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.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Metazoica Under New Management

Well, uh, in case you haven’t read the title, Metazoica’s going to be out for a while. My name’s Metalraptor, and I’ll be your temporary host for the next few months while Metazoica works on her drawings and tries to find a new computer.

I guess I should tell you a little bit about myself. I’m a scientist-in-training who is fascinated with the “upper vertebrates”, archosaurs and mammals, but really love vertebrates in general. Among the vertebrates, I must say I am a mammal addict, specifically Oligocene-Miocene mammals of the world. I also have a speculative biology future world project of my own “Beasties of the Future,” but I don’t have the gall to put it on the web.

Now, I hate blogs that merely tell you “I got up today, I brushed my teeth, yadda, yadda, yadda”. So, instead of telling you about my boring life, instead I will be presenting to you a variety of essays on biology. Most of these will correlate with Speculative Biology, though the connection between others and the subject may be a little hard to see. But I will promise you I will try to make it as interesting as possible.

Unfortunately, there is some sad news as well. There won’t be any “new families posted” or any “families of the week” for a while. Me not being telepathetic, I can’t read Metazoica’s mind and tell you what she plans to put on her site. So until she gets back...no updates.

Now, I’m not Metazoica, so I’m going to be running things a little differently around here. My rules are slightly different, but they’re going to be what goes, so pay attention. First off, no copious swearing. I don’t care if you keep it at a PG level, but no f-bombing in this blog, from you or from me. Secondly, no insulting people. It is one thing to point out the inaccuracies in an idea, but it is another thing entirely to call people idiots and insult their mothers. Third, anything you post will be directly uploaded to the comment board. This is not my decision; its how Metazoica rigged it, so we both have to learn to deal with it.

So anyway, if you need any proof that I’m not Metazoica, let me tell you what next week’s first subject will be. The first post of mine here will be on...the evolutionary future of cats (Oh god Metazoica’s going to castrate me for this...).

Also, a bit of a disclaimer, and a warning. I’ve gotten a lot of my information from books and paleontological tomes from all over, but my information may not always be that correct and up-to-date. Before you go quoting me, I would suggest that you do the research yourself, and make sure you have all your facts right before you go saying something crazy like...well, can’t give you an example there, spoiler alert.


Finally, I love comments, comments make my blood flow and my four-chambered heart beat. If you want to leave a comment, click on the little comment button down at the end of each post, and leave me feedback...please. Anyway, tune in next week for the evolutionary future of cats!



Edit: I have removed my e-mail due to spambots

13 comments:

Dee TimmyHutchFan said...

Future of cats??? Ugh!! LOL!

Well, you have fun anyway! :) I was going to try and do a family of this week today, but I don't know. I'm sort of expecting my pa to show up.

Metalraptor said...

That's why I'm doing cats, because this is probably the only time anyone will ever talk about them on this blog.

The post won't appear until next Friday though, I'm notoriously lazy.

Dee TimmyHutchFan said...

Anyone who, after reading that, still thinks you and I are the same person is nothing more than a common FOOL! So is anyone who believes them. And they aren't even worth addressing; here or anywhere else. As I have proven more than once that I am not a feline-loving person.

But this is your place to ramble about science now for a while. I just want you to have fun, and keep it interesting for all.

I also want to say to Canis and Venatosaurus that I hope they do good on their projects and I'd love to see the progress on them when I get back.

Anonymous said...

So, Metalraptor, I hope this blog will stay interesting under your rule.
To pour oil on the flames I may say in my Neocene cats will exist. Some species will descend from wild species of today, other will be hybridogenous. Viverrids will shift the positions of cats expanding to the North (Far East, Central Asia, Western Europe), but they will co-exist cats.

Anonymous said...

This is Metalraptor...

Paul,

Hello, my name is Metalraptor (in case you hadn't already guessed). It is a great honor to meet you. You are one of the speculative biology greats, alongside Nemo Ramjet, Dougal Dixon, Wayne Douglas Barlowe, and the creators of Spec. I really like your Neocene (even though I don't agree with all of your creatures), and I hope that sometime we can talk or chat. My e-mail is posted if you want to respond.

