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.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Family of the Week: The Tusked Sinecrus

This is a small family of animals that are derived from elephant shrews. They somewhat resemble the modern manatees, and are found only in what is today the Hawaiian Islands. They are rather more slenderly built than manatees, and have a long tail and small hind flippers. The front flippers are large and strong and tipped with short, flat fingernails. They are very flexible and used for grasping the aquatic plants and grasses that these animals feed on. The body is long and barrel-shaped, the head is short and blunt, the canine teeth have become tusks that grow outward rather than up or downward. There is no fur, but the flesh can be very brilliantly colored, especially in the males. The tail is like those of whales, only somewhat longer. They propel themselves through the water with an undulating motion of their tail. They are considerably faster and more high-energy swimmers than manatees. Like manatees though, they inhabit lakes and ponds. The forelimbs are powerful enough that these animals can actually move from one body of water to another. They pull themselves on land in the same manner as the mud-skippers (Gobiidae, Oxudercinae) of the Cenozoic. They have no layers of blubber, as in whales, so they will not crush themselves under their own weight. They can actually stay on land for several hours before needing to retreat back into water.

Most species have about 2 tusks that protrude out the mouth. However, Cornurostris has only one tusk. These tusks are most often used for sparring among males, and the males indeed have the largest tusks. The tusks play no part in feeding. The only species that has the smallest tusks are in Egeodonta. In this species, the tusks never extend out of the mouth. All these species are basically large and slender, the largest among them is about 11 feet long. These are in the genus Bidens. However, they are still very capable of walking along the land when necessary. But they are not blubbery like whales or dolphins. This allows these animals to easily move on land for considerable distances.

The only time these sinecrus come to land is to relocate or mate. The females usually birth their calves in the water, away from any land-based predators. They only give birth to a single offspring, and the baby is born tail first, as in whales. The mother then nurses the baby. She floats to the water’s surface, still safe away from land-based predators, and exposes her belly, where the nipples are, and the baby eats that way. The mother’s nipples are fixed so that she herself pumps the milk out so the baby doesn’t have to suction the milk out it’s self. But this way the baby can eat and breathe at the same time and so can the mother. Often, she will even use her foreflippers to hold the baby to where the nipple is. The baby is well protected, though the males play no part in the family role, the mother is perfectly capable of defending her baby by using her sharp tusks as a defense against predators.

The islands where these animals live is not exactly teaming with predators. Among the worst predators are the smaller carnivorous sinecrus of the family Ephodozoidae. These are the worst because they can, and usually do, attack the tusked sinecrus and their young right in the water. Predatory bats like Cercomoloch may take the young from the air, as the mother is nursing them. Sometimes, adults may also fall prey to these pteropods as they are crossing the forest floor to move from one pond to another. Cercomoloch can easily kill even an 11-foot long adult with their powerful talons. Another predatory candidate would be the predatory rats that inhabit these islands. They may take down the tusked sinecrus as well as they try to cross the forest floor. But these animals are not completely without defenses. They can use their tusks easily to ward off any predatory attacks. The tusks are sharp and powerful and can quite simply act like the blade of a swiss army knife, and slice open a predator. Or a well-placed stab can immobilize and even kill a predator.

6 comments:

Metalraptor said...

I would like to mention something to the readers of Metazoica. Metazoica has her sinecrus swimming in a side-to-side motion, like crocodiles. At first I thought this was inaccurate, given that all aquatic mammals today swim in an up-and-down motion. However, then I found out that otter shrews, a group of tenrecs (and kissing cousins to the sinecrus, elephant shrews, and trelebrates) swim in that motion as well. Just another pre-emptive comment there.

Dee TimmyHutchFan said...

I think the water opossums and muskrats also swim that way. Just a couple more examples of mammals that use side-to-side motion when swimming. :)

Luciano said...

Were elephant shrews introduced to Hawai?

Dee TimmyHutchFan said...

There is another family before this family, that made it to Hawaii by being fully oceanic.

Metalraptor said...

Basically, Luciano, these animals swam to the Hawaiian islands, much like seals do to oceanic islands today. Sinecrus originally evolved on the mainland (though where I do not know, ask Metazoica), and then colonized numerous areas of the ocean. Apparently, they seemed to have a measure of success in Hawaii.

Dee TimmyHutchFan said...

They evolved first in Africa, straight from elephant shrews, then populated the oceans.