Walking with Anteaters - a Sunny Tamandua and friends!

Thanks everyone and especially Ricardo for all the information and extra pictures. So defintely htese letters makes sense. So funny I have the fox and anteater from the same series. Very interesting also about the Panini (Chialu) models. I must check but I may have the rhino.

Stripedhyena wrote:

And the gray rubber figure actually belongs to a series that was published together with a sticker album (the surprise envelopes that we like so much in Spain, Italy, Germany, France and other European countries...).
The mold is the same as one of the PV series but this figure has been reproduced a lot and for many different brands. In this collection there are some very interesting figures like the pangolin that you name or a hyena, a mongoose, a fox, a kiwi or a strange kind of badger... The painting changes according to the collection under which it was published.

these are really universal moulds. As I mentioned, it was just a convenience to list them on TAW as Play Visions Minis. It was not possible to identify to which exact editor or company each model belonged. Pairing it again with a fox, here is the Anteater [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] with the Fox [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Anteater arrived from Spain as you know while the fox arrived from USA and it was identified as a Playspaces model.

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

My little finger tells me that they are both Playspaces

I got a box of figures that contained those 2 from US Toys several years ago. I don't think a manufacturer was identified. Jill has a set of them now, she posted photos.

Yes, Christophe and Kelly, it is almost imposssible to find a brand to these models, they're figures of all brands and stores. Here is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Sorry to come back again to the size of the giant anteater, but it keeps bugging me that the various sources are so inconsistent. Today I found the book by Redford and Eisenberg (1992): https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HGYaHxXVmegC&pg=PA46&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false

They show this table on p. 48:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
HB means head+body length, T means tail length, E  is ear length and I think HF is probably foot length (or foot height?) The measurements of other animals make clear that HB does not include the tail, because it is different from TL (total length).

The mean total length of 2 m (HB+T) is not so controversial, but the maximum head+body length of 2 m is very large. Could it be an error? It's unlikely that it is a typo, because Wetzel (1985) appears to have used the same data and reports that the maximum total length is 281.7 cm (he doesn't report head+body length). I wonder whether the total length was erroneously recorded as head+body length for one of the animals. I find it odd that the maximum head+body length is so much larger than the mean (whereas the minimum is close to the mean). It will continue to bug me ...

I am coming in late to this topic and with eyes too tired today to do much reading right now, but I am very excited to see and read about this anteater collection! It's an animal I don't know much about, and I think it is really interesting and excellent that you've chosen this unique creature to highlight so extensively.

I see a few real anteater in my life and none of them had a 2 meter HD lenght, they were all smaller.

I also can't immagine a giant anteater with 2 m length. The tail represents 3/7 of the total length so it means that anteater could reach 3,5 metters. If it is a 2metters HB with a 73 cm long tail, this poor anteater can't use its tail to cover itself as they use to do.
2 m is a perfect size for an anteater if we include the tail.
It was much easier if T meant tongue. I have seen adult anteaters on Lisbon zoo and surely they were not close to 3 metters. They are dog sized, just the tail gives a huge contribution to its size.
I don't have any extraordinary source to provide but in many Brazilian websites they always talk about 100 to 130 cm for body + head and a maximum of 90 cm for tail.

Jill wrote:

I am coming in late to this topic and with eyes too tired today to do much reading right now, but I am very excited to see and read about this anteater collection! It's an animal I don't know much about, and I think it is really interesting and excellent that you've chosen this unique creature to highlight so extensively.

It is good to see you here and I hope you can ejoy it better after a little rest.

What a fantastic, wonderful topic

Roger wrote:

I also can't immagine a giant anteater with 2 m length. The tail represents 3/7 of the total length so it means that anteater could reach 3,5 metters. If it is a 2metters HB with a 73 cm long tail, this poor anteater can't use its tail to cover itself as they use to do.

According to Wetzel (1985), the largest total length in the same dataset was 281.7 cm, so the tail cannot have been longer than 81.7 cm. It would have been a very strangely proportioned anteater, so I think we can conclude that something is wrong either with the data or with the anteater.
 
It would have been good to have more real measurements of anteaters, but I have searched hard and haven’t found anything, except an article by Naples (1999) who measured two museum skeletons with total lengths of 222 and 208 cm. It’s funny that our scientific knowledge of giant anteater sizes appears to be based on just 16+2 animals and some of this information is probably wrong.
 
