Gecko08’s Collection - MOVED TO A NEW TOPIC

Some GORGEOUS models there!

Lots of beautiful models! You always have lots of interesting things to show!

And now, for some recent eBay scores.

Moschops (Marx)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Permian Africa
Length: 9 feet
Scale: 1:35
Moschops was one of the species that was commonly made many years ago, but faded into obscurity later. It was a therapsid (a clade within Synapsida). It’s skull was broad and deep, and it might have head butted like bison. It’s not to scale with any of my other Permian synapsids, which are all close to 1:20 or 1:25.

It’s got a cute smile.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Close in scale with the highly sought-after pareiasaur Scutosaurus from Safari (from the same era, but different family), and the Nayab Placerias (different era, but same family)

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

Deltadromeus (Carnegie by Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous Africa
Length: 20-26 feet
Scale: 1:40
Pretty solid figure, aside from the hand orientation. The dromeus suffix in its name comes from its slender legs, which may have been used for fast running. It was originally reconstructed as a noasaurid (subfamily with abelisauridae) but now that’s coming into question. It was a contemporary of Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, so it’s running legs might be of use.

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

I don’t have a Carcharodontosaurus yet, as I’ve been holding out for the PNSO figure. Safari’s is nice, but it’s too small to go with anything else from that time.

Pachydiscus (Kaiyodo)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous
Size: 6 feet
Scale: 1:55
I really like Kaiyodo figures, but they’re a pain to get because of the shipping and the rarity of a lot of the figures. Still I order them whenever I can. I placed an order for two a couple days ago, but they’re coming from Thailand, so they’ll probably arrive just in time for Christmas. Pachydiscus was another one of the titan ammonites, similar to Parapuzosia. In fact, the holotype specimen for Parapuzosia was mistaken at first to be a Pachydiscus.

Scales well with the Ectenosaurus and Parapuzosia
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Bothriolepis (Kaiyodo)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Middle-Late Devonian
Length: 1 foot
Scale: 1:4
Bothriolepis was a placoderm, like the much more famous Dunkleosteus. It fed on debris on the seafloor. If you want to skip my history lesson on the Placodermi class and it’s presence in my collection, just skip down to the next group shot.

Placodermi is a diverse order of primitive fishes that lived all around the world and were the ruling class of animal during the Devonian. Their earliest roots trace back to the early Silurian, but they were much more prominent figures during the Devonian, where they went extinct during the era’s mass extinction. There are 10 orders in the Placoderm class, which only three of them being represented in my collection. Those being the Antiarchs (Bothriolepis), Arthrodires (Dunkleosteus, Mcnamaraspis, and Dinichthys), and the oddball Rhenanids (Gemuendina), which bear a slight resemblance to stingrays.

The three orders of Placoderm in my collection around 1:3-1:4, by Gosnell, Kaiyodo, and Yowie. Gemuendina, Bothriolepis, and Mcnamaraspis respectively. I also have the Schleich Dunkleosteus (which is flawed in many aspects) and the mini Collecta one (whose only problem is the tail and it’s tiny size). The best one that a majority of collectors can agree on is Favorite’s Dunkleosteus, which is en route thanks to Brett.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

12.10.2021

wonderful to get 3 Synapsida species  and 4 placoderm orders! 

“Palaeoxyris is an ichnogenus believed to actually be Shark eggs.”
Are you saying scientists aren’t quite sure whether they are eggs or a mature animal?
 
The Pravitoceras looks a bit like an octopus, but I suppose that is coincidental/convergent evolution?
 
The Placodermi look quite similar to modern fish. Thanks for the history lesson, I enjoyed reading it!

rogerpgvg wrote:

“Palaeoxyris is an ichnogenus believed to actually be Shark eggs.”
Are you saying scientists aren’t quite sure whether they are eggs or a mature animal?
 
The Pravitoceras looks a bit like an octopus, but I suppose that is coincidental/convergent evolution?
 

I must have just mistyped it, as we know that Palaeoxyris are Shark eggs. Interestingly, they don’t belong to Bandringa because the eggs belong to a Shark from they Hybodontidae family, which Bandringa wasn’t a part of.  And the Pravitoceras looking like an octopus isn’t convergent evolution, as they are both cephalopods, but if that refers to the coloration of the tentacles and shell, that was speculation by Collecta.

