Anthropolitan

The main storyline of "George & Wolfie" revolves around George's ability to comprehend the existence of an artificial race called the Anthropolitans. Since he comes from the Nation of Maine, a place where Anthropolitans are prohibited from living or advertising their existence in any way (similar to modern-day North Korea and their annexation of all outsiders), he is completely oblivious of their existence until Wolfie stumbles upon him the day following his move-in on campus.

Species

 * The basic description of an Anthropolitan is an anthropomorphic animal that lives in the George & Wolfie world and was an artificially-created race. Anthropolitans co-exist with humans in most parts of the world and lead similar lives to humans. They carry human characteristics, physics, antics and personalities, but physically look similar to various animals.

Word Origin

 * In technical terrms, the name is derived from 'anthro-' (meaning 'human' in Latin) and -politan from cosmopolitan (defined as 'mixed' or 'multi-ethnic'). However these two words were combined by the creator of the comic (G. Lehner), and are not usually called this kind of half-animal, half-human hybrid outside of this context. For further reference, look up 'furry', 'anthro' or 'anthropomorphism'.

History
Disclaimer!

So, why do they exist? What is or what would be the benefit of ever realistically creating human-animal hybrids on Earth? Stepping back a moment, you may recall about a decade or go our President of the United States, George W. Bush Jr., signed a document which forbid any experimentation into the science and study of hybrid genetics, which was largely guided towards animal-human genetic experimentation. In the real scientific world, something that the caliber of this story would take an unimaginably long time to even conceive the possibility of its reasonable existence.

From what has been read, the main goal was to end anything on the molecular level. But of course, this is all interpretation. What could be accomplished with today's technology is largely unknown to the average person. One can speculate and fabricate a story that involves the FBI and hiding secret information at Roswell, and so on and so forth. But we can all agree on this: Realistically, there is no way to have an animal-human hybrid. It’s not possible. So the story that needed to be fabricated in order to create some sense of possibility was a tall order.

One of the goals of my world was to maintain some sort of realistic feel despite all the unreal activity going on. This is why Edgerton is the only make-believe city in the story, citizens have current-day facilities that we can relate to, and people generally behave in a social manner that we are familiar with.

But getting back, I needed to base the story far enough into the future that the date could coincide with advancements in our world that *possibly* could have developed human-animal hybrids. The year I chose was 2160, but the story starts in 2047. Origin

In my original notebook in which I keep most of my quick-notes on characters, I wrote this chunk of history explaining how Anthropolitans came to be:

             “In 2047, scientists began research on increasing (human) resistance to genetic maladies by employing (splicing) animal and hybridized genes that were resistant to the diseases for human use; in the 2040s conditions were looking prime for this kind of previously unthinkable scientific research. With time this field of science grew, and despite government interference in the United States, the testing moved to Australia and Canada, where it remained legal.

<span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"In 2059, the first effort to attain a human-animal hybrid was attempted. Scientists believed that the benefits of creating a hybrid species would be astronomically beneficial to research and was the "last step for our society to take". Unfortunately the effort failed. Sixteen more tests would pass (the eleventh seemed successful for a couple days) before the seventeenth claimed true success, creating the first “Anthropolitan”; a male rat named Dirk Robbins. A few more rat-humans (as they were called) would be created in the following year, with an original success rate of 81%; Five years later, it was 98%.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"A massive influx of positive and negative responses came from legislators world-wide, and the religious world was in turmoil, but ultimately the President of Australia welcomed the continued research and experimentation. From 2065 to 2075 the population of Anthropolitans in Australia (the term was coined later in the 2090s) increased from 25 to 25,000. Outsourcing the operation to the public was not the original plan by any means and was quite dangerous for some of the originial beneficiaries, furthering complications with the government and judicial system. However, because the operation was not originally regulated by any government, individuals from across the world could output thousands of dollars for the operation to third-party medical businesses who found the business extremely profitable, and which paid for research to other species which was profitable for researchers. 2075 saw 60 new species and this number ten-folded by 2090.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The operation was fast becoming a trendy choice. It began to cross-over first in Canada and then (finally) the United States in the late 2070s, to general public distaste.” <h3 class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Rise of Race


 * <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">            And so it came to be that scientists circumnavigated the American government by moving their operations to other countries, relentlessly experimented on the rearrangement of DNA, and created an animal-human hybrid from an already-living person. Assumedly, many other tests were done other than the sixteen previous that all resulted in death, but the details beyond this story are up for self-interpretation. There was never really a solid effort to explain with minute details how it was all possible.


 * As previously stated, the number of species researched and available exponentially grew with each passing year, and provided significant increases in profit to the once-struggling economies of Australia and Canada. Russia, China and Korea followed suit until the United States fell into the twist. Today the only regions with no significant percentage of Anthropolitan residence are middle Africa, parts of the Middle East (in Yemen and Saudi Arabia the operation and entrance is prohibited), and several hundred other small sects and newly-created country divisions, including Maine from the USA.


 * As of 2160, 45% of the United States population identifies as an Anthropolitan race, and this number is expected to top 50% by 2175. Currently over 18,000 'races' are present globally, and from which about 98.8% are represented by at least one individual in the USA.

Biology
The biology of an individual Anthropolitan can greatly vary based on the specie. But listed below are traits that are generally shared between all species of the Anthropolitan race.

(See a List of Anthropolitan species for specific information on each specie.)

Anatomy and Physiology
The majority of Anthropolitans share these features - some kind of head, a body (or torso), two arms and two legs in similar dimensions to a human being, grasping hands (to a certain degree), and some kind of standing device (feet, claws or hooves). From here, the similarities are less visible and more internally existant.