There are of course many websites with size information, but I try to be sceptical towards information that doesn’t give the source or any real measurements. But this information isn’t always inferior, as we see in this case. Wikipedia says 182-217 in total length and Smithsonian’s Zoo 1.8-2.4 m. If we trust the minimum total length reported by Wetzel and the lengths reported by Naples, then we have a range of 174-222 cm, possibly going up to 240 cm if we believe Smithsonian’s Zoo. That also roughly corresponds to 100-130 cm head-body length in the Brazilian websites you found.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Roger wrote:

I also can't immagine a giant anteater with 2 m length. The tail represents 3/7 of the total length so it means that anteater could reach 3,5 metters. If it is a 2metters HB with a 73 cm long tail, this poor anteater can't use its tail to cover itself as they use to do.

According to Wetzel (1985), the largest total length in the same dataset was 281.7 cm, so the tail cannot have been longer than 81.7 cm. It would have been a very strangely proportioned anteater, so I think we can conclude that something is wrong either with the data or with the anteater.
 
It would have been good to have more real measurements of anteaters, but I have searched hard and haven’t found anything, except an article by Naples (1999) who measured two museum skeletons with total lengths of 222 and 208 cm. It’s funny that our scientific knowledge of giant anteater sizes appears to be based on just 16+2 animals and some of this information is probably wrong.
 
There are of course many websites with size information, but I try to be sceptical towards information that doesn’t give the source or any real measurements. But this information isn’t always inferior, as we see in this case. Wikipedia says 182-217 in total length and Smithsonian’s Zoo 1.8-2.4 m. If we trust the minimum total length reported by Wetzel and the lengths reported by Naples, then we have a range of 174-222 cm, possibly going up to 240 cm if we believe Smithsonian’s Zoo. That also roughly corresponds to 100-130 cm head-body length in the Brazilian websites you found.

This Brazilian website from a Nature conservation institution called Chico Mendes, provides the sources of their measurements. Try to run a translator or let me know if you want me to translate it.
though, none of the sources is close to the 2m for head + body thing. I think it is a mistake 130 cm seems to be the maximum more 90 for tail.

Thanks, that website very useful. They refer to Miranda (2004) who measured 7 anteaters: head+body length of 108-133 cm and average tail length of females 67 cm and males 63 cm. Also a reference to the book by Nowak, which I should try to find, because it's often referred to for size information. Yes, 2 m for head+body must be wrong. I'll sleep well tonight .

What a beautiful and interesting collection [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], it's something to be proud of! I learned quite a lot not only about anteaters but especially about the history of these companies and models. I'm so unfamiliar with the history of this forum as well, in what way was Mojo working in cooperation with STS? That sounds like an incredible opportunity for collectors, and it's especially wonderful that you were some part of the development of that beautiful tamandua. Thank you for sharing your collection in such detail. It's clearly been very interesting to people who are already proficient in this world, but it was also a wonderful piece of history for the newcomer. :)

My most favorite in your collection here is the starlux. I think that paint job, while not realistic, has something really rich and noteworthy about it. A beautiful if very angular creature. I think my second favorite is the Lineol's IV generation, for its shape. I also really like the funny little PEC, that's a series I hope to find more pieces to someday.

Stripedhyena wrote:

Hi Roger, here is an example with other figures from the same collection as your anteater. The barbary  sheep would be molded by Starlux, the rhino by Comansi and the giraffe, turtle and hippo by other Spanish brands like Pech.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I will be off topic but the Turtle and hippos are of course Pech inspired but Pech found its inspiration on JIM models.

Now get back to topic... What about showing us another anteater sleepy Croc ?

Here we are Kiki! Another treasurable giant anteater joined my collection.
It is the Clairet figure, a model released during the first half of the 1950's. It is another formidable gift from our Crazy French Macaque.
I wished my pictures could give justice to this model, it surprised me completely once this is one of those models we only can enjoy really when we have it in hands.
It is a 54 mm scale figure as you can see below with the Starlux counterpart. It is important to notice the Clairet model is prior to the Starlux.

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

The Clairet is wonderful, very artistic!

What a treasure and hurray for our Macaque! Vintage models are wonderful, but there is something even more wonderful about holding something with so much history in your hands! And this one has 70 years of history, which makes it extra special!

Just such a charming model, I love it!

Nice oldie

I love how the expression in the comparison photo seems to be the Clairet looking up at the Starlux with some misgivings. A lovely little model and a wonderful gift!

Oh, this one is funny! Also very cute Congrats!

Sorry for my laziness but it is time to update this topic.
Last Christmas I received from Roger, our UK friend, a few figures. Among them some anteaters.
I don't know almost anything about Kabaya, TAW tells it is a Japanese confectionery and this model was part of a series of Amazonian animal figures.
It is a very small figure but I really like it a lot. It is also my first Kabaya model.

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