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, March 30, 2009

Family of the Week: The Rabbucks

Now that I am back, I can continue this.

Also known as Lagomerycines, at first, this family was inspired by Dixon’s rabbucks. But myself and a friend have been working on these animals and we’ve made them our own now. Though we have kept the basic idea going that they are derived from modern hares. Most species have the longer ears of hares and superb hearing. The eyesight is also very good in these animals. But the sense of smell is no better than ours. The ears are highly mobile, and capable of swiveling in different directions. The legs are long, and the feet are soft, with small hooves, rather than the fully-hooved feet of the animals presented in Dixon’s book. The incisors are elongate and grow out of the roof of the mouth. The tail is rather longer than those of hares, and usually held high when running and carried low when at rest. They live in rather large herds, up to 30 individuals. In many places, at their time of the era, these animals take the place of antelopes. Unlike modern hares that move with a leaping motion, these animals are true runners.

The largest and most unusual species are in the genus Zebralagus. These animals have long necks and take the place of giraffes after their extinction. They are about as tall as modern giraffes as well. And like the modern giraffes, the neck is not that flexible. They live on a diet of leaves and even fruits. Their size offers some protection against predators, but it also makes them incapable of running very fast. These animals have smaller tusks than any other member of this family in proportion to their body size. These animals prefer to live in couples, rather than in herds. These animals are named for the color pattern on the body, most species have a zebra-striped pattern all over their body, with the exception of Z. virgatus, which has a giraffe-like pattern.

The smallest of these animals is Microlagus, which is about the same size as a modern hare. The personality is also much the same as modern hares. They live in underground burrows, and several can inhabit an area, though not necessarily in herds. They are grass-eaters and take the place of modern prairie dogs in the Metazoic Old World. The incisors of these animals have formed into flat, shovel-like extentions they can use to expand their burrows. Males of Microlagus stay with their own females for life, and may move from one burrow to another. The feet of Microlagus is what also makes these animals unique, they tried to become a true hooved mammal, like a deer, but they haven’t been able to become one. But they stand on their rather oversized hoof-like claws better than any other member of this family.

The longest tail in the family belongs to Ungulamys, the tail is as long as the head and body and tipped with a tassel. Ungulamys is also equipped with hooved “thumbs” for grasping a branch for feeding. These are leaf-eaters, and the tail acts to balance the animal on it’s hind legs so it can reach up and use their flexible “hands” to grasp a clump of leaves to feed on. Another unusual species in this family is Dolabrodon, whose incisors have grown out the sides of the mouth, giving the head an axe-like appearance. These incisors are used to hack off branches of trees and bushes to bring down the greenest leaves or the ripest fruits they can reach.

Predators of these animals are mainly foxes, predatory rats and squirrels, and snakes. These animals can sometimes use their tusks as a means of defense against a predator, but usually they prefer to run. They can reach speeds of up to 45 mph. They can also kick with their feet, and the sharp hooves can tear open a large predatory rat.

2 comments:

Metalraptor said...

What would be interesting would be to see a fight between a pair of ailurocyonids and one of the big bison-like rabbucks.

By the way, what does dolabro-mean? This is the second time I have seen it (the first in regard to a Triassic monkey-lizard). Anyone know?

Dee TimmyHutchFan said...

I think "dolabro-" means "pick-axe". It may be old. But I looked it up once and I think that's what it meant.