Here’s a family tree of cephalopods.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I wonder if ammonites could squirt ink to deter predators? That would be useful to creatures undeterred by their hard shells.
12.11.2021

Thanks for the explanation about the eggs. Yes, good question about the ammonites, hopefully we'll find out one day.

Merry Christmas!     My collection has had a good couple of days.

All of these additions came before Christmas.

Hoplites (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Early Cretaceous Europe and North America
Length: 10 inches
Scale: 1:2
Yes, I’ve posted this figure as Pleuroceras in my Jurassic post earlier, but I decided to re-evaluate this figure’s species after I saw a post about it while browsing through the DTF. They ID’ed it as Hoplites, so I looked it over and it checked out. Interestingly, ammonites squirting ink was something that used to be believed but was actually disproven by a 2021 paper.

Pravitoceras lived in Japan and much later, but they do look nice together.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Parksosaurus (Vivid Toy Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous Canada
Length: 8 feet
Scale: 1:25
The last Vivid figure I was after. The fleet footed small ornithopods are often looked over in favor of the larger Hadrosaur ornithopods. It was very agile and swift, and I imagine it dashing across the plains. Also it was a nightmare getting this figure to stand up. It should have gotten a base like Collecta’s figures.

I worked very hard to find a species that lived with Parksosaurus (as all my usual “Late Cretaceous, North America” choices were not appicable. It lived too late for Gorgosaurus, or a majority of my Ceratopsians, and it lived too early for Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus). I found Pachycephalosaurus and used Safari’s 1:20 model. The Parksosaurus toppled over right after this photo was taken.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hamipterus (Flormoon?)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Early Cretaceous China
Wingspan: 4 feet
Skull Length (what I really used due to the figure’s standing pose): 40 cm
Scale: 1:6

It’s got a sort of soft rubbery aspect to it, but it stands up straight. I’m surprised none of the main brands tried to make a Hamipterus because it’s known from great remains. This is quite a good pterosaur sculpt, so it’s a shame no one has taken responsibility for it. It was actually related to Anhanguera. Some people said that this was Dsungaripterus instead of Hamipterus, but looking at these skulls from both genera.

Dsungaripterus (actually pronounced SUNG)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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

PNSO’s Nemicolopterus watches as the Hamipterus chomps on the unlucky Confuciusornis.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Deinocheirus (Collecta)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous Mongolia
Length: 36 feet
Scale: 1:60
My official Deinocheirus coming in because the defect on the Safari one made it a tripod. I think that was because, on my Safari Deinocheirus, the foot was warped during transit. Either way, this one shouldn’t have standing issues because of its base. It was originally depicted as a massive tyrannosaurid, but this inference was made only because an incomplete set of arms was found. They looked at how tiny the arms of T. rex were and said that this creature had equally tiny arms, it was just several times bigger. A nearly complete skeleton was discovered in 2013, and this was the best and first figure made based on that new material. Aside from Struthiomimus, this is the only ornithomimmid with a good figure representation. PLEASE PNSO GALLIMIMUS!

Being bullied by PNSO’s Tarbosaurus. The Tarbo is closer to 1:40, so the Deinocheirus would be a juvenile in this image. I’d say my collection’s only glaring weakness is that I don’t have any humans smaller than 1:40. One day I’ll rectify that.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

A trio of Collecta Nemegto-saurs. These are all around 1:50-1:60. Even though Kamuysaurus lived in Japan, Japan itself was still very much fused to Asia.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I was ecstatic to see my parcel from Brett arrived just after I got back from my friend’s house.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Just when I had given away my Schleich Dunkle, a new one arrived! The Schleich Dunkle looked cool, but it had an incorrectly shaped tail and sturgeon scutes that wouldn’t have been there. I gave it away to my friend, who younger than i am. Schleichs are generally better for playing than Papos or most other brands. I gave him a couple more dinosaurs, and ended up clearing out a good couple of inches of shelf space. I'm sure he will enjoy them, and I will enjoy putting new stuff in those spots. I still don't see myself giving away anything like the Papo Rex or Triceratops.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Dunkleosteus (Favorite Co)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Devonian North America
Length: 26 feet
Scale: 1:40

The new Favorite one has a sleek, sharklike build, which is accurate to what we currently know about massive arthrodire placoderms. Since all we know from Dunkleosteus are craniums, size estimates vary from 3 to 10 meters, but anything above 8 meters is unlikely. Dunkleosteus’ sharklike tail is supported by physics, as an animal that size SHOULD have a tail like that, but evolution only works with what it’s got, so it’s not a definitive yes. Forum member Halichoeres discusses this in greater detail here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
It's not perfect, like how the fins are a pinch too small or the armor looks like the creature is wearing it, not like it was an integrated part of its body. While these errors still exist, its definitely gotten closer to depicting the real thing than any of the previous or other current Dunkle figures have.

