the land masses were created in a relatively short time, but they take many many years to drift apart. The continents move at about the same rate as our fingernails grow, about an inch a year. That alone should tell all how very old the land masses of this world really are, and it'd have to be a lot more than 70,000 years. And all creationists want to believe that is how old the world is and there is no swaying them.
Then there is the theory about the dinosaurs--the biggest contradictors of the Bible in the world! Apparently on the last day, GOD created the animals. I find it hard to believe, in the present axiom that one of GOD's days are a span of 10,000 years, that all animals appeared at exactly the same time. There is so much more evidence that evolution occured. What I believe is that GOD put the little protozoa in the ground, brought them to life with a bolt of lightening and let Nature take over from there. My ma is a mormon and she too believes this theory. I'm not a mormon, but this is how I always believed evolution got started. They had to begin somewhere. The only way they could possibly begin is if GOD put them into the ground. Or, if you want to, you can believe the theory that aliens brought the earliest life forms here. Check out this picture, the white arrow points to a trilobite, a creature that went extinct before the dinosaurs even evolved. Yet the crushed trilobite is embedded in what looks like our beach sandals that we have around today...
There is also an article that discusses these footprints found in Utah. Here is the link: http://www.pureinsight.org/node/938 even they cannot really explain this formation. Apparently in that same rock, a couple more tracks were found with sandals on, and even the barefooted tracks of small children, all with trilobites. Apparently 600 million years ago a family of rather large humanoids were enjoying a day at the beach! Much like we would today. Personally, I believe this article: http://paleo.cc/paluxy/meister.htm. It also has better photographs. Maybe those are natural geological formations. Though exactly what I don't know. I just know that there were no humans 600 million years ago. If there had been, like this one other article said, there would be too many humans now for the Earth to accommodate, especially with our rate of reproduction!!!
When someone can show me real proof that there are human bones, giant ground sloth bones, mammoth bones AND dinosaur bones all buried in the same rock, I will then take back my beliefs that dinosaurs and large mammals were not all around at the same time, thus my evolutionary beliefs. But to date, I have not seen any analytical proof that dinosaurs lived side-by-side with mammoths, sabre-toothed cats or giant ground sloths, and certainly not with humans!! Evolution is even going on today right under our noses. I have seen good evidence of this. I tell you, it's going to take a lot to convince me that creation is the only way every living thing got here. I just cannot believe that humans just suddenly appeared without warning on a hilltop somewhere. Though exactly how we got to where we are today I have no idea. I once heard that it is impossible that humans, in our present form, could not have evolved from neanderthals. Maybe it was society that softened our features.
I don't know what the future of the human race is going to be like. We are getting fatter, I can tell you that. Maybe we are slowly evolving into a larger species? Maybe we will become like elephants in our next evolutionary spurt. Who knows?
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Anteaters: Family of the Week
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Vote in Our Poll
On the other hand, I once saw a program about a game farm in Canada, where it gets extremely cold! The game farm had such animals as tapir, African rhino and camels. These animals adapted very well to the freezing weather with no special accommodations at all. Reptiles well, forget about them IMO. There will never be another like the dinosaurs. Insects, well they may never get any bigger than they are now, but who knows if they will be the next rulers of the planet. They're already somewhat there!! Insects are too damn numerous!! Anyway, these are just my own opinions. Don't let me influence you at all. I want to know what your most honest opinion is.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Browsing Squirrels: The Family of the Week
Like modern giraffes, they have prehensile lips and a long tongue to reach for the leaves with, in addition to their long neck. The tail is relatively short, and when running is held over the back of the animal. The tail is thick and well-haired. They are not fast runners, but can effectively defend themselves with their heavy front legs, equipped with sharp claws on the inside toes. The neck is long, but not slender like we see in giraffes. The head is more camel-like than squirrel-like. The front legs are longer and more powerful than the rear legs. The body is relatively short and muscular. The ears are small and round, like those of a tapir, and move independantly. No species in this family has a grasping trunk like we see in elephants. The lips are plenty graspable enough. The incisors are very large, almost creating a rough-edged beak inside the front of the mouth. They live alone, not much need to live in very large herds. They are only really social in the breeding season. Bulls spar with each other for the favors of the cows using the sharp claws on their feet. Other than that, they are only social with herds of other herbivores, like antelope. Often one of these huge squirrels will be seen in a herd of antelope or deer acting as a lookout for the smaller animals that cannot seem to see above the grass-level. The eyesight of these squirrels is very good, and the hearing is superb. The sense of smell however, is not that desirable. But the hearing makes up for it. They can pick up on a leaf falling from several hundred yards away. When startled, these squirrels can race off at a top speed of 25 mph. Not very fast, but few predators will actually tackle them.
