Mathison Museum of Natural History

Beautiful model and display!

Species: Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758 (sperm whale)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Sealife
Year of Production: 2018
Size/Scale: Body length 22.0 cm for a scale of 1:63-1:75 for an average male specimen, or 1:87 for a maximum-sized male (the figure is sculpted as a male)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: There is no shortage of good sperm whale figures available. Other very good ones are the Maia & Borges figures that were made for Schleich (2000), Papo (2016), and Mojö Fun (2018), the Monterey Bay Aquarium (1992) and Wild Safari Sealife (2019) figures by Safari Ltd, and the Papo figure with an articulated jaw (2018). I chose this figure because of size as well as sculpt; most of the other aforementioned figures are a bit big for me.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Nearly worldwide in all oceans
Habitat: Pelagic, at depths of 0-3200 meters (usually 0-1000 meters)
Diet: Squid, octopus, fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Physeter macrocephalus is a specialized predator on deep sea fish and squid. A common prey for them is the giant squid, Architeuthis dux. While P. macrocephalus typically dives between 300 and 1000 meters in search of food, analysis of gut contents and feces has suggested they can take prey from as deep as 3000 meters. A sperm whale will eat on average 3% of its body weight each day.

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Wow this is a beautiful sperm whale!

beautiful sperm whale

Species: †Acutiramus sp.

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Encyclopedia of the Paleozoic
Year of Production: 2015
Size/Scale: Total figure length 8.5 cm. Body length (excluding claws) 6.5 cm. Scale species dependent, but would calculate to 1:25-1:38 for some of the largest species in the genus.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was based on the original Dinotales figure of the same animal, but does not appear to be 100% identical. Minimal assembly required and the figure is removable from its base. This figure was marketed as being in the genus Pterygotus but based on claw and telson morphology, it appears to be an Acutiramus. It may have been based on an older reference in which Acutiramus was still considered a subgenus of Pterygotus (see below).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Silurian to Early Devonian of present-day North America, Europe, and Australia
Habitat: Marine, benthic; probably in shallow waters offshore
Diet: Soft-bodied animals, including marine invertebrates and possibly fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: For years, Acutiramus was classified as a subgenus of Pterygotus. Separation of the genera can be done as follows: Acutiramus has a straight moveable finger on the chelae (claws) with the terminal tooth at an acute angle relative to the rest of the claw, and a paddle-shaped telson (terminal abdominal segment) with a serrated margin and a row of knobs running down its center; Pterygotus has the moveable finger of the chelae curved inwards and a paddle-shaped telson with a smooth margin and dorsal keel running down its center.

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beautiful model and display!

Species: Leucopleurus acutus (Gray, 1828) (Atlantic white-sided dolphin)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Sealife
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Body length 11.3 cm for a scale of 1:18-1:26
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: To my knowledge, the only other figure of this species is this today's 2019 TOOB counterpart by Safari Ltd.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North Atlantic Ocean
Habitat: Pelagic, usually at depths of 0-270 meters
Diet: Shrimp, squid, fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Morphological, molecular, behavioral, and communication studies suggest that L. acutus is not closely related to the white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris, currently the only member of the genus Lagenorhynchus) and is the most basal member of Delphinidae. Leucopleurus acutus appears more closely related to killer whales (Orcinus) than Lagenorhynchus.

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beautiful model!

Very tempting one

Another good figure. Are the Atlantic and Pacific white-sided dolphins different species or just subspecies?

rogerpgvg wrote:

Another good figure. Are the Atlantic and Pacific white-sided dolphins different species or just subspecies?

Different species (actually, now even different genera).

Also, rogerpgvg, you may have noticed the Acutiramus from a couple days ago is in your desired 1:32 range (if you have it represent one of the larger species in the genus)

Beautiful and graceful figure! Was very happy to have it alongside my Pacific white-sided dolphin.

bmathison1972 wrote:

rogerpgvg wrote:

Another good figure. Are the Atlantic and Pacific white-sided dolphins different species or just subspecies?

Different species (actually, now even different genera).

