Mathison Museum of Natural History

Species: Eupatorus gracilicornis Arrow, 1908
Common name(s): five-horned rhinoceros beetle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King - small series, standard
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (including horns) approximately 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:2 for a major male
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fourth time we've seen E. gracilicornis in the Museum. The Sega 'small standard series' were 10 sets of 10 figures each, for a total of 100 figures representing 65-75 species of Lucanidae and dynastine Scarabaeidae. The dates of release are currently unknown to me (c. 2008). The figures were produced in conjunction with Bandai and came with Pokemon-style playing cards. At the time of this writing, I think I have all but two of the species. For a review of the sets, please see the overview by forum member Beetle guy here.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia (China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia)
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood; adults feed on nectar, plant sap, and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like many large dynastine scarab beetles, E. gracilicornis has marked sexual dimorphism. Males (as shown here today) have four large pronotal horns and one cephalic horn (hence the common name, 'five-horned rhinoceros beetle'). Females have a more rugose pronotum and lack the pronotal and cephalic horns.

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Species: Odocoileus hemionus Rafinesque, 1817
Common name(s): mule deer; black-tailed deer

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Big Country Toys, LLC
Series: Hunting Toys
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Height at shoulders approximately 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:13.3-1:17.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (possibly unique, see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: There are a couple mule deer on Toy Animal Wiki by AAA and Marx, but not sure if those identifications were intended by the manufacturers or if those are 'STS community identifications'. I can see myself replacing this figure if it ever gets made by Safari, CollectA, or similar.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Western North America
Habitat: Highly variable, including deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woodlands, semideserts, deserts, plains, grasslands, sagebrush steppe, chaparral; also parks, cemeteries, suburban areas
Diet: Leaves of shrubs and trees, grasses, forbs, beans, pods, nuts, berries, lichens
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: There are two main groups of mule deer, the ‘strict’ mule deer and the black-tailed deer. The strict mule deer is broadly distributed in the West and is divided into eight subspecies: O. h. californicus (California), O. h. cerrosensis (Cedros Island, Baja, Mexico), O. h. eremicus (Lower Colorado River Valley, northwestern Mexico, southeastern California, and Arizona), O. h. fulginatus (southern California and Baja California), O. h. hemionus (western and central North America, including the Rocky Mountain region), O. h. inyoensis (Sierra Nevada Mountains, California), O. h. peninsulae (Baja California Sur), O. h. sheldoni (Tiburón Island, Sonora, Mexico). The black-tailed deer is more restricted along the West Coast and is divided into two subspecies: O. h. columbianus (Pacific Northwest and northern California) and O. h. sitkensis (coastal and islands of British Columbia and Alaska).

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Hope to find one soon

widukind wrote:

Hope to find one soon

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - it's on Amazon (not sure they ship to your country, however): [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thank you so much but sadly they will not ship to Germany

Species: Papilio xuthus Linnaeus, 1767
Common name(s): Asian swallowtail; Chinese yellow swallowtail

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Caterpillars Vols. 1, 4, and 5
Years of Production: 2013, 2020, 2023
Size/Scale: Body length of 2013 and 2020 figures approximately 5.6 cm for a scale of 1.4:1-1.1:1. Body length of 2023 figure approximately 6.0 cm for a scale of 1.5:1-1.2:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fifth time we've seen P. xuthus in the Museum. The three caterpillars from left to right represent figures from Vol. 1 (2013), Vol. 4 (2020), and Vol. 5 (2023), respectively. All three are unique sculpts (although the sculpt from Vol. 2 was also used for a Papilio protenor in the same set).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia; introduced to Hawaii
Habitat: Forests, gardens, parks, citrus orchards
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the family Rutaceae, including cultivated Citrus; adults are attracted to flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Papilio xuthus mates with multiple males during its lifetime, increasing the genetic diversity in its offspring.

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Species: Cobitis biwae Jordan & Snyder, 1901
Common name(s): Japanese spined loach; Japanese striped loach

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book 2
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The fish is removable from its base. Figures in this set were released at least twice; I am sure mine is from the second release based on forum member sbell's recent review this species on the Animal Toy Blog.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan
Habitat: Freshwater rivers, especially with sandy or gravely substrate
Diet: Freshwater invertebrates, detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Cobitis biwae native to much of Honshu and Shikoku in Japan, but invasive in other parts of the country, most notably Lake Chūzenji in Tochigi prefecture and eastern Shizuoka prefecture. It is sometimes difficult to determine the full extent of its introduced range, as well as its effect on the native loaches where it's been introduced, due to strong morphologic similarities with other species.

