Mathison Museum of Natural History

me too! :)

And beautiful photo!

This crab is magnificent, the whole set is exquisite and the pic is beautiful.

Thank everyone! Next up:

Species: †Hemicyclaspis murchinsoni Egerton, 1857

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Dinotales Series 3
Year of Production: 2002
Size/Scale: Body length 7.5 cm for a scale of approximately 1:2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Being an original Dinotales figure, some assembly is required. I believe this is the only figure of this species available by traditional commercial manufacturers; other figure I am aware of is a 3D-printed model available in Shapeways.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Upper Silurian or Early Devonian of present-day Canada, United Kingdom, Scandinavia
Habitat: Marine, benthic
Diet: unknown, possibly a detrivore
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Hemicyclaspis murchinsoni was a primitive jawless fish. The mouth was located on the underside of the head, suggesting the fish was a scavenger on the ocean floor.

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Already 19 years and still beautiful. Mine is more green.

Beautiful model and display!

beautiful woodpecker! Beautiful crab

Species: Nymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758) (mourning cloak; Camberwell beauty)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Toy Major
Series: Butterflies
Year of Production: 1996
Size/Scale: Wingspan 6.8 cm, within scale 1:1 for a smaller specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The Toy Major butterflies are somewhat of an enigma. There are 12 sculpts, labeled A-L on the underside as well as the copyright year of 1996. Each sculpt has been painted multiple times, resulting in anywhere from 24-36 figures (maybe more?). Also, the different repaints may have been released over multiple years while retaining the 1996 mark. They were sold in sets of various numbers. They are not marketed at the species level, but most are painted to look like recognizable species. Several species produced by Toy Major have been produced by other companies of the same era (Club Earth, early Safari Ltd., etc.), as these companies tend to copy one another, and it is sometimes difficult to determine who came first. That being said, I am not aware of any other figures of this species.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Holarctic
Habitat: Riparian areas, open woodlands, parks, gardens, disturbed areas
Diet: Larvae feed on a variety of plants, including Salix (willow), Populus (aspen, cottonwood), Ulmus (elm), Betula (birch), Celtis (hackberry), Alnus (alder), and Rosa (wild rose); adults feed on tree sap and rotting fruit, occasionally flower nectar
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern [NaturServe status Secure]
Miscellaneous Notes: The larvae of N. antiopa are urticating caterpillars, meaning the spines on the body will sting human skin when touched, resulting in urticaria characterized by red, itchy welts.

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A gorgeous butterfly... all wonderful posts!

Beautiful model and picture!

Species: Stegostoma tigrinum (Forster, 1781) (zebra shark)

About the Figure:
Manufacturers: CollectA; Safari Ltd.
Series: Sealife (CollectA); Wild Safari Sealife (Safari Ltd.)
Years of Production: 2013 (CollectA); 2007 (Safari Ltd.)
Size/Scale: Adult: body length 11.8 cm for a scale of 1:17.4. Juvenile: 13.0 cm for a scale of 1:8.2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon to rare
Miscellaneous Notes: I had originally bought the Safari figure, but upon learning it represented a juvenile, I bought the CollectA figure to replace it. However, I could not bring myself to part with the Safari figure, and so I kept them both. One of the rare instances where the 'synoptic non-arthropod' part of my collection isn't so synoptic; the same phenomenon occurred with the bowmouth guitarfish! I was debating on whether I should review these two separately or together, but since it's unlikely I'll buy another zebra shark figure, I decided to do them together. If one wants to design a life cycle for the zebra shark, Yowie Group produced a figure of an even younger juvenile specimen (zebra morphotype) in their Wild Water Series collection (see also below).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Coral reefs, sandy lagoons; benthic, coastal, at depths of 0-90 meters (usually around 5-60 meters)
Diet: Primarily shelled mollusks, also crustaceans and small fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Stegostoma tigrinum goes through drastic morphologic changes during its development. Very young individuals are referred to as zebra morphotypes and have boldly-contrasting black and white bands. Intermediate forms are sandy-brown with pale bands intermixed with dark spots. Adults are sandy-beige with many tiny, irregular dark spots. A variation (sandy morphotype) has a swirled pattern with remnants of the transitional juvenile pattern.

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I really like shark figures

If there is a species that deserves an exception it is the zebra shark. These two are such beautiful figures and represent different stages. They don't look like we're seeing double.

I got a whitetip reef shark from Safari ltd (2018) on this afternoon but I don't find it on TAW though I checked all the tribes!

Caracal wrote:

I got a whitetip reef shark from Safari ltd (2018) on this afternoon but I don't find it on TAW though I checked all the tribes!

It is here! The white tips turns them hard to see. :Lol:

Thank you Rogério! :)

Species: Pyrochroa coccinea (Linnaeus, 1761) (black-headed cardinal beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wing Mau
Series: Insects
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length 5.0 cm for a scale of 3.5:1-2.5:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The Wing Mau Insects collection consists of 24 figures representing 23 species of beetles (there are two color variants of Adalia bipunctata). The figures have the Latin name printed on the underside. The figures seem to have been influenced by an Italian poster, Beetles, from 1992, as all the species are represented in that poster (including both variants of Adalia bipunctata) and have the same Latin names assigned to them (this poster hangs in my home office; I've had it since 1995). Figures in this set were also produced for Play Visions for their Habitat Earth line. Most of the species in this Wing Mau collection are unique as toys.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Europe, Western and Central Asia
Habitat: Woodlands, forest edges, gardens; often under bark of felled deciduous trees or on vegetation
Diet: Larvae feed on detritus, fungi, and scavenge under bark of dead trees; adults are predaceous on soft-bodied insects, but will also eat pollen
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: The bright red color of P. coccinea is an example of aposematic coloring, warning would-be predators that the beetle is toxic if eaten. Male P. coccinea can synthesize their own cantharidin and pass it to the female during mating.

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Species: Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus (Cope, 1872) (Colorado River cutthroat trout)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Replica Toy Fish
Series: 3 Inch Collection
Year of Production: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length 7.8 cm for a scale of 1:2.5-1:5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Replica Toy Fish produced two subspecies of cutthroat trout in 2015; this one and the greenback cutthroat trout (O. c. stomias), which was reviewed in the Museum back on November 14, 2020.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Green and Colorado River Basins in western North America; currently limited to tributaries in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado
Habitat: High-elevation coldwater mountain streams and rivers
Diet: Zooplankton, freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates, fish, amphibians
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated (NatureServe status is Vulnerable Subspecies)
Miscellaneous Notes: As with its greenback cousin, O. c. pleuriticus is threatened by over-fishing, habitat alteration brought about by mining, agriculture, and water development, plus the introduction of non-native salmonids, especially the brown trout (Salmo trutta).

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What a beautiful fish

Joliezac wrote:

What a beautiful fish

Species: Dynastes hercules (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hercules beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Wonder Figure Collection
Year of Release: 2002
Size/Scale: Body length (including horns) 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:3 for a major male
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is third time we've seen D. hercules in the Museum, not a surprise considering it's probably the second most represented species in my collection (I am actually kinda surprised we've only seen it three times by now!). This figure was not released as part of the traditional Choco Q or Chocoegg lines, nor does it have a counterpart in either of those lines (completely different sculpt from the Furuta figure in the Chocoegg Funny Animals collection). Still, some assembly is required.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Bolivia
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed on rotting wood; adults are attracted to fresh and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Dynastes hercules is reported to be able to lift 100x its own body weight, albeit not being capable of much mobility when doing so. It is no surprise it was named after the mythological Roman hero Hercules, who was known for his tremendous strength.

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An old acquaintance!

 Very beautiful trout!