The worst enemies of these squirrels are the largest Deinognathids and mongooses. Sometimes other large carnivorous mammals, like Tyrannopithecus, will bring them down. Most predatory mammals though will not even try to bring down an adult. The calves however, can also be taken by large, predatory bats and large foxes.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Corrections Made
My apologies to all my loyal viewers for not making the corrections earlier.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
New Family Posted: the Weasels!!!!
Well anyway, that's some of the family in a nutshell. Here is the link where you can read more about them, and view them: http://www.metazoica.com/weasels.html. I didn't color these either. I see other peoples' project and I notice mine is the only one in color. The only thing is, I SUCK at drawing scenery. I'm almost to a point where I say "What the Hell!!" and just leave the background blank!! All anyone really needs to see is the animal it's self!! Nothing more. Someday maybe.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Dromad Antelopes
The smallest species in this family are of the genus Dromada and Coelognathus. These are very tiny, lightweight ungulates. The largest of them are no bigger than a miniature poodle. The smaller species are mostly forest-dwellers that feed on any lush green vegetation they may find, which is abundant in their habitat. They live in small groups, usually no more than about 10 individuals. Coelognathus fills in the niche in the old world that Dromada fills in the new world. When a pradator is spotted, the guard sends a signal to the group by way of a loud shrill and this urges the other animals to take flight. For such tiny animals, they are astonishing leapers, and as they are running will usually leap and bound over boulders and fallen trees in an attempt to lose a persuing predator. The sense of smell is very poor, no better than in humans. But the hearing is very acute and they can hear the slightest footfall of a predator, even a silent one like the large viverrids, even amongst all the bussle and noise in the forests.
The largest species are in Basilotragus. The largest of these species are as big as modern rhinos, only much more lightly built. They trot more like camels than like antelope. The expression is more horse-like than in other species. The larger species of Dromadids live in herds of between 15 to 50 individuals. The main predators of this family are the Deinognathids and larger mongooses. However any carnivorous mammal that can overpower them can take them down. These antelope however are very fast, and the larger species can defend themselves by powerful kicks. They have no horns or tusks however to use as weapons. They are sharp animals and highly alert. The sense of smell is very poor in all species, but the sight and hearing are superb senses. Like most mammals of this era, these antelope are odorless, so any hunting or detecting by smell is useless.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
My Simple Classifications
The large grazers (grazers over 5 feet long)
The predators (mammals that are for the most part, carnivorous).
The small grazers (grazers 5 feet long or less)
The pentadactyls (what we today know as 'primates')
The flying mammals (mammals that mostly fly or glide).
This simplifies everything because each group can contain several different orders. Though some are varying degrees of each group. For example, the armadillos of the Metazoic are all opportunists, they feed on anything. Yet I put them in the large grazers group. Most of them are less than 5-feet long too. I mix everything up according to how many species of each family represents each group. For instance, I place the true rat and mouse family (Pseudomyidae) in the small grazer group. Yet it is a highly varied family. There are some species in the family that are much more than 5-feet long, and there are also some that are carnivorous. But the majority of the family are of the small grazer type, so that is why I place them in this group. Key word being "majority".
