A specially commissioned piece from the "Cyborg Series" of designs. A little bit cyberpunk, a little bit steampunk. Luckily I found this skull in time for EBSQ's Rodent contest . The concept here encompasses the mythos of the "Terminator" movie series. Why restrict the creation of cyber-monsters to humans? Here this skull shows a bit of steampunk and cyberpunk influences - two genres of Science Fiction that have influenced countless movies. This piece was has a strong literary influence as well - this was inspired by a short story by Kat Eason, where rats and re-engineered werewolves fight among the remains of a future city. This skull is from a South American spiny rat (family Echimyidae). I carefully wired the jaws to open and close and the wires come through the where the optic nerves were - and thread through the base of the skull. All together it took about 15 hours to complete. Tiny watch parts were set into the bone, including two watch rubies. I really love how the teeth look in the profile piece. You can see how deep they are set into the skull. This has already been sold... and I'm at work on the 3rd skull in the series.