Here it is with Diramix’s Dinichthys. Dinichthys was only 3 meters long, so this tail is probably what it had. I list this figure as 1:80ish in my original post, so I’ll have to correct that.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

All my placoderms. There are only a couple more I need to get that aren’t resins or 3D prints. Gotta give Dunkleosteus credit, as even though it’s at a greatly smaller scale than the other placoderms, it still dwarfs them all. Placoderms were also revolutionary, it being the first large vertebrate predators and specking into jaws.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Archelon (Favorite Co)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous North America
Length: 15 feet
Scale: 1:30
This is a beautiful model of a massive turtle. It had a shell similar to that of the leatherback turtle, but it was from a different lineage, so it was an instance of convergent evolution as the actual leatherbacks evolved during the Cenozoic. A lot of companies skip over this genus, calling it “just another boring old modern turtle”, but thankfully favorite didn’t do that.

With some other Western Interior Seaway residents by Collecta.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Otodus Megalodon (Favorite Co)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Miocene Worldwide
Length: 34 feet
Scale: 1:45
A lot of collectors skip over this genus calling it “identical to a Great White Shark”, but once again Favorite pulls through for us, making it appropriately bulky. Megalodon itself is a species name that’s become sort of a common name. It’s switched genuses several times, going from Carcharodon to Carchrocles, and finally settling down at Otodus, putting it farther from the Great White. Megalodon wasn’t a “big great white” in the same way Archelon wasn’t a “big sea turtle”. Megalodon has become kind of a cliche, and that’s sad because very few people actually know the truth about this wonderful species. Some people say it was 60 or 70 feet long. It was actually around 50 or so feet, but all we know of it are teeth and jaws, so it’s better to not give in to pressure and make the highest estimate you can fathom.

It's got better proportions than Safari's 2014 Megalodon, which has oddly massive teeth and looks like it has thickly applied lipstick. Not to bash Safari as a company though, because the Megalodon was easily the weakest of their 2014 figures. Some people dislike how this figure's color scheme is inspired by the Great White Shark, but countershading is a reasonable option for a massive marine predator. And it is modified in several different ways from snout length to build. I read that Megalodon might have been related to a sand-tiger shark, but it would have looked like this because a sand tiger's build wouldn't work for a massive predator, so it is an instance of convergent evolution.

Let’s see how it compares to some modern heavyweight sharks. Whale shark and Basking shark by Safari Ltd (both 1:50)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Munching on Safari’s Humpback Whale (not to scale)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Megalodon has earned itself a notorious reputation for hunting baleen whales during the Miocene, while it wouldn’t have attacked Humpbacks, this figure is a good stand-in for one of the whales at that time.

I used 34 feet as my estimate because this shark is a male. Males are usually smaller than females. You can tell it’s a male due to the presence of claspers, which are used during fertilization.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
For some reason my Dunkleosteus also has claspers even though it’s not a shark. (I bet that’s the first time someone’s ever said that sentence)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Most Shark figures are made as females, which is simply the lack of claspers. I also like the smooth, sleek figure of the Dunkle and Megalodon. They aren’t overwrought with wrinkles and creases like PNSO’s Megalodon, when the real animal was likely smooth, like a modern shark.

All in all, a great set from Favorite Co/Kinto and thanks to Brett for sending it to me. All of these were made 2014-2016, so hopefully future releases from the “PREHISTORIC LIFE SOFTMODEL” series will be this cool.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And something I got just yesterday

Onchopristis (Unknown)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous Africa
Length: 15 feet
Scale: 1:45

This is a bin figure that forum member QuollMate identified as Onchopristis. It was sold as a generic sawshark, so I immediately scanned ebay for it and this was one of the first listings. It was sold with a little crab that I got as bycatch, and I also saved $2 just for asking the seller if I could only have the sawshark. Maybe I’ll get this lucky and land myself a Climatius.

It was a likely prey item of Spinosaurus, so here it is clamped within its jaws. The little bycatch crab runs away in fear.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

More stuff coming soon.