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Nice fish, are brackish water fishes in that serie?

widukind wrote:

Nice fish, are brackish water fishes in that serie?

Some, such as the Grass Puffer. sbell has been migrating his walkarounds to the Blog for the last month or so; they are all reviewed there.

Species: Eupatorus gracilicornis Arrow, 1908
Common name(s): five-horned rhinoceros beetle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Tropical Rain Forest Rhinoceros Beetles
Year of Release: 2005
Size/Scale: Body length (including cephalic horn) approximately 6.5 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fifth time we've seen E. gracilicornis in the Museum, and the second in less than a week. Gotta love randomness! Minimal assembly is required (the legs need to be attached) and the beetle is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia (China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia)
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood; adults feed on nectar, plant sap, and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: In some parts of the world, including Thailand and Laos, E. gracilicornis is eaten by local peoples.

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Species: †Redlichia rex Holmes et al., 2019

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Body length (exclusive of appendages) approximately 8.2 cm for a scale of 1:3 for a maximum-sized specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure, along with Nautilus, Orthoceras, Pleuroceras, Limulus, and Passaloteuthis, launched a new direction for CollectA in large, high-quality prehistoric (or related) invertebrates! It would be followed up by a few others since then. Let's hope it continues!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Lower Cambrian of present-day Australia
Habitat: Marine, benthopelagic
Diet: Hard-bodied benthic invertebrates, including possibly its own species (see below)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Potential bite marks found on some fossils of R. rex suggest that larger individuals of the species fed on smaller individuals of its own species. Redlichia rex also fed on smaller trilobites of other species, such as its congener, R. takooensis.

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Species: Chaunax abei Le Danois, 1978
Common name(s): coffinfish

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Aquarium Figure Collection - Deep Sea Creatures 1
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Base 4.5 cm wide. Body length approximately 5.7 cm for a scale of 1:5.3 for a maximum-sized specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: To the best of my knowledge, this figure is unique for its species. The fish sits loosely on its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific (Japan to southern Taiwan and South China Sea)
Habitat: Demersal; at depths of 90-500 meters
Diet: Other fish, marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting):
Miscellaneous Notes: Chaunax abei is an ambush predator on the sea floor, snatching up any prey it encounters that will fit in its large mouth.

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Species: Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758
Common name(s): largehead hairtail; beltfish

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Primary Saltwater Fish
Year of Production: 2021
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 9.5 cm for a scale of 1:5.3-24.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (unique as a sculpt)
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was first produced by Yujin before Takara acquired the various 'Pictorial Book' collections. The placard has the fish's Japanese and Latin names and its distribution, habitat, and size in Japanese.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Worldwide in tropical and temperate seas and oceans
Habitat: Benthopelagic, coastal; at depths of 0-589 meters (usually 100-350 meters)
Diet: Small fish (including smaller members of their own species), marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Despite the body shape of T. lepturus and other cutlassfish in the family Trichiuridae, they are not eels nor are they closely related to eels (within Teleostei). This is an example of parallel evolution, whereby independent taxa develop similar characteristics while evolving simultaneously in the same time and ecospace.

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Species: Mantella madagascariensis (Grandidier, 1872)
Common name(s): Madagascan mantella; Malagasy painted mantella; painted mantella

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Tropical Rain Forest Frogs
Year of Production: 2019 (2005)
Size/Scale: Snout-to vent-length approximately 3.2 cm for a scale of 1.6:1-1.2:1 (see below).
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (possibly unique as a sculpt)
Miscellaneous Notes: My figure is the 2019 release of a model that originally came out in 2005. Mantella madagascariensis is sexually dimorphic with regards to size and this figure scales 1.6:1-1.5:1 for a male or 1.3:1-1.2:1 for a female.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East-central Madagascar
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical montane and lowland forests and forest margins, often near rivers
Diet: Small insects and arachnids
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Molecular analysis of the cytochrome b gene suggests that Mantella madagascariensis is a complex of multiple species.

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Species: Acanthogobius flavimanus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845)
Common name(s): yellowfin goby; Japanese river goby; Oriental goby; mahaze

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Saltwater Fish Pictorial Book 2
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:2.4-1:5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (at least as a sculpt)
Miscellaneous Notes: The fish sits loosely on its base. The base also came with a section of line, hook, and worm, as if it was being fished for, but I chose not to display the figure like that. We saw this same set-up with Yujin's whitespotted conger here in the Museum back in February of this year.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific; introduced to the East Pacific (California) and Australia (New South Wales)
Habitat: Freshwater rivers and streams, descending to brackish and marine bays and estuaries to breed; at depths of 1-6 meters
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates, small fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Acanthogobius flavimanus can migrate freely between fresh and saline water environments. The fish normally lives in freshwater streams and rivers but descends to marine and brackish waters to breed in winter, with a preference for bays and estuaries with muddy and sandy bottoms.