Also, rogerpgvg, you may have noticed the Acutiramus from a couple days ago is in your desired 1:32 range (if you have it represent one of the larger species in the genus)

Thank you! Wikipedia still lists them as the same genus. No, I didn't realise that Acutirami can be so large. I don't normally collect extinct species, but very interesting nevertheless.

rogerpgvg wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

rogerpgvg wrote:

Another good figure. Are the Atlantic and Pacific white-sided dolphins different species or just subspecies?

Different species (actually, now even different genera).

Also, rogerpgvg, you may have noticed the Acutiramus from a couple days ago is in your desired 1:32 range (if you have it represent one of the larger species in the genus)

Thank you! Wikipedia still lists them as the same genus. No, I didn't realise that Acutirami can be so large. I don't normally collect extinct species, but very interesting nevertheless.

Wikipedia is misleading. The taxonomic breakdown on the right has the old name, but if you read the text, they mention the updates.

see also here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Species: Dendrolagus goodfellowi Thomas, 1908 (Goodfellow's tree kangaroo; ornate tree kangaroo)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: PNSO
Series: Oceania Animals
Year of Production: 2018
Size/Scale: Figure height 6.5 cm. Body length (excluding tail) approximately 8.0 cm for a scale of 1:6.8-1:9.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The only other figure of this species I am aware of is a small bottlecap figure by Kaiyodo for the Zoorasia collection; that figure is a 'two-for-one' mini diorama that also includes a red kangaroo (Osphranter rufus). However, there are at least three other species of Dendrolagus represented as a toy/figure.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Papua New Guinea
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Leaves, primarily of Flindersia pimenteliana (maple silkwood tree); also fruits, cereals, flowers, grasses
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Populations of Dendrolagus goodfellowi have dropped due to extensive destruction of the lowland rainforests. Most of the existing populations occur in Natural Parks and reserves and in the rainforests in the highlands of New Guinea.

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Wonderful new articles [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I like the CollectA Sperm whale and the Safari Atlantic white-sided dolphin a lot.

I like the tree kangaroo

Species: Manis pentadactyla Linnaeus, 1758 (Chinese pangolin)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Natural History
Series: Naturally Adorkable
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Figure length 8.0 cm. Scale difficult to calculate but body length (including tail) 9.7 cm for a scale of roughly 1:8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The Naturally Adorkable collection is made up of resin figures released in conjunction with the Chinese magazine Natural History. The almost all represent unusual taxa of Central Asian and Chinese species (except, surprisingly, for a sloth from South America). Today's pangolin appears to have been designed to hang off something, such as the edge of a cup or glass.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia
Habitat: Subtropical deciduous and coniferous forests, grasslands, agricultural fields
Diet: Insects, primarily ants and termites
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Critically endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Manis pentadactyla faces many threats, most notably poaching for their meat and scales, the latter of which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. They are also threatened by habitat destruction and the exotic pet trade. Early in the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, Chinese pangolins were believed to be the natural host of the virus; however, it is now generally believed the original host was a bat.

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Beautiful pangolin. The Goodfellow's tree kangaroo is great too!

Great pangolin!

Species: Allomyrina dichotoma (Linnaeus, 1771) (Japanese rhinoceros beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King - Beetle Magnet
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (including horn) 3.5 cm for a scale of 1:2-1:2.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is our seventh time seeing A. dichotoma in the Museum, and to date all seven specimens are from different companies! Today's figure is from a set of small figures with a magnet on the ventral side.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia, including China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical hardwood forests
Diet: Larvae feed on organic detritus in soil; adults are attracted to sap flows
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: It's no surprise we have seen A. dichotoma seven times from seven different companies (and there are several more to come). Known as kabutomushi in Japanese, A. dichotoma is extremely popular in Japanese culture and has been anthropomorphized in many commercials, toys (Zoids, Transformers), television shows (Time Bokan, Jûkô B-Fighter, Transformers), roll-playing and video games (Dragon Quest, Mushihimesama, Sengoku Basara), and movies (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Kamen Rider Stronger, Kamen Rider Kabuto).

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