The Armadillos: Family of the Week!

I kept the modern family of armadillos in tact for the Metazoic, the Dasypodidae. It is a family we are familiar with now, but with a few minor changes. They have gotten bigger. Of course the species of Dasypus are still around for at least part of the Metazoic, as well as a smaller species I called Thoracolagus, which is the tiniest armadillo of the Metazoic. They are not as tiny as the modern Pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus), which is today's smallest species, about the size of a rat, but Thoracolagus comes in a good second, being the size of a small rabbit. The largest species will appear during the late Metazoic era. They are the species in the sub-family Dasyventrinae. They include the species of Grammoclavia and Dasyventris. These species are so big, they cannot even roll into a ball like other armadillos can. Today, the largest armadillo is in fact the giant armadillo (Priodontes), which can reach a length of about 5 feet. But the largest species of the Metazoic, Dasyventris, will be almost as big as an elephant. It will stand about 9 feet tall and with a total length of about 20 feet, including the tail.



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

Now Available: RSS Feed Widget!

I have created a "blidget" as it is now called, it is a widget that takes the RSS feed from this blog. Whenever I make a new post on this blog, it shows up on the widget. I invite everyone interested in my site to take this and post it up on their website as I will be making new announcements on here whenever they are available. You don't have to if you don't want to, it's just an invitation. I have installed this feature on the home page of my website. Just go to www.metazoica.com. There, you can see what the widget will look like. You can click on the "Get Widget" button at the base of the widget to get the embedding code, and paste it where ever you want it.

Evolution vs. Creation, Why I Believe One and Not the Other

I cannot even begin to mention how many times this subject has been brought to my lips. It's always evolution or creation--which is it? First I want to explain myself, I am a born-again Christian. I do believe there is a supreme being we call "GOD". I also believe in Nature. Those that choose to follow the specifics of an organized religion I feel are free to do so. I don't have a specific religion, so to speak. I created one of my own. I may never have any followers, but that is fine by me! I have never been the "follow-the-leader" type so creating my own religion is typical of my regular personality. I don't go to church because there is none to support my style or beliefs. However, I do believe in GOD. I've felt HIS presence too many times not to believe in HIM. HE always answers my prayers, and my meeting with Tim Farriss in Seattle is definite proof of that!!! That plus several little miracles that go on all around me every day. I also believe in Jesus and how he died for our sins. The only thing that is mentioned in the Bible that I cannot believe is the theory of creation.


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?

The Anteaters: Family of the Week

I have kept the modern family Myrmecophagidae for well into the future. They are descended from the modern family, only in the Metazoic, they are considerably more varied. I used Dixon's idea for a swimming anteater. Some on the SE forum thought that idea was silly, but I personally like it. We have colonies of ants that build their nests in swamps and lakes, like beavers. Or rather like water spiders. The feet of these ants are paddle-shaped, and the hills themselves are made of water reed material. The swimming anteaters paddle through the water like muskrats, and are able to rip these mounds apart with their sharp claws. The anteaters of this age completely lack the teeth, but most have developed gizzards, and Formiciarctos has weapons of it's own for crushing food. Most species walk on their knuckles like apes, and have sharp claws on the forelimbs. The tail is long, and in only one species is prehensile. The head in most species has not changed hardly since the Cenozoic. Except in the highly-advanced species Formiciarctos. Most feed on insects, but some of the larger species will also feed on carrion. The opening for the mouth is rather small, and only opens a little bit. The eyesight is good in most species, but the sense of smell is more advanced than that of most mammals during this era. They are active during the daylight hours.

The largest species in this family are the ant-bears under the genus Formiciarctos. Some of these species can get big enough to see inside a 4-story house (about 35-40 feet tall). These species do not only feed on insects, but also on carrion and some plant material. They have no teeth, but the palate has developed some highly sophisticated bony plates that are somewhat serrated for crushing matter. At the front of the mouth, these animals also have developed a sharp, flat shearing device that curves down at the tip. This structure is used for shearing meat off of the bones of carrion or clipping off plant matter and acts like incisors. They also have developed something of a gizzard, which they use as molars for grinding anything that goes into their bellies. The head of these species is heavier in build than those of modern anteaters, and more resembles that of a horse or a camel to accomodate these advanced features.

The smallest species are in the genus Virgultarctos, the jungle ant-bear. Unlike it's larger sister species, the jungle ant-bear feeds exclusively on ants and termites and resembles modern tamanduas. They are the only species in this family during the Metazoic that has a prehensile tail and lives in trees. The ants they feed on are the only species that has remained in the trees as well during the Metazoic. These ants, like modern mud wasps, build their nests using mud and mulch, which hardens into a cement-like form. Virgultarctos is equipped with sharp claws and the long, sticky tongue that is characteristic of the family today. They have no teeth or plates, like in Formiciarctos. They do however have a gizzard, which they constantly supply with pebbles to crush the swallowed ants with.