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Species: Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): American cockroach; ship cockroach

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: K&M International
Series: North American Insects
Year of Production: 1998
Size/Scale: Body length (excluding appendages) approximately 4.5 cm, within scale 1:1 for a larger specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: I don't know anything about this set and don't remember how I came across this figure (I think I got it from form member Froggie). The set used to be on Wing Mau's website, but it isn't there anymore. If I remember correctly, the set also including a camel cricket and giant stag beetle (both of which I also have), as well as a honey bee, praying mantis, and seven-spotted lady beetle (none of which I have). What's interesting is that the set on Wing Mau's website was advertised as 'North American' insects even though four of the species are not native to North America :-). Currently on TAI they are listed as K&M Insects Bulk. In the 1990s, Wing Mau produced figures for several companies, including K&M International, Play Visions, and Club Earth.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Native to Africa; now occurs nearly worldwide in temperate, tropical, and subtropical climates
Habitat: Highly variable where temperature and humidity are adequate, including hollow trees, wood piles, leaf litter, mulch, and many urban and suburban environments such as houses, garages, sewage systems, restaurants, grocery stores, food processing plants, and hospitals.
Diet: Any organic material, including bark, leaves, paper, wool clothes, sugar, cheese, bread, oil, lemons, ink, soap, flesh, fish, leather, other roaches and insects (dead or alive), or their own cast-off skins and egg-capsules.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Despite the common name 'American' cockroach, P. americana in native to Africa and now occurs nearly worldwide by commerce. It is thought that the cockroach was first introduced to North America on slave ships from Africa as early as 1625.

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The swallowtail caterpillars and the mantella frog are really wonderful, but all of these invertebrates are impressive. Every time you have one in the house setting, it brings with it a touch of Kafka.

Species: Oryctes gigas Laporte de Castelnau, 1840

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: DeAgostini
Series: World Insect Data Bool
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 6.5 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen O. gigas in the Museum. The DeAgostini insects are cast from actual specimens and are therefore all in the 1:1 range. The figures were sold as premiums with books and come in a plastic display box with their Latin and Japanese names. I am not sure what year the figures were released, and it is possible they were released over multiple years. The original set from Japan consisted of 60 species (59 male Scarabaeoidea and one dragonfly), plus four 'secret' figures representing females of select scarab males. When the set was released in Italy, three of the standard set were replaced with other species, including a leaf insect. Between the two releases and secrets, I think there are 67 figures total representing 63 species. The figures are secured to the base of the box with a small screw, but can be safely removed if one choses to display them outside of the box.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Equatorial Africa, Madagascar
Habitat: Rainforest
Diet: Larvae feed on humus, compost, and in sawdust piles; adults feed on the crown region of palms or possibly do not feed (see below)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: From what I can tell there are two subspecies of O. gigas. The nominate subspecies O. g. gigas which occurs in equatorial mainland Africa and O. g. insulicola which occurs on Madagascar. I had difficulty researching biological information on this species and information above on the adult diet is based on other species in the genus. For example, the Asian species O. rhinoceros is a pest of oil palms in Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands, while the European O. nasicornis typically does not feed as an adult.

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Species: Morpho peleides Kollar, 1850
Common name(s): common morpho; common blue morpho; emperor

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Insects TOOB
Year of Production: 2004
Size/Scale: Wingspan approximately 5.0 cm for a scale of 1:2.6-1:4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the third time we've seen M. peleides in the Museum. This figure has a bizarre pedigree. Some versions of Safari's Insects TOOB have this figure with tails (which it should not), but mine came tailless. I think the tailed version was in the original and early releases and the current version doesn't have tails, even though stock images may still show it as tailed (either that or Safari went back to the incorrect tailed version?). Also, the species level identification here is my own. The figure was only marked as 'Morpho' but I chose to have it represent M. peleides as it originally came out the same year as Safari's Hidden Kingdom morpho, which is clearly painted after that species.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Mexico to northern South America
Habitat: Montane and lowland rainforest, usually along trails, paths, forest edges, and other open areas
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the families Fabaceae (legumes) and Bignoniaceae (bignonias); adults drink juices from overripe fruit and tree sap.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Morpho peleides is primarily a frugivore, and feeds on overripe and rotting fruit. Unlike many other butterflies, it does not derive nutrition from flower nectar. In the absence of fruit, M. peleides will feed on tree sap.

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