12.25.2021

New Christmas creatures. Santah Clauz has certainly been generous to my collection over the years.
First some amber bugs and a mosasaur tooth
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Olorititan (PNSO)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous Russia
Length: 26
Scale: 1:30

A nice big hadrosaur is today’s first showcase. It lived at the very end of the Cretaceous, around the same time as many of the most popular North American dinosaurs lived. This is a very interesting position, depicting the creature running. The way it’s balanced means it needs a clear base to stand, but I’d rather have a base than clown feet. It’s got a very interesting skull. Hadrosaurs have unspectacular bodies, but there’s always something interesting relating to its skull.

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

Sauropelta (PNSO)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Early Cretaceous USA
Length: 17 feet
Scale: 1:30

A beautifully done figure with armor plating and spikes. Also Sauropelta is part of the Nodosauridae family, and there aren’t very many nodosaur figures. Among them this is probably one of the higher end figures. It’s actually the most well understood and oldest member of that family. It lived in an area that was frequently flooded, meaning its remains had a better chance of being well preserved fossils.

Jinyunpelta (Vitae)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Early Cretaceous China
Length: 9 feet
Scale: 1:18

Delving into another primitive Ankylosaurus genus, the Vitae Jinyunpelta. only other Vitae figures being the ones I got last year. This one came with a base. Jinyunpelta was the oldest ankylosaur that had a tail club. It was actually quite the recent finding, the fossils being unearthed in 2013 and the genus and species being described in 2018.

Ankylosaurus (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous North America
Length: 20 feet
Scale: 1:40

A very good rendition of a very popular dinosaur. It was the largest known ankylosaur. It’s closest relative is Euoplocephalus. It’s covered in skin-embedded armor, even on its eyelids. It was probably the most well defended dinosaur in its area. Some people have complained because of its brown plates on its black skin, but I like the coloration. Interestingly, there is only one known tail club fossil, and that is currently being housed at the American Museum of Natural History.

My current herd of walking tanks, fit with varying companies, scales, and quality.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My Ankylosaurus itself is also part of the Hell Creek Club and the Lock Up Asteroids Club.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Livyatan (PNSO)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Miocene
Length: 44 feet
Scale: 1:45

Around the Miocene, many different species of predatory Sperm Whale lived. Livyatan was the largest of them all, rivaling a large Megalodon in size. When the first massive fossils were found, the scientists wanted to name it Leviathan, however that name was also a synonym of Mastodon, so they went with the original Hebrew spelling of the word “Livyatan” which sounds just as cool. This figure is so bulky, that when I measured it, I had a hard time believing it was only 12 inches long. Some people have complained about its seams, but they don’t bother me.

Doing battle with its nemesis, Megalodon. Megalodon would have often gone for the fins of its targets.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Jobaria (Collecta)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Middle Jurassic Africa
Length: 60 feet
Scale: 1:50

A “1:40” sauropod from Collecta, even packed with a 1:40 human. This proves why I can’t go by whatever scale the company lists, as in Collecta’s case, they are often wrong. Besides, it’s not that hard to measure it and calculate scale. This was a massive creature, and it was also a primitive sauropod. Something from Collecta’s old days that still holds up as a solid figure.

It lived in the same place and time as the megalosaurid Afrovenator. They even found Afrovenator bite marks on a Jobaria skeleton. Unfortunately, the Collecta Afrovenator doesn’t hold up as well as the Jobaria, with a set of outdated pronated wrists. When I first saw it’s position, I saw it as bending down to take a sip of water, but now it looks like it’s in good company with the rearing Jobaria.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Malawisaurus (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous Africa
Length: 52 feet
Scale: 1:40

It’s nice to see a massive sauropod in 1:40, as they are often made in smaller scales (but who could really blame the companies). The controversial coloration fits it well. Malawisaurus was a titanosaur, meaning it was in the same clade as Argentinosaurus. While certainly not as immense, imagine this creature walking towards you, or an entire herd of them. Malawisaurus was one of the few sauropods with a preserved skull.

South America and Africa were connected at the time, so these two definitely lived together.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Giganotosaurus (Eofauna)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous South America
Length: 45 feet
Scale: 1:35

This splendid figure’s arrival into my collection was a long time coming. Mine has standing issues, but I had enough clear stands from my PNSO figures to recycle one and use it as a base for this figure. A distant relative of Allosaurus, the Giganotosaurus would have been the apex predator of its region. Some figures of this dinosaur put spikes around its neck and back, but this just looks awful to me. Dinosaurs were animals, not monsters or dragons. But in the right context (like a heavily armed stegosaur) spikes work great. It was actually one of the most completely known members of its family and also believed to be warm blooded.