The carnivores of the Metazoic are among the most interesting from my POV! If the predators (of any age) were to be measured like we measure the force of tornados, it would be interesting. For example, Deinognathus would measure out as an F5. They feed on any animal, moving or not, and have no predators, except other Deinognathus. The only examples of an F5 predator today would be orcas and great white sharks. Lions of today would be an F4, they feed on anything, but they do have some predators. Wolves of today would be an F3, they feed on anything, but have also been known to get themselves clobbered by some predators, more than lions would. This is the way I see classifying tomorrow's predators (using the same scale to measure storms with). The highest (F5) would be those who eat any creature they can find, and have no enemies or contemporaries in their range. The lowest (F1) are the small predators with limited abilities, like those only capable of bringing down prey smaller than themselves, and have lots of predators that hunt them. Much like the raccoons.
F1- raccoons, shrews, Harundopeds, small carnivorous rats.
F2- Parasitic shrews, small felines.
F3- bear-dogs, predatory squirrels, larger predatory rats, Bromista, Tyrannopithecus and other carnivorous lemurs.
F4- Phobocebus, large viverrids, smaller-to-medium-sized Deinognathids like Tamanoa, larger foxes like Velocitherium.
F5- Deinognathus, Ictocamelus, Daspletarctos, Spathodon, Galiditherium, Monarchomys, Smilomys, Eufoedes, Columpiphonium, Cercomoloch, Pterdraco, Carnophalanger.
There are also some top-knotch scavengers. They are in the families Ruonidae, Zouphionidae, and Cloacariidae. In these families, most (if not all) the species are scavengers who pick up after the predators. Particularly the kills of those predators in the F4/F5 category. But anyway, that's just pretend, not scientific. However if you ask me, it should be applied to animals of today and tomorrow.
Anyway, there is also a new group listed, based on the family I discussed for last week, the ant-hogs. They can be viewed at this link: http://www.metazoica.com/Hogs.html.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Ant-Hogs
The first group is the Ant-hogs, or Formicederidae. Inhabiting most of the Old World, particularly Africa and Eurasia, this is a family I figure to have 5 genera and 14 species. No sub-familial ranks. Though there should be. Most of these species are ant-eaters, equipped with specially designed claws on their forefeet. They are descended from modern hogs so they still have hooves on their feet. But most species like Formicederus, Verris, and Phylloglottus all have these unusual-shaped claws on their forefeet. These sharp, curved claws are used to pry open tough termite mounds and logs bearing ant colonies. These hogs then use their long, sticky tongue to lap up the morsels inside. The skin is tough enough to handle the thousands of constant stings from the ant and termite soldiers. These stings actually act to put the hogs into a transe-like state while they feed, and do not hurt the animals at all. After they are done eating, a quick roll in mud or dust loosens the ants and they can then be shaken right off. Ants are the primary food source, but these hogs are really opportunistic feeders. They will also feed on carrion when it can be found, grass, fallen fruits and berries. Sometimes they will even lap up small vertebrates.
There are 2 strict vegetarian hogs in this family as well, they are Procerosus and Oplizochoerus. Both are built somewhat like modern okapis. The tongue is almost the same as in the other genera, but is used only to grasp clumps of leaves. The necks are longer than usual, but stout. It allows these hogs to reach high leaves on the trees. Procerosus has an added feature, the nose is long and flexible like an elephant's trunk. Making this hog capable of reaching the highest leaves. Oplizochoerus is covered in rhinoceros-like armor on the body, but other than that and the fact it lacks the grasping proboscis, it mostly resembles Procerosus. The armor makes this hog somewhat tough to kill by all but the predators with the biggest mouths and most powerful bite, like Spathodon. These are also the largest members of this family. The largest, Procerosus with it's long grasping trunk, can reach tree branches 25 feet high. The smallest species in this family belong to Verris, which is about the size of a labrador retriever.
The main predators of ant-hogs are the Deinognathids and large mongooses and even large predatory bats. They are not easy prey though, and with their loud, charging attacks, sharp tusks, and brave demeanor, they can even hold Spathodon at bay.