Gecko08’s Collection - MOVED TO A NEW TOPIC

I’ve seen pictures of the 1997 Safari models, and they look great, but I don’t have any of them myself. Good luck on the Gulper Eel, I hope you come across it. I’m sure eventually we’ll both find the Anglerfish, but until then, we’ll have Collecta’s awesome footballfish. I was lucky enough to snag the very last of the Lantern Fish (which was actually a barreleye). I would buy the Colorata one, but they are very small and cost a lot for their size. I’m not made of money.

If I ever come across more of the 1997 Safari models, I'll keep you in mind. I have all of that series; the Incredible Creatures pelican eel was a later release. I'll keep you in mind on the AAAs also, still looking for the Angler like you and also the gulper from that series. I'll see if I can find who I bought the Hatchet from last summer; it was on eBay and I think it was H and H Winners Circle but not sure now.

Edit to say it was Toys-From-The-Ark, and they still have the Hatchet along with a few others. here

A figure housing update and some cetaceans. First off, I don't need any of the figures in Safari's Creatures of the Deep Line, as all of them have been made by other companies. I checked the lot with the AAA figures and will order them soon. Funnily enough, AAA's "Dragon Fish" looks exactly like a Viperfish, even down to the placement of the lure (which is always on the dorsal fin in Viperfish and always on the chin in Dragonfish).

I recently moved most of my Mattel Jurassic World line into a big shelf in my living room. This freed up a lot of space in my room for my main collection (i.e. the list on page one).
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I already put in some modern species that will be discussed in greater detail later on. In the background are the two pages of art PNSO made to go with their Himalayasaurus and Livyatan.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Most of my old Cetacean figures are either

A. Badly damaged and in need of me buying another one.

B. Have been made better by another company

C. Are neither of the first two.

Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Arctic Ocean
Length: 45 feet
Scale: 1:60

The Bowhead Whale was my favorite whale when I was younger, but that thankfully equated to me being careful enough not to damage it. While Collecta's may have a better paint job, this one holds up better scientifically, which the latter is always what I aim for. This Safari figure has a better arm structure. The Bowhead Whale was historically labeled as Eubalaena mysticetus but is now known to be the only living member of the genus Balaena. Bowhead Whales can live well over 100 years, a fact that was proven by the discovery of a 19th century dated harpoon stuck in a still-living specimen.

Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Temperate & Tropical Oceans Worldwide
Length: 12 feet
Scale: 1:50

I'm not trying to get all my Cetaceans in the same or comparable scales, simply because that's a near-impossible task, due to how greatly size differs between them. That being said, this figure still suffices as a good Tursiops, and it's here to stay. It's a very interesting fact that dolphins give each other names, but with whistles and clicks. A dolphin will even respond to its name being called even if it's being called by a dolphin who isn't a member of its pod.

Short Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Atlantic & Pacific Oceans
Length: 6 feet
Scale: 1:25

I'm still planning on buying Safari's Dolphins tube. Dolphins (except for Orcas which are massive) make great miniatures. The Common Dolphin isn't the most popular, that being the Bottlenose Dolphin, but it does have the largest population, at around 6 million. For a while, the entire genus of Delphinus was packed into a single species. An in-depth genetic study concluded that 4 species of Delphinus existed.

01.08.2022

It's always a pleasure to look at your collection and to learn so many things about the extinct faunas!

Some new creatures, this time ancient and modern...

Soleatus Barreleye (Opisthoproctus soleatus) (AAA)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Twilight Zone
Length: 4 inches
Scale: 1:1

The AAA figures are usually accurate to their actual counterparts, at the very worst, sometimes the figures look like different animals or their IDs are just plain wrong. This figure seems to be the latter, billed as a "Lantern Fish", a group of deep-sea dwelling, bioluminescent ray-finned fish that really look nothing like this figure. Instead, this figure is a Barreleye, or sometimes called a Spookfish. There are very few Barreleye figures out there, one being made by Colorata to represent a fish in the genus Macropinna. I usually avoid Colorata figures in general simply because shipping plus the actual cost is a lot for what I'm getting. Even individually, they cost a lot for smaller figures. I'm not made of money, and that's something I take into account.
So when I checked eBay and saw that the last AAA Barreleye was being listed, you can imagine me spam clicking the "Buy it Now" button. Interestingly, dead Soleatus Barreleye corpses have been found in the stomachs of beached Sowerby's Beaked Whales. The weird, upwards-facing eyes could actually rotate to widen their field of vision. The eyes are covered by a thin membrane of skin, which would shield them from the elements.