And yes, I too have cats in Beasties. The feline felids (cheetahs and "small cats") have done well, although the cheetah has been lost, but only three pantherines have descendants; the jaguar, clouded leopard, and leopard. Other than them, I have future bobcats, jaguarundis, domestic cat descendants (no cougars or servals yet), as well as some marsupial cat-wannabes, such as the Thumbsnappers.

I never really thought about civets. Honestly, it is probably because I have giant descendants of slit-faced bats dominating a lot of the predatory niches in Africa, alongside cats and hyenas (though civets will definitely be there!)

See you soon,

Metalraptor

Anonymous said...

Thank you for compliment, but I'm an exterminator of D. Dixon's ideas faster...

So, bats... They can't even normally walk now, and you want to see them as predators hunting alongside with hyenas and cats? I don't agree. At first steps of their evolution they must compete with "true" predators able to run and to walk. And ground predators will not wait while bats will learn the four-legged walking. They will occupy free ecological niches faster. And the transition of bats to terrestrial habit of life seems possible only at the islands without competition with other groups of ground animals. And even in this case they'll be only less flying, but not completely flightless.

So, and with what Neocene animals don't you agree, and, the main question, why?

Anonymous said...

This is Metalraptor...

I think you misunderstand me, I never said that the bats were flightless. They are flighted animals, swooping down on their prey. They don't prefer to hunt on the ground, but are competent on the ground if they have to be. Think of them as the bat equivalent of azdarchids, (terrestriality wise) but better at flying. The fact that they are lightweight fliers precludes them from other niches, sucb as cursorial sprinters, and so other animals take niches that bats cannot compete in. Perhaps there was an "age of civets" before the predatory bats took over (keep in mind that my future world is 50 MYF, 50 million years ago, true carnivorans were little more than arboreal weasel-like predators). There is a fully terrestrial flightless bat elsewhere, but that is a different story.

Anonymous said...

Oh, sorry. But in any case bats have easily vunerable wings, and I seriously doubt in their ability to bacome predators hunting dangerous actively defending prey. They may be an ecological analogue of "eagles", but not "leopards".

Anonymous said...

This is Metalraptor...

There are still leopards out there, its just that bats take a lot of the predatory niches in Africa. Also, the majority of these bats prey is "super antelope" and such, which is killed by them lashing out with their talons (these bats have derived more efficient wings than their ancestors, who are crippled by their cruropatagium, which is what allowed them to get big and nasty in the first place.) They also do a lot of pursuit hunting, chasing prey until it is exhausted in the air. Then they close in. Some are eagle analogues, but others are big, nasty predators. However, in one respect you are right, they don't try and pick fights with the big, nasty megafauna of the area, but instead hunt the myriad of grazers on the plains (though they will try and bring down juveniles). Though, they do have techniques to hunt the animals of the area while avoiding the horns and such.

Anonymous said...

Think of sabertooths, they had fragile canines that were necessary for their very livelyhood, and yet they survived for over twenty million years. The sabertooth body plan was so successful it evolved at least five separate times amonst the mammals, in the borhyaenids, the nimravids, dinofelids (which are closer related to small cats than macharodontines, and thus developed saber teeth independantyl), macharodontines, and creodonts.

Anonymous said...

... and at theromorph reptiles like Inostrancevia and Ivantosaurus in Permian... But in every case the group owning saber-like teeth existed not for long. And next sabertooth wasn't its descendant.

As for bats, I think about this:
"Though, they do have techniques to hunt the animals of the area while avoiding the horns and such."
You may just describe the method of their hunting in description of your species.

Metalraptor said...

I'm just trying to say that predatory animals with organs that can be damaged and thus threaten their livelyhood still seem to be rather successful. And Macharodontinae lasted for over 20 million years. Compare that to our own group, which has yet to be around seven. Plus, if humans hadn't come about, Machairodontinae cats would have lasted even longer.

I'm glad you see what I mean by the predatory bats though, and how they are possible to evolve.

Metalraptor said...
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