#1. I actually began working on Metazoic mammal prototypes in 1980, but I was too young to make them scientifically accurate. The first mammals I worked on were the therapeds and deinognathids, which laid dormant in my head until I was almost 20 years old. At which time, I brought them back to life and added more accuracy scientifically to them.
#2. There were originally more family groups for Metazoica, about a dozen of which never actually made it into today's checklist. When I first started to create the mammals of the future, I went wild with ideas. Sometimes too wild. When I first created the original checklist in 1994, there were family groups on there that you will not find in the checklist of today. They were groups that I just could not find an empty niche in the Metazoic for. So, I threw them away.
#3. The odd names you see given as common names of the mammals of the Metazoic were thought up one rainy day by me and my sis in 1995. I got tired of simply calling all the mammals on my list by their latin names, so my sis and I began coming up with the silliest words we could think of as common names for these animals on one boring, rainy day in the summer of 1995 when we could find nothing else to do. Some work out well! Some are just silly, but I kept them anyways because even some modern animals have silly names (case in point, the aye-aye).
#4. It was actually my interest in Batman characters that jump-started the Metazoic project. In 1992, I worked on a series of my own Batman comics, using animal figures instead of people. But modern mammals are too boring to play Batman characters. So, I created my own, most of them lemurs, based on physical and psychological characteristics of the original characters. Later on, when I decided not to use most of the animals I created specifically for those stories, I made them more scientifically accurate and thought up a world where they could fit in, and thus Metazoica was born.
#5. Over the years, the mammals of the Metazoic have literally "evolved" in my mind. If you'll pardon the expression, the animals that you see on this site today are not the same animals they were when I first created them. Some have changed forms over the years many times, and even changed families. I've been trying for the past 23 years to make these animals as scientifically accurate as I can. My biggest inspiration to motion towards accuracy came when I met Metalraptor in 2009. I still give him credit for that.
#6. The Case of the Missing Species. My very first complete checklist for the mammals of the Metazoic was typed on a Mac computer. But I got rid of the Mac in 1997 when I had a terrible time trying to find good software for it. Well, I had to transfer everything from a Mac disk to a PC disk, one of those things was my Metazoic checklist. I had to retype the list all over again, which was a project I set aside in November of 1997. It really took me a total of 2 weeks to complete the list. Unfortunately in the middle of working on that list, I received the shattering news that Michael Hutchence (INXS's lead singer) died. I was so distraught as I loved that man more than life it's self, that I was like a zombie for the rest of that night. I kept typing, but my mind was not on the work. To this day, because of that, I believe whole-heartedly that there are some species that was on that Mac disk checklist that I accidentally never listed on the PC disk checklist and are now lost forever. (and just so you know, yes I did meet him, and fell in love)
#7. Originally I was content to go with Dixon's predatory rats idea as the Metazoic's apex predators, but in 1994 that changed. That was when I worked extensively on the Deinognathids, and made them the Metazoic's top predators.
#8. I have used models of many other animals as ideas for the Metazoic. In my will to create a world with 10,000+ species of mammals, filling every niche, I have used models of fictitious animals that have been presented in Dixon's other evolution books, as well as books about animals of other worlds, including Star Wars. Though I have gradually drowned those out.
#9. The dark background on my Metazoic website is meant to give the illusion of the nighthouse at a zoo. It was kindof inspired by the original Tyrannosaur scene in Jurassic Park 1. The fact the dinosaur went hunting at night made it a bit scarier. I utilized that feeling on my Metazoic website, which is why I always present the site in black, or in this case, charcoal.
#10. I've been thinking for some time about putting up a Metazoic print book. Though such a project would be expensive, to say the least, I thought about having every animal presented on the checklist in the book, in full color. If I do go through with that project, it will become available on UMG Productions (www.umgproductions.com) and on Amazon. But again, it won't be cheap.
#2. There were originally more family groups for Metazoica, about a dozen of which never actually made it into today's checklist. When I first started to create the mammals of the future, I went wild with ideas. Sometimes too wild. When I first created the original checklist in 1994, there were family groups on there that you will not find in the checklist of today. They were groups that I just could not find an empty niche in the Metazoic for. So, I threw them away.
#3. The odd names you see given as common names of the mammals of the Metazoic were thought up one rainy day by me and my sis in 1995. I got tired of simply calling all the mammals on my list by their latin names, so my sis and I began coming up with the silliest words we could think of as common names for these animals on one boring, rainy day in the summer of 1995 when we could find nothing else to do. Some work out well! Some are just silly, but I kept them anyways because even some modern animals have silly names (case in point, the aye-aye).
#4. It was actually my interest in Batman characters that jump-started the Metazoic project. In 1992, I worked on a series of my own Batman comics, using animal figures instead of people. But modern mammals are too boring to play Batman characters. So, I created my own, most of them lemurs, based on physical and psychological characteristics of the original characters. Later on, when I decided not to use most of the animals I created specifically for those stories, I made them more scientifically accurate and thought up a world where they could fit in, and thus Metazoica was born.
#5. Over the years, the mammals of the Metazoic have literally "evolved" in my mind. If you'll pardon the expression, the animals that you see on this site today are not the same animals they were when I first created them. Some have changed forms over the years many times, and even changed families. I've been trying for the past 23 years to make these animals as scientifically accurate as I can. My biggest inspiration to motion towards accuracy came when I met Metalraptor in 2009. I still give him credit for that.
#6. The Case of the Missing Species. My very first complete checklist for the mammals of the Metazoic was typed on a Mac computer. But I got rid of the Mac in 1997 when I had a terrible time trying to find good software for it. Well, I had to transfer everything from a Mac disk to a PC disk, one of those things was my Metazoic checklist. I had to retype the list all over again, which was a project I set aside in November of 1997. It really took me a total of 2 weeks to complete the list. Unfortunately in the middle of working on that list, I received the shattering news that Michael Hutchence (INXS's lead singer) died. I was so distraught as I loved that man more than life it's self, that I was like a zombie for the rest of that night. I kept typing, but my mind was not on the work. To this day, because of that, I believe whole-heartedly that there are some species that was on that Mac disk checklist that I accidentally never listed on the PC disk checklist and are now lost forever. (and just so you know, yes I did meet him, and fell in love)
#7. Originally I was content to go with Dixon's predatory rats idea as the Metazoic's apex predators, but in 1994 that changed. That was when I worked extensively on the Deinognathids, and made them the Metazoic's top predators.
#8. I have used models of many other animals as ideas for the Metazoic. In my will to create a world with 10,000+ species of mammals, filling every niche, I have used models of fictitious animals that have been presented in Dixon's other evolution books, as well as books about animals of other worlds, including Star Wars. Though I have gradually drowned those out.
#9. The dark background on my Metazoic website is meant to give the illusion of the nighthouse at a zoo. It was kindof inspired by the original Tyrannosaur scene in Jurassic Park 1. The fact the dinosaur went hunting at night made it a bit scarier. I utilized that feeling on my Metazoic website, which is why I always present the site in black, or in this case, charcoal.
#10. I've been thinking for some time about putting up a Metazoic print book. Though such a project would be expensive, to say the least, I thought about having every animal presented on the checklist in the book, in full color. If I do go through with that project, it will become available on UMG Productions (www.umgproductions.com) and on Amazon. But again, it won't be cheap.