The figure itself is clearly based on this drawing.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

With AAA's Wonder Fish. I need to get back to buying prehistoric animals, but I am opportunistic, and when a set I want is on eBay for a low price I tend not to stop until I've bought what I'm after. $40 later...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And some Kaiyodo non-dinosaurs I bought in December have come to save me from having another post with no prehistoric life.

Meiolania (Kaiyodo)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Miocene-Holocene Pacific Islands & Australia
Length: 6 feet
Scale: 1:30

Even though its time says "Holocene", Meiolania went extinct around 2,000 years ago. I originally passed on buying this figure because I was worried it was too small, but this is a good scale. Meiolania is usually about 6 feet, but a couple of island residing dwarf species grow to around 2 feet. Maybe one day I will get the Kaiyodo Megalania to accompany it, but until then it will have to make itself known amongst my Southlands Replicas Diprotodon. I think Dejankins is still selling SR Diprotodons here in case anyone from the US wants to grab a copy of this figure before it's gone for good: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


With some other (NOT TO SCALE) ancient Testudines. Archelon (Favorite), Odontochelys (PNSO), Glyphoderma (PNSO), Henodus (Safari Ltd). There seems to be a rather unfortunate 65 million year gap between Archelon and Meiolania, but hopefully, another company will make more turtles. Also, turtles are now known to be primitive diapsids, putting them with other modern reptiles, and away from Scutosaurus, which was historically taught to be a sort of stem turtle.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Rayonnoceras (Kaiyodo)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Carboniferous USA
Length: 8 feet
Scale: 1:30

It brings me special happiness to see my Carboniferous collection rise from 9 to 10. While Rayonnoceras resembles the older Endocerids (like Cameroceras), it's actually close to the much smaller Orthoceras. Interestingly, the Endocerids live on in the form of Nautiluses, as they are in the same subclass of Nautiloidea, whereas with the Orthocerids all of their relatives died out in the Triassic period.

With Flormoon's Cameroceras. The Ordovician and Carboniferous are sadly looked over, but, that is slowly changing in my collection. It also helps that I bring awareness of these awesome but ignored creatures here.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And lastly, some modern sharks that have been in my collection for a while.

Japanese Sawshark (Pristiophorus japonicus) (K&M)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Northwest Pacific Ocean
Length: 4 feet
Scale: 1:12

I believe I first got K&M's Shark set during a family trip to the Audobon Aquarium in New Orleans. I'm trying to get one of each modern species so my modern animal shelves have to be ruthless. I subjected each of the sharks to endless measuring and comparing to other figures and to the real animal and found only two that were fit to be on my shelf. To be exact, the criteria I used was "either unique to that species or the best of that species". In this case, I would consider them lucky lucky winners. This sawshark feeds on small animals buried in the substrate.

Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci) (K&M)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
California Continental Shelf
Length: 3 feet
Scale: 1:15

The last winner from this set is the Horn Shark. I think it was the right decision to include common names instead of scientific names on the reference list on page 1, simply because people recognize common names more than scientific names, and since nobody is going to call a Great White Shark a Carcharodon carcharias, I understand the need to make the names recognizable.
The Horn Shark is a species of Bullhead shark that hides out on the seafloor. It gets its name from the venomous spines in front of its dorsal fins.

Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini)(Papo)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Worldwide Continental Shelf
Length: 6 feet
Scale: 1:12

Whenever someone makes a hammerhead shark figure, this is usually the species they mean to make. A few of Papo's dinosaurs are really good (Gorgosaurus, Chilesaurus & Apatosaurus are some of my best ones), and their Megaloceras got the figure of the year, which I thankfully got in 2021. I don't think there's any way to get a Hammerhead Shark wrong, but I might just be oblivious in that aspect. But as Hammerheads go, this is a mighty fine figure of this species.

01.11.2022

The Allosaurus from Papo is rather good too! :)

Caracal wrote:

The Allosaurus from Papo is rather good too! :)

It looks good, but I don’t have it in my collection, which was why I chose not to list it. I found the Miragaia of Ynryn Industry on eBay and I got it, should receive it week after next.