These animals can very effectively defend themselves with their sharp claws found on the forelimbs of all species. They don't hesitate to use these weapons. Their worst enemies are the Deinognathids, that are highly-skilled hunters that are even undeterred by these sharp claws. Carnodorcas is especially skilled at hunting down Formiciarctos, despite the fact the anteater is about 5 times the size of the predator. Carnivorous rats can also pose a threat to these anteaters, but have a rougher time bringing them down than the more skillful Deinognathids. Large viverrids are also predators of these animals, and quite successful at killing and eating even the largest species.

Below is a rough-sketch I did of Formiciarctos, which is different in appearance than any other of the anteaters. As you can see, the name ant-bear fits them, as they are somewhat bear-like in general appearance. All other anteaters more or less resemble their modern counterparts. But Formiciarctos has a much heavier head to accommodate the crushing apparatus in it's mouth.

Vote in Our Poll

I have placed a poll on the right side of this page. What do you think the next "rulers of the planet" will be? Do you think it'll be mammals as depicted on my Metazoic site? Do you think it'll be birds? Do you think we will revert back to the age of reptiles? Or do you think insects will rule? You don't have to reveal who you are, you don't have to comment. I just want to see what you think. I've seen everyone thinking about what group will rule the future. I personally feel it will be mammals. Mammals are much more adaptable than any other group. Birds are pretty adaptable, but not as much as the mammals. I used to raise finches, and one thing I found out is that they die when exposed to a draft. Especially the tropical finches, like waxbills and Gouldians, and any other tropical variety of finches. Finches aren't the only ones, but also parrots and other hookbills all die when exposed to cool breezes. It happens almost instantly. I remember one time my sis was babysitting my birds, and I had a budgie. She put the budgie outside and it was a breezy day. It was the middle of summer, but it was a breezy day. The next day, without warning, the budgie died. Face it, birds are nowhere near as adaptable as mammals!!

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.

Browsing Squirrels: The Family of the Week

This week's group to discuss is the high-browsing squirrels, family: Sivasciuridae. We are familiar with the concept that there were once huge rodents. These high-browsers are no exception. They are built like heavy-set giraffes. Or like a cross between a giraffe and an elephant. They lost most traces of their distant relatives' characteristics, which happen to be squirrels. But felt the need to grow bigger to browse the leaves in the tree tops. And they did grow!! The largest of these squirrels is 40-feet tall. They are among some of the largest rodents of the Metazoic. The smallest of them is 25-feet tall, which is still quite large.

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.

**********EDIT TO ADD**************

I have decided to include a picture for this family. Here is one I made this afternoon and scanned. The first depiction is just a sample of what one of these squirrels would look like. The second pic below is an individual battling off a small pack of Asian Tamanoa. Click on the pic to see a full-size view.

Corrections Made

I made some corrections on my site and all, I found out from a loyal lurker here that Microraptor is already the name of a dinosaur--of all things!! So I changed it to Nanomustela, thanks to Vultur from the SE forum for giving me the idea. Sorry V, I don't know your name so I cannot name the animal after you. If you'd like it named in your honor, you can PM me. I even made that correction on my checklist already. Along with a few other corrections on there, most of them typos. The updated checklist can be viewed and downloaded at this link: http://www.metazoica.com/files/Metazoic_mammals.pdf.

My apologies to all my loyal viewers for not making the corrections earlier.

New Family Posted: the Weasels!!!!

I have been working on another family of animals, the weasels, family: Vulpemustelidae. This is the Metazoic weasel family. They are truly descended from modern weasels, but they have a bit of a difference. Their legs are a bit longer than many species in the modern weasel family. The futuristic sea otter (Thalassictis) is well on it's way to becoming cetacean-like. They have flippers instead of feet, like modern sea otters. One species, Phobogula, is the bully of it's era. It is the equivolent of modern wolverines. Like wolverines, they can muscle into any other animals' kills. Though some predators, like Ictocamelus, would be a dangerous, and ultimately fatal, target for even a Phobogula's rage. But like modern wolverines against grizzly bears, they sometimes take their chances.

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.

Dromad Antelopes

The family Dromadidae is a family of antelope that somewhat resemble the prehistoric Hyracotherium. However, in spite of their horse-like appearance, these are descendants of antelope. They have the cloven hooves of antelope. The tails are mostly long and tapered, usually with a tassel at the end. They are fast creatures, and even bound and prong like antelope do today. There are no sub-family rankings, but these antelope are found throughout most of the World. They are all active during the day.

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.

My Simple Classifications

My list is basically separated into the simple classification system I use all the time for the mammals of the Metazoic. Though I tend to also use the popular system around today, I have 5 major groups I separate the animals typically in. They are:



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.

Ant-Hogs

I've decided each week I am going to discuss a different family group of animals on my checklist. For those who have downloaded my checklist, you can follow right along, I'll be going down the list to discuss each group. For those who haven't downloaded it yet, go ahead. It's free! I decided not to charge for it.

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.