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.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Goal Set, Goal Met!

I am on top of the world! I set a goal to reach 100 new species in the Metazoic checklist by the end of this week, and it has been done!!! In fact, I have 176 new species in the checklist!!!! I also renamed some animals. For example, the Paraphocid genus, Columpiphonium, is now Eidyia. I just did this blindly, I never counted on actually reaching this goal and so soon too!! Most of the new ones are of the pteropod and rodent families, but I've also got some new species scattered everywhere.

I have the new checklist, but I am not quite through with it yet so I won't be posting it up on the site just yet. However, with this week's new line-up, I now have a grand total of 1070 genera and 3117 species of mammals listed on the checklist. A far cry from my original goal, but it's a great start! I have also created a counter on the side of this blog, which will be updated every now and then to allow all viewers a chance to see the progress. Though with this one, my goal is set at 5000. Then I will be at least halfway to my original goal of 10,000 mammal species.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Family of the Week: The Beavers

The Metazoic family Castoridae is basically a continuation of the family we have today. The beaver is one of the largest rodents we have today. The modern basic body form is round, humpbacked, small head and eyes and a short muzzle. It's most noticable features are the short, flat tail and large incisors. During the Metazoic, the family branches out, and takes on several forms. Not only the familiar animal I just described, but there are also forms that resembles rats, squirrels and even guinea pigs. Most species have either short tails or no tails. The longest tails belong to Trogonomys, which are tree-dwelling, rat-like creatures. In most species, the tails are naked, scaly, in some they are covered in fine fur. The feet are naked and webbed in all but Trogonomys. The head is still short and the incisors are long, sharp and powerful. The ears are either very small, or absent in most species. The fur is slick and oily, the claws are long and sharp. The legs are generally short, or in some cases have turned to flippers. The body has become elongate in some forms, with the hind feet being fused with the tail to form a large flipper in the back, which is paddled in an up and down motion for swimming. The ears and nostrils are capable of closing while underwater and the eyes have a special nictitating membrane that closes over the eyes while they are underwater.

The largest member of the family is in the genus Phocapotamus. This animal closely resembles a hippopotamus with flippers instead of legs. The head of this animal is very large and blunt. They cannot walk very well on land. They live alone or in couples. There is no tail in this animal, and they are covered with very short, slick fur. The smallest member of this family is in the genus Castorella. These are small replicas of modern beavers. Like modern beavers, the species in this family also build nests, or dams. Trogonomys lives in trees and builds a nest among the branches to house it's young. The nest is usually constructed of twigs and leaves. Other species cut up saplings, as they do today and build their dams in running water. Most species live singly or in couples. Though in the genus Caprymnus, they tend to live in the largest groups of all Castorids. Caprymnus somewhat resembles a large guinea pig, or the capybara.

Contrary to popular belief, no species of this family eats fish. They are all strictly vegetarians. Their diet consists of aquatic plants, flowers, leaves, grass, and fungi. Though a large species like Caprymnus is safer in large groups, they do tend to fall prey to some predators. Foxes, barofelids and mongooses are their major enemies. They can defend themselves by swimming, or if they are cornered, they can use their sharp claws and teeth for defense.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

New Species Added

I have made some more additions to the Metazoica lineup. I've made more new species. Mostly bats. I am still determined to hit that 10,000 species mark! That is, 10,000 species of mammals. That's been my goal almost since the beginning. Though looking at this goal from a 1995 viewpoint, I wanted to have that goal completed by the year 2000. It didn't happen though. I don't have a year point, per se, to reach this goal toward. I just want to hit 10,000 different mammal species. PERIOD.

I've mostly been focusing my attention on the bats, namely the Pteropods, the true rats and mice the Pseudomyids, antelope of the family Megalodorcidae, and the therapedidae. Though I've scattered different and new species all over, not just in those families. I was trying to remember all the different animals over the past year that I have discussed with other future evolution fans. I've even added a couple of new families. Besides the obvious naming some of my animals after my Facebook and MySpace friends, I have also added:

  • a mongoose-like opossum
  • antbird-like pteropods both for the old and new world
  • a large pteropod called a "fruit-cow" (not cow-like!)

And more! These animals will show up in the new version of the Metazoic check-list, which I won't add to the site just yet. I'm on a role!! I won't be posting up the new checklist for quite a while.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Family of the Week: The Marsupial Pig

Well, I was reading my latest comments, and an old SE buddy of mine was saying this blog seems to have turned into something it wasn't intended to be before, and he's sick of it. It made me think "ya know, he's right about that." I couldn't argue. My response was I was thinking of starting up the Family of the Week deal again. I said I'd do it when I wasn't so busy anymore, and then I started thumbing through my regular rounds on the internet, and realized there was not much going on. So I decided to start up again tonight. I believe my last FOW was the shrubucks. For the first time in months, this week's family of the week is the marsupial pig.

The marsupial pig is the sole species of the family Thylasuidae. Dixon named it the posset, I just call it a marsupial pig. It is the last descendant of the bandicoots. The head resembles that of a modern pig, or boar. They also have tusks that helps them grub for roots and tubers. The feet are not hard like those of pigs, but rather soft, and dog-like in appearance. The feet are equipped with claws that helps these animals dig burrows. The legs are relatively short, the body is short, bulky and round. The tail is long and tipped with a small tassel, like a zebra (yes, I did some tweaking on this animal's body) the ears are small and rounded, and really the only naked part of the body. The eyes are large and round. The animal it's self is not very big, about the size of a shepherd dog. They are diurnal animals, spending their nights in communal burrows, that house a single family of about 4 individuals. The family members split up during the day to hunt for food. The dominant male and female (the parents) remain the closest together when foraging without crossing paths.

The burrows themselves are quite interesting, consisting of a seemingly seriously undersized tunnel and a large chamber at the end where the family curls up together and sleeps. The undersized tunnel is there to deter intruders from invading the family. Though the main part of this animal's diet is roots and tubers, they will also feed on grass, seeds, some leaves, fallen fruits, berries, even insects, earthworms, snails, and sometimes carrion and the eggs of ground-nesting birds. The flat nose is designed though to get under mud and soft dirt to dig out the morsels they like. The claws also aid in this act. The tail is constantly twitching as a signal to other members of the group, alerting each other's position.

Females are known as sows, as are pigs. They have a pretty well-developed pouch. The young come out partially developed and fed through a makeshift placenta for several weeks, and then finish their development in the pouch, attached to a nipple. This is the closest to being developed in the way a normal mammal is that any marsupial gets. The babies are still no larger than a bumblebee when they are born, but they are a little better developed than marsupials today are at birth. They are born with better developed rear legs that allows them better gripping power at birth, so they are better able to crawl to the pouch.

These animals are quite capable of defending themselves, much like the way anteaters do. They stand up on their hind legs with their front feet (which has the biggest claws) slashing the attacker. Predators of this animal include Carnophalanger and Tamanoa. Also some large monitor lizards and pythons.