Mathison Museum of Natural History

I didn’t know Colorata made a Philippine eagle! Very beautiful model!

Beautiful model and picture!  

What's its prey?

Caracal wrote:

What's its prey?

Can't tell; maybe a colugo or flying squirrel. It's under the left talon.

Next up:

Species: Oncorhynchus rhodurus Jordan & McGregor, 1925 (Biwa trout)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Biwako
Year of Production: 2014
Size/Scale: Body length 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:6.7-1:8.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure attaches to its habitat-style base with a small clear acrylic rod, from which it is removable.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan; naturally endemic to Lake Biwa, introduced to Lake Chûzenji and Lake Ashinoko
Habitat: Freshwater lakes
Diet: Plankton, aquatic invertebrates, smaller fish, amphibians
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Oncorhynchus rhodurus is sometimes considered a subspecies of the masou salmon, O. masou.

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wonderful unique model and wonderful picture!

Species: Ranoidea aurea (Lesson, 1829) (green and gold bell frog)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Series: Yowies Series 4
Year of Production: 1999
Size/Scale: Body length 3.7 cm for a scale of 1:1.5-1:3 depending on the sex
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Being an original Australian Yowie, some assembly is required. Cadbury also released a solid-piece figure of this species in the UK Yowies series.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeastern Australia; introduced to New Zealand (North Island), New Caledonia, Vanuatu
Habitat: Coastal swamps, wetlands, marshes, dams, ditches, ephemeral pools, small rivers, and disturbed areas, usually water free of native fish species; typically among vegetation near the water
Diet: Tadpoles eat detritus, algae, and bacteria; adults eat invertebrates and other frogs, even their own species
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Ranoidea aurea has disappeared from about 90% of its original range since the 1960s; most of that loss is interior and due to habitat destruction. Most of the populations today on mainland Australia are in the Sydney area. It also occurs on the coastal islands of Kooragang Island, Broughton Island, and Bowen Island, and has been introduced to New Zealand (North Island), New Caledonia, and Vanuatu.

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Beautiful picture of this endangered frog!

Caracal wrote:

Beautiful model and picture!  

What's its prey?

I think it's a Sunda colugo,

lucky luke wrote:

Caracal wrote:

Beautiful model and picture!  

What's its prey?

I think it's a Sunda colugo,

Yes; I looked more closely and it has membranes sculpted between the front and rear legs and again between rear legs and tail, so pretty sure it's a colugo. Although given the distribution of the bird, it is probably a Philippine colugo and not a Sunda one.

Species: Pipa pipa (Linnaeus, 1758) (common Surinam toad)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Agatsuma Entertainment
Series: Amazing Creatures
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Base 8.0 cm wide. Body length 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:2.3-1:3.4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure comes with a smooth black oval base with its Japanese name (see inset) to which it attaches with a small acrylic rod. Although not obvious in these pics, the frog is sculpted with a small fish in its mouth. The only other sculpt of this species I am familiar with is the 1996 figure by Play Visions, which was reissued by Yujin in 2002.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northern South America
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical swamps, freshwater marshes, sluggish rivers and canals; usually habitats with muddy bottoms
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates, small fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: After mating, females carry the fertile eggs around with them in pockets in the skin on the their backs. The young develop through the tadpole stage in these pockets and hatch as small toads after about 12-20 weeks.

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A bizarre specie.

What a strange frog and beautiful shoot!

My dad had a computer engineering book set with different animals on the covers. There was one with this frog and her back was hatching... I still get heebie jeebies when I come across this species.

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

My dad had a computer engineering book set with different animals on the covers. There was one with this frog and her back was hatching... I still get heebie jeebies when I come across this species.

yeah it's one of the few things is nature that creeps me out too, I won't lie...

Species: Physalia physalis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Portuguese man o' war)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Encyclopedia of Dangerous Organisms
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Figure height 5.5 cm. Pneumatophore 4.0 cm long for a scale of 1:2.25-1:7.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Minimal assembly required. The dactylozooids are splayed at the bottom, not entirely realistic but it allows the figure to stand on its own.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Worldwide in tropical and subtropical oceans
Habitat: Pelagic; neuston
Diet: Fish, marine invertebrates, plankton
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Physalia physalis is not a single animal, but rather a colony of animals living together and functioning as a single entity. The large structure visible above water is a pneumatophore, which is used for buoyancy and acts as a sail for passive movement. Hanging from the pneumatophore are individual animals called zooids; different zooids have different names based on their primary function. The long tentacle-like zooids used for hunting and feeding are called dactylozooids. After prey is captured by the dactylozooids, it is digested by the gastrozooids. The zooids used for reproduction are gonophores, which are located on branching structures called gonodendra. The gonodendra have additional accessory zooids, including palpons (accessory digestive structures), nectophores (allow detached gonodendra to swim), and nectophores (also possibly involved in locomotion).