With Safari’s feathered rex. The rex had a blunter snout and a stockier body. Also the Giga was a carnosaur while the rex was a coelurosaur. These two were quite distant, so someone saying that the Giganotosaurus or any large carnivore “looks like t.rex” is like saying exotic food “tastes like chicken”.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The idea that Giganotosaurus lived with Argentinosaurus is also wrong, as Argentinosaurus lived later, and was hunted by Giga’s relative, Mapusaurus. Giganotosaurus may have actually hunted Malawisaurus. It’s certainly possible, considering that their times overlap for a couple million years, and that South America was connected to Africa.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Kentrosaurus (Schleich)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Jurassic Africa
Length: 15 feet
Scale: 1:25

I was hoping for the original Schleich Kentrosaurus, but I did some reading and this one was actually more accurate. Of course it’s not 100% perfect, as the number of toes is wrong and the skull size is too big, but the shape of the back plates is an improvement from the earlier version. The pose is kind of odd, but it’s a solid depiction of the stegosaur.

Huayangosaurus (PNSO)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Middle Jurassic China
Length: 15 feet
Scale: 1:40

On the same subject, we have the pioneer of Stegosauria. Yes, Huayangosaurus was actually the oldest known stegosaur. It’s skull was broader and it has some teeth the later stegosaurs would lose. It was shorter than other stegosaurs, and the plates on its back were designed to deflect any attacks from above due to its build. This is understandable seeing that Yangchuanosaurus was likely its principle predator. With a predator that towered over it like that, it might as well use its short stature to its advantage.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Nanosaurus (Discovery Kids)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Jurassic North America
Length: 6 feet
Scale: 1:18

Nanosaurus was originally called Othnielia, a reference to its discoverer, 19th century paleontologist, Othniel Marsh. It’s nice to see a tiny creature get figure representation, even though it’s hands are completely wrong. It was sold in a set with several other dinosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous eras. This figure’s coloration is quite obviously based of the Walking with Dinosaurs version. It was originally believed to be a relative of Parksosaurus.

With Chilesaurus from Papo.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Eurhinosaurus (PNSO)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Early Jurassic Europe
Length: 20 feet
Scale: 1:30

A very pretty Ichthyosaur, but it’s torso is way to stringy than it should be, which highlights one of PNSO’s main problems in designing aquatic animals. They don’t want to put it in a neutral swimming pose, so they stretch and contort it. It’s slender build is still accurate, along with its long nose. The bottom jaw actually ends a little under halfway through the bottom jaw, giving it a cartoony overbite, but since it’s mouth is closed, we don’t know what they went with.

With Favorite’s Plesiosaurus and Safari’s Ichthyosaur.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]s

Himalayasaurus (PNSO)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Triassic Tibet
Length: 49 feet (speculative)
Scale: 1:45

One of the most fragmentary genera I own as a figure. Literally known from teeth, vertebrae, and limb bones. I wasn’t entirely surprised by this figure being made, as they had done a nice mini a couple years ago. I haven’t been impressed by their glut of theropods, but it’s nice to see them make obscure species. Despite such little being found of it, they could still tell it was a massive Ichthyosaur, but it’s a dubious species due to its fragmentary status. They don’t know if it was another large Ichthyosaur in a different area.

With the older mini version. Funny how pretty much any flying or swimming creature looks great on these bases. They can even be used to support stubborn bipeds.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Helicoprion (PNSO)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Permian
Length: 26 feet (speculative)
Scale: 1:30

Yet another fragmentary genus today. The last figure we will be looking at is Helicoprion. It’s a stem ratfish, not a shark. It was previously depicted with a strange goblin shark snout, but the length of this figure’s snout is definitely plausible. It has an odd iridescence that I’m not too big a fan of. Helicoprion is known only from its tooth whorl, and that’s led to some weird depictions that are actually quite funny. Close relative of Edestus and Sarcoprion.

I don’t have any other 1:30 Permian sea life, so it will have to settle for Carboniferous prey.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Overall a great year for my collection. Which creature did you like the best?

12.26.2021

Oh man, that's a hard question! You got so many beautiful figures. First I thought the Olorotitan, then the Hinalayasaurus, then the Malawisaurus.... congratulations!