Skeletal System
In comparison to humans, Anthropolitans usually share four limbs of varying length and size, a spine that may or may not extend beyond the pelvic bones, and a larger skull than ferals with a human-sized cavity region for a larger brain.

Depending on the species, the skeletal system may function differently than in humans. For example, Avian anthropolitan populations have lighter-weighted bones that also function in accordance to the respiratory system, allowing air to enter and leave the bones of the body. This function was carried over (albeit to a lesser degree) from the feral body plan of birds, which facilitates flight. However, Anthropolitan avians cannot fly, and therefore the lighter-weight bones only assist in increasing the fragility of their bones. Avians report the highest amount of skeletal fractures of any specie group every year.

The ribcage and the number of ribs, as well as the number of vertebrae also differ greatly between species.

Exoskeletal creatures, sponges and echinodermic animals would not be able to function in an anthropomorphic form due to their skeletal systems, and therefore do not exist in the world.

Height and Weight
Anthropolitan species, on average, are about one inch shorter than the average human (~67 inches (M), ~66 inches (F)). However, heights of individual species of Anthropolitans vary and are a much better indicator of average height.

For example, the giraffe species have the tallest average among all Anthropolitan species at about 91 inches for males and 86 inches for females. In contrast, rodents are considered to be among the shortest species group, usually averaging around 58 inches, however no actual study or information has been gathered to support this theory.

As one can imagine, weight is also a variant issue, and the feral animals that tend to be higher on the weight scale in this world (i.e. rhinoceros, walrus, elephant, etc.) can be nearly 350 lbs on average as an Anthropolitan specie and be considered at a healthy average. Some species naturally rely on being a heavier weight. Anemic issues can also be attributed to natural weight and height problems in some species.

Biological Variation

 * For further information on the biological variation of the Anthropolitan species, see Biological variation of Anthropolitans.

Sexual Reproduction
Anthropolitans are similar to humans in that all species are/have designated male and female members at birth, and that each member is sexually productive and can reproduce with one another.

However, a male member and female member (or vice versa) of different species of Anthropolitans rarely can mate and successfully. It is recommended and usually preferable to find a mate of the same species, but this can prove to be difficult based on population count.

Thus, seeding and germination services (as a form as fair adoption by law) are widely accepted as fair practice across the board and are available in health care centers in most towns. This has become socially acceptable over time and therefore does not emotionally affect members of different species from applying for marriage or raising a family.

There are several laws that prohibit the actions of adoption, inter-breeding, and courtship among Anthropolitans, humans and feral populations. Laws differ by state and country, but are most liberally free in Australia and Canada. In the United States, 48 of the 50 states allow inter-species marriage, seeding and germination services and inter-species adoption to varying degrees. The two states, Nevada and New Hampshire, do not allow inter-species marriage. In this world, Maine is its own country and does not allow any of the above as they are anti-Anthropolitan, refusing to acknowledge the presence of the species.

Controversy
The introduction and incorporation of a new species into the world has widely been regarded as controversial. Despite any beneficial outlook, there have been a few constant topics of conversation that have gained political and academic attention in the last century - some with resolutions and others without or pending resolution.

Religion and Morality
As you can imagine, the concept of alternate beings is a matter of controversy in most religions. In Christianity and Protestantism, non-human species were always seen as mythological or of hellish nature - and therefore many religious groups largely protested the advancements in science and the "act of playing god".

"Brain-drain"
There was an increasing amount of fear shortly after the creation of the species that there would be a post-traumatic result that was referred to as "brain-drain"; in that the general thoughts of society would be biased and turned to the proceedings of the government.

Series-I and Series-II
Solely restricted to the Anthropolitan race, much controversy surrounds the two different types of operations that can be performed in order to perform species transfiguration - referred to as Series-I and Series-II. Series-I allows you to choose the species whereas Series-II does not and is by random. And as a result, Series-II transfiguration is much less costly; it is in place to keep all Anthropolitan races/species at a core balanced level.

There have been instances in history where citizens have applied for Series-I and received Series-II treatment, in which the costumer is compensated but cannot undergo another transfiguration ''(for more information see Baddewater v State of Delaware). ''

The controversy extends to the enforced or assumed balance of species and its relation to feral populations on Earth, and the possible chance of death during the transfigural operation. Although the risk of death has dropped significantly and is not as common as it originally was, there is still very little existing legislature that addresses the event of death due to this operation and whether any charges or fines should be applied; or if a court order or action should result.

"Banned" races
Shortly after the iteration of several species including aquatic-based mammals such as the otter, and especially the walrus - theoretical research was done into created a fully-aquatic anthropolitan race.

Racial limitations
The depletion in ethnicity and racial populations have caused some to believe that the implementation of the Anthropolitan race is a government-driven effort to eliminate minorities, in a similar methodology to the Holocaust.

"Species Overload" theory
Another theory spread quickly in the late 21st century that was concerned with "species overload" - in which an overload of species (also referred to as high biodiversity depletion) would result in less reproduction, and/or complicate people's lives in general due to previously-established social boundaries.

Feral Zoology Depletion
An immediate concern that originated in 2073 and published by Australian scientists concluded that the introduction of anthropolitan life would directly result in the depletion of feral life on Earth. This was presumably the largest controversy that arose and had an immediate effect on the progress of the Anthropolitan race - certain countries temporarily outlawed Series reassignments until further research could be done. It was determined that due to the lack of data, and especially in regards to Series-II transfiguration essentially being a "reassignment" of human species and not of feral species, that it would not harm the zoology of environments. To the current day of the comic strip, this somewhat remains true - some overpopulated species have seen a gradual decrease in population, and other previously borderline-extinct species have gone extinct - but there is no scientific evidence to prove this is directly in response to the introduction of Anthropolitans and not caused by other bioecological phenomena such as global warming.

Population
Some basics on popluations and popularity stats.