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What a curious organism and beautiful display!

Species: Mephitis mephitis (Schreber, 1776) (striped skunk)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Schleich
Series: Wild Life America
Year of Production: 2012
Size/Scale: Figure length 6.0 cm. Total body length including tail about 8.0 cm for a scale of 1:6.25-1:10 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: Such a familiar animal, Mephitis mephitis surprisingly has not produced in toy form very often over the years. I initially had the 2010 CollectA model, but the paint had been applied horribly and the more I studied it, the more I felt it was sculpted and painted after a juvenile. To me, the two best are today's and another by Schleich, which was released as part of a box set in 2017. Many M. mephitis figures aren't painted very accurately for the head, body, and tail together. The scale above is based on a total body length range of 50-80 cm; no two references seemed to have the exact same data but generally fell within this range.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North America
Habitat: Forests, mixed woodlands, wooded ravines, grassy plains, parks, urban and suburban neighborhoods
Diet: Primarily insects; also other invertebrates, small mammals, eggs, reptiles, amphibians, fish, carrion, fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Mephitis mephitis is well known for its chemical defensive behavior. The skunk possesses two highly-developed scent glands on either side of the anus that contain about 15 mL of musk, each. The musk is a mixture of thiols, including (E)-2-butene-1-thiol, 3-methyl-1-butanethiol, S-(E)-2-butenyl thioacetate, S-3-methylbutanyl thioacetate, 2-methylquinoline, 2-quinolinemethanethiol, and S-2-quinolinemethyl thioacetate. The skunk can discharge its musk to a distance of about 6 meters. Contact of the musk with eyes and mucus membranes can result in nausea, intense pain, and temporary blindness.

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5 or 6 m?!.. what a shoot!

Species: Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933 (slender seahorse; longsnout seahorse)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Schleich
Series: Wild Life Ocean
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: Figure 6.0 cm tall. Body length 9.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: I am not sure if Schleich marketed this figure as this species, or if this is a community-based identification, but it is a sound ID either way. The base around the tail is rather sloppily painted, at least on my figure.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: West Atlantic, from Southeastern USA to Brazil
Habitat: Coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves; to depth of 55 meters
Diet: Microcrustaceans
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: Hippocampus reidi mates for life and paired couples have complicated courtship and bonding rituals. Like many other seahorses, males of H. reidi carry the embryos to term in their brood pouches.

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Very beautiful species of seahorse and picture!

Species: Rhina ancylostoma Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (bowmouth guitarfish; shark ray)

About the Figure:
Manufacturers: Safari Ltd.; CollectA
Series: Wild Safari Sealife (Safari Ltd.); Sealife (CollectA)
Years of Production: 2007 (Safari Ltd.); 2017 (CollectA)
Size/Scale: Body length of CollectA adult 15.5 cm for a scale of 1:10-1:17. Body length of Safari juvenile 13.0 cm, presumably within scale of the CollectA adult (see below).
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon to rare
Miscellaneous Notes: I had originally bought the Safari figure, but later bought the CollectA figure to replace it since the latter represents an adult. However, I could not bring myself to part with the Safari figure, and so I kept them both. One of the few instances where the 'synoptic non-arthropod' part of my collection isn't so synoptic; the same phenomenon occurred with the zebra shark! I was debating on whether I should review these two separately or together, but since it's unlikely I'll buy another bowmouth guitarfish figure, I decided to do them together. I had trouble researching the size of juvenile R. ancylostoma that bear the color pattern of the Safari figure, but it probably scales OK with the CollectA adult. Schleich also produced a nice adult and Colorata a nice juvenile, which may scale better with 'standard-sized' adults.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-West Pacific
Habitat: Benthic, demersal; usually in areas with sandy or muddy bottoms, also coral reefs, usually at depths of 3-90 meters
Diet: Fish, marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Critically Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Rhina ancylostoma is ovoviviparous, with developing embryos sustained on a yolk within the uterus. Litter sizes vary from 2-11, and newborn rays are on average 45-50 cm in length.

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I have the Schleich one..

I don't have this species in my collection but I find it interesting when figures representing two different stages match so nicely. There's a similar story with the Safari and CollectA zebra sharks.