Congrats on all the wonderful figures! That Malawisaurus is stunning! I love the Eofauna giga, I wish it could stand though. I have to prop mine up on another dinosaur. Many great additions!

Beautieful

Wow, Santa has been very good to you. Perhaps because I can relate them best to my own collection, like the Livyatan and Archelon best. But all the dinosaurs are great too. Do you think a Jobaria could stand up on it hind legs?

They are not figures, actually my favourites are the insects in amber. Do you know what period they are from and can you identify any species? They are like jewels.

So many new arrivals in one go, wow! Hard to choose just one favourite when so many are great models, but I think I'll go with the hadrosaur, just because I've been very fond of them since childhood, so it's lovely seeing a nice modern rendition of something I used to like so much back in the 1980s.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Do you think a Jobaria could stand up on it hind legs?

Do you know what period they are from and can you identify any species? They are like jewels.

Strange tracks were found in Texas showing sauropods walking only on two legs. At first I was understandably skeptical, but here’s the article [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

But I also read that even for a brief time a sauropod like Jobaria could use its tail as a balance. And the amber bugs are modern insects.

I do have a question... is the Hamipterus an Amazon find? I quite like it.

Gecko08 wrote:

rogerpgvg wrote:

Do you think a Jobaria could stand up on it hind legs?

Do you know what period they are from and can you identify any species? They are like jewels.

Strange tracks were found in Texas showing sauropods walking only on two legs. At first I was understandably skeptical, but here’s the article [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

But I also read that even for a brief time a sauropod like Jobaria could use its tail as a balance. And the amber bugs are modern insects.

According to this article (very interesting), they walk on their front legs in water, which isn't quite the same. On the other hand, some elephants can stand on their hind legs, and they don't have a tail to help them balance.

Maybe the longer tail on sauropods is a compensation for them weighing more than elephants. And I bought the Hamipterus on aliexpress : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

But you can also find it on eBay: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

My collection is mainly about extinct species, but several years ago I had a bunch of sea creatures. This post will be dedicated to some deep-dwelling sea creatures from my collection. At this point, I might as well just call this thread “Gecko08’s Collection” and have the list and the beginning be summing up my collection. Not much is known about most of these creatures, as they inhabit the very deep ocean. Since these are all modern creatures, they all have common names and species names, to which I decided to include both. I used my PNSO stands for these deep-sea creatures, but getting some of these creatures to balance on the stands was a nightmare. Also, I got the IDs for the deep ocean creatures from this review on Animal Toy Blog: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Gulper Eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Midnight Zone
Length: 2 feet
Scale: 1:6

Safari’s Gulper Eel is positioned with an open mouth, but it could actually open wider than this. It was a true eel, but part of a derived group called Saccopharyngiformes, which consists of mostly deep dwelling and rarely seen species. The Gulper Eel is a highly modified version of other eels. Its eyes are tiny, as it wouldn't have needed them in the pitch black deep. Its body is similar to most eels, but its jaw is unhinged and can open wide enough to swallow animals bigger than itself.

Black Dragonfish (Idiacanthus atlanticus) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Midnight Zone
Length: 16 inches
Scale: 1:2

I noticed that the Black Dragonfish has a surprisingly catchy scientific name. Like most deep-sea fish, the females are many times larger than the males. The females are around 40 cm long and black while the males are brown and only 5 cm. The female also has canine teeth, a barble for luring in prey, and pelvic fins, all of which the male lacks. Interestingly, this figure has all the female's qualities with the exception of pelvic fins. This figure is still a good representation of the dragonfish itself.

Pacific Viperfish (Chauliodus macouni) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Miocene-Recent Midnight Zone
Length: 1 foot
Scale: 1:3

Unfortunately, this Viperfish isn't as accurate as the previous two. I was surprised when I found this out, as I believed it was impossible to get something wrong about an animal that's still alive. All living Viperfish belong to this one genus, but none of them resemble this figure. Interestingly, it has a fossil record going back to the Miocene, or about 11 mya. Hopefully, another company will make a Viperfish. One thing that I didn't know about this genus was that the first vertebra behind its head acts as a shock absorber.

Lyre Cranch Squid (Bathothauma lyromma) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Midnight Zone
Length: 7 inches
Scale: 1:2

This one is labeled as a Glass Squid, to which there are 60 species of, but this most resembles B. lyromma. Very good.