So far your new displays look fantastic! I didn't realize the AAA barreleye was just that, might have to snag one sometime. Great oceanic figures thus far!

I love your posts due to how extremely detailed are the explanations about both the figures and the species. I always learn something new reading you. Keep up the good work!!

Safari generally does very well with sharks, it appears to be one of their strengths. There are a couple like the Safari Whale and Basking Sharks that I chose not to shelf, simply because Collecta's Basking Shark has better gills, and Papo's Whale Shark has a better color scheme. There are still many sharks from Safari I need to get. I don't know as much about modern animals as I do prehistoric, but I usually decide on the best after looking at threads like Blaine's Synoptic Animal Collection on ATF or simply looking at photos of the figure, and then comparing it to the actual animal. This is my current Safari Ltd shark/ray collection.

Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray (Taeniura lymma) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Western Pacific Islands
Length: 2.5 feet
Scale: 1:10

A very pretty stingray with a striking color scheme. The only figure from Safari's Sharks and Rays Toob on my shelf. I was going to replace it with a bigger, darker, version but I soon discovered that some members of this species have color schemes varying from dark green to a shade that more resembles this figure. This is the only stingray that has a color scheme like this, and so it's easily identified among other rays.

Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Early Cretaceous-Recent Atlantic-Pacific Oceans
Length: 8 feet
Scale: 1:20

A shark that has adapted to spend very little energy. They have bitten people before, but they are usually timid and docile when encountered underwater. It is unknown the exact origin of the name Nurse Shark. They are nocturnal and would gather in piles during the day to sleep. They feed on stingrays and invertebrates at night. They are suction feeders.

Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Miocene-Recent Worldwide Coastal Seas
Length: 8 feet
Scale: 1:20

The Bull Shark may be the most dangerous shark that's still alive today. It can thrive in both salt and fresh water, and its bite force is 5,914 newtons, of course not as powerful as a Megalodon or Great White. The Bull Sharks are also more aggressive than most sharks. They may be dangerous, but we are more dangerous to them than they are to us. The Bull Shark is the best known of the sharks found in freshwater.

Megamouth Shark (Megachasma pelagios) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Equatorial Worldwide
Length: 18 feet
Scale: 1:30

Transitioning from a shark we know a lot about, we have the Megamouth, a shark we know very little about. Since its discovery in 1976, its only been spotted in its natural habitat less than 100 times. Because of this, the Megamouth has become a very elusive shark. It's a big shark, but the smallest of the three filter-feeding shark species. The Megamouth is known to ascend to shallower water at night, but it spends most of its life around 160 meters down, at the edge of the sunlight zone. It's known to have a bioluminescent lower jaw. The light from its jaw would be used to lure in small plankton and jellyfish.

Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Miocene-Recent Tropical and Subtropical Oceans
Length: 16 feet
Scale: 1:25

This is Safari's Tiger Shark released for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This figure is the best Tiger Shark currently released, not only did Safari get the build and color scheme perfect, but they also included a correct nose, which is often overlooked by most toy reconstructions of this species. Tiger Sharks are often called the garbage cans of the sea because a lot of plastic junk has been found in their stomachs. Things like metal, wood, plastic, fishing gear, and I remember hearing that they eat books. Despite being top predators, they are often taken on by Orca pods.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Miocene-Recent Coastal and Open Oceans Worldwide
Length: 20 feet
Scale: 1:35

1:35 isn't a scale you usually see shark figures in (or even 1:30 for that matter). The usual scale for average-sized shark species is 1:20, or for the smaller sharks 1:12. Being the most popular shark, many figures of the Great White has been made over the years, but Safari's 2016 Great White is the reigning champ of them all. The Great White is the largest modern predatory shark, being outsized only by the Basking Shark and the Whale Shark, which are filter feeders. It's known for hunting seals and other marine mammals, whereas other sharks would rather dine on fish or invertebrates.


With Favorite Co's Otodus Megalodon. Megalodon was historically considered to be relatives of the Great White Shark (in the genera Carcharodon and then Carcharocles) but now it's known to be in the genus Otodus, making O. megalodon the new name for this fish. It's in the order Lamniformes (aka Mackerel Sharks) along with the Great White, Basking Shark, Mako, Thresher, Goblin, and Sand Tiger Sharks. The Sand Tiger Shark is the closest related to Megalodon. While some artists have made Megalodon look like a giant Sand Tiger since this discovery was made, the Sand Tiger's build wouldn't work as a large predator, thus any similarity in build to the Great White would be convergent evolution.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The Great White should be a couple of inches smaller to represent an accurately sized individual. Another thing I really like about Favorite's Megalodon: They made the color scheme a dark blue instead of being exactly like a big Great White.