Giant Isopod (Bathynomus giganteus) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Miocene-Recent Midnight Zone
Length: 2 feet
Scale: 1:10

A textbook example of a phenomenon called Deep Sea Gigantism, where a creature that lives in the deep reaches a size much larger than its other relatives. Other examples include the Giant Spider Crab (which I know I have a figure of tucked away somewhere), Giant & Colossal Squids, and the Oarfish. The land-dwelling relatives of the Giant Isopod reach about 2 inches long.

Dark Ghostshark (Hydrolagus novaezealandiae) (Discovery Science)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
New Zealand Twilight Zone
Length: 3 feet
Scale: 1:9

This is a Chimaera or Ratfish. It was sold in Discovery Science's 2018 Shark Week set, and since there are very few figures of Ratfish (and none of this genus), it's certainly a welcome figure, despite not being very accurate. The eyes are too small and the body should be a darker gray. No gill slits present when there should be one. The mouth is also placed incorrectly and is even the wrong shape. Despite all this, it still has a certain charm. It's a unique species, and my only representation of a modern ratfish (although I did see a good one on Aliexpress I'm going to get soon).

With some (not to scale) ancient relatives. Helicoprion and Stethacanthus were in fact Stem-Ratfish or Holocephalans if we're using scientific terms. This means they were closer to the Dark Ghostshark than actual sharks like the Tiger Shark or Megalodon. Interestingly, Stem-Ratfish comprise exactly half of Safari's Prehistoric "Sharks" Tube. But if it means we get weird Stem-Ratfish like Edestus and Sarcoprion that we wouldn't have otherwise, then it was a good decision.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Dwarf Lanternshark (Etmopterus perryi) (Discovery Science)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Eocene-Recent Twilight Zone
Length: 8 inches
Scale: 1:3

This is the smallest shark in the world, and also a member of Discovery Science's Shark sets (the next post I make will be about them). The only place this shark has been found during our modern age is the Caribbean sea. Interestingly, the Dwarf Lanternshark uses both light-producing photophores and chromatophores, which produce pigments.

Atlantic Silver Hatchetfish (Argyropelecus aculeatus) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Oligocene-Recent Twilight Zone
Length: 3 inches
Scale: 1:1

Despite looking very frightening, this 3-inch figure is about life-size. When I was younger, I would get scared by a lot of these creatures, because there was no sense of scale, and I by default thought they were massive. But now that I actually see how small these creatures are, they are a lot less scary. It hunted tiny shrimp. The Hatchetfish is a vertical migrator, meaning that it rises up to the surface at night and then retreats to the deep during the day. In this case, the "surface" is about 100 meters. This figure is unfortunately inaccurate, possessing way too large teeth, and fins which are still wrong, but not as glaringly wrong as the teeth. It would really work better as a Fangtooth or Ogrefish, which is the deep-sea denizen that gave me nightmares for weeks.

Humpback Anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Midnight Zone
Length: 1 foot
Scale: 1:3

Perhaps the icon of the deep ocean: The Anglerfish. I'm very much looking forward to buying Collecta's Anglerfish. It has a luring appendage tipped with a tiny amount of blue paint. The appendage was used to lure any unlucky prey close enough to its mouth for a strike. Certainly a good figure of a popular species.

Goblin Shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) (Discovery Science)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Twilight Zone
Length: 12 feet
Scale: 1:12

Last but not least, the 12-inch Goblin Shark from a Discovery Science Shark Week set. It's been called a living fossil because the lineage it belongs to dates back to the Early Cretaceous.

1:9-1:12
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

1:3
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

1:2
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Happy New Year everybody!    

12.31.2021

A wonderful shark set

so strange fishes!

My first figure for 2022 isn't even an extinct species but is still very cool.

Prince Axel's Wonder Fish (Thaumatichthys axeli) (AAA)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Midnight Zone
Length: 11 inches
Scale: 1:2

How is this figure not reviewed on Animal Toy Blog?? And I don't do reviews for singular figures, I do try to give my opinions and informative commentary here. Deep-sea fish have always been a point of interest for me. Whether it be the teeth, fangs, or lures, Anglerfish are the most iconic of the deep-sea fish. The Wonder Fish, or Thaumatichthys, is a modified version of the Anglerfish. The Wonder fish is more elongated than most other Anglerfish. They also have lures, but the lures are placed inside the creature's mouth, which might even be a better idea than the traditional lure on a pole strategy.

Now for the figure itself. Most promotional images make it look like a bath toy, but I can assure you, it would be in good company with Anglerfish from the other main companies. It's part of AAA's oddly named Bottom Feeders set, which I had no idea how much I needed. *Still looking for the Anglerfish*

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

With Safari's Humpback Anglerfish.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The lure and inside of its mouth are actually painted to glow in the dark, which really shows just how well thought out this line was.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

All in all, it's a great figure. A must-have for anyone who collects deep-sea fish.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

As for my official stance on me collecting modern species. In many ways, it's easier narrow down the best for modern species than for dinosaurs (ex. No new discovery on the appearance of Lions or Tigers will completely falsify every previous figure of those species). I'm going to devote the majority of my collection to dinosaurs and prehistoric life, and every now and then buy the modern species, while still sticking to my set buy-list of dinosaurs. And see where that gets me in a couple of years. I'm sure my collection will look great.

I stopped by Hobby Lobby today and got some new stuff.

First off, a set of 1:50 and 1:70 scale humans.

1:50 for Collecta's Bistahieversor
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
And 1:70 for Collecta's Argentinosaurus
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Still no 1:60 human, but it's close than still using a 1:40 human.

Hobby Lobby also sells Mojo figures, which is how I got this next addition.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Smilodon (Mojo)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Pliocene-Pleistocene
Length: 8 feet
Scale: 1:20

Smilodon's next rendition in my collection. For one, it's far from perfect. The front limbs are too slender and tall, the neck is too short and the head is too big. Despite its flaws, the Mojo Smilodon is a very good figure and an improvement upon my older version from Safari. My newer Smilodon is a tad bit stockier, and its build is closer to perfection than Safari's, depicting a shoulder hump. The 2015 Collecta Smilodon is better, but it has its own flaws, and I would rather wait for a company (EOFAUNA!!) to do Smilodon justice than to keep buying better but not perfect figures.

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

And this last image isn’t of a new figure, but of an update of another figure.

Giraffatitan (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Jurassic Africa
Length: 70 feet
Scale: 1:60

Brachiosaurus altithorax was originally uncovered as fragmentary remains in North America in 1903, but the main image of "BRACHIOSAURUS" was actually a species called Brachiosaurus brancai, which was uncovered in Africa in 1914. The close similarities were noted, and the skeleton of B. brancai (which was an almost complete skull and skeleton) was labeled as Brachiosaurus and used to fill in a lot of the gaps in terms of the American species' fragmentary nature. In the 80s, a debate began to arise revolving around the almost complete Brachiosaur. Some paleontologists said that what little remains that were known from America's Brachiosaurus were distinct enough to be considered a separate genus from Africa's Brachiosaurus. Gregory Paul took notice of the African Brachiosaurus' giraffe-like build and he named it Giraffatitan brancai in 1988. This slight change in taxonomy was unnoticed for several decades, but as the differences began to pile up...

Eventually, in 2009 Michael Taylor published a detailed description of both Brachiosaurs, concluding that they must be named different genera. Due to the already set rules of biology, the American species is still called Brachiosaurus, but the African species was officially noticed as Giraffatitan, due to Paul's paper in 1988. Also in the 80s, a (North American) Brachiosaurus skull was discovered residing in Othniel Charles Marsh's old collection. After he passed away the skull was given to the Smithsonian and then was realized to be a skull of the fragmentary B. altithorax.

Here is the skull of B. altithorax (left) next to the skull of G. brancai (right)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Due to this revelation, I have concluded that a knockoff of Carnegie's Brachiosaurus is the best Brachiosaurus out there.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I'm sorry if I ruined the beloved Brachiosaurus from your childhood.

01.06.2022

Gosh, SOOOOO many fantastic new models for you! It is hard to pick a favorite there are so many I really like. Congratulations! The helicoprion I think wins for me though, it is a locally found fossil and I had several classes with one of the main scientists that works on these animals today, Professor Leif Tapanila. Great additions again!

I love the deep sea fish also- they're just so weirdly wonderful. Here's a listing with some of the AAA fish- Ebay link
I have all of that set except for the anglerfish/Atlantic footballfish, which I'm seeking. They are delightful in hand, though some of the lures are fragile and break off easily!
Have you any of the Safari set, Wild Safari I think they were, not the toob ones, from around 1997? They are beautiful. There was an Incredible Creatures gulper/pelican eel too, that I'm also looking for.

Thanks for the Brachiosaur/Giraffatitan info, hadn't heard it!