01.15.2022

They're great, and as always I learnt a lot from your posts, such as the facts of tiger sharks eating a lot of thrash, or megamouth shark having a luminescent jaw. I love your posts!
Currently I have only the megamouth shark from the ones you posted. That nurse shark has been traditionally in my wishlist but nowadays I don't have room for more sharks as I needed to post ones top of anothers. The Safari's tiger shark has been in and out of my wishlist over the time, by one hand the sculpt is perfect but by other the upper and lower coloration is too contrasting and the dark bands are too sharp and dark. I think that I need to add the blue-spotted stingray toob figure to my wishlist :)

Wonderful sharks

Beautiful and interesting sharks collection! I didn't know Megalodon had changed its name!

Some more January additions. First off are two figures from the lot that [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] directed me to earlier.

Starry Handfish (Halieutaea stellata) (AAA)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Twilight Zone Pacific Ocean
Length: 1 foot
Scale: 1:3

This is a well-done figure of this species. The only thing AAA got wrong here is that they could have added legs to the bottom, or more accurately modified fins. Despite its appearance, the Starry Handfish as well as all other batfish are Anglerfish. They are part of the same order as the deep sea Anglerfish. So are frogfish, which I still need in my collection.

Pacific Viperfish (Chauliodus macouni) (AAA)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Midnight Zone Atlantic and Pacific Ocean
Length: 12 inches
Scale: 1:2

The fearsome teeth in the Viperfish's jaw don't actually spear their prey, instead, they act more like the bars of a cage. I got this figure to replace Safari's smaller Viperfish, as the safari figure didn't resemble any species and got a lot more wrong than this figure. This Viperfish has the correct placement of the lure, as well as a correct skull, dorsal and pelvic fins, and tail. With this, I only need a couple more of AAA's bottom feeders and then my collection will be complete. I believe the purple spots around its body are meant to be photophores, which are patches of bioluminescent bacteria.

The Safari Black Dragonfish and AAA Pacific Viperfish demonstrate their differences. The Dragonfish has a lure in the form of a barbel extending from its chin, and the Viperfish has the lure on its dorsal fin. Despite having a dorsally placed lure, the Viperfish isn't considered to be an Anglerfish, as all Anglerfishes live in the order Lophiiformes, whereas Dragonfish and Viperfish are in the order Stomiiformes.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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

Miragaia (Ynryn Industry)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Jurassic Portugal
Length: 18 feet
Scale: 1:30

I was able to successfully track down the Miragaia from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] 's Jurassic Park thread. Miragaia is of the same order as Stegosaurus, but it lives in Portugal and has a longer neck. Its plates are also taller and thinner than Stegosaurus's plates. It would have coexisted with other animals like Dacentrurus, Allosaurus, Torvosaurus, and Ceratosaurus.

The American Apatosaurus from Papo met a Portuguese friend.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

A Stegosaur family reunion crashed.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And being chased by a fairly dangerous Allosaur.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I saw it in a lot of two, and its traveling companion was a larger Miragaia by an unknown company. The larger one has a smaller tail, and isn't as accurate as Ynryn's one.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
the larger one is about 1:20.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

the larger one spotted with other 1:20-1:25 Jurassic animals.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

A nice shot of the walking pin cushions of my collection. Not revolving around scale, but these all lie somewhere between 1:25 and 1:35.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Pleydellia (Flormoon)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Early Jurassic Europe
Length: 4 inches
Scale: 1:1

Pleydellia was historically the wastebasket taxon for ammonites, with a lot of other European ammonites considered to be synonymous with Pleydellia. Eventually, scientists used the shell markings from each different species of Pleydellia to revise the species.

With Safari's Peltoceratoides of the same era and scale.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
My complete collection of ancient cephalopods. There are ammonites as well as orthoconic cephalopods, which is really any cephalopod with a straight shell, and it could mean members of the order Orthocerida or Nautoloidea. Also you can see Collecta's Orthoceras sticking out from behind the Pravitoceras. There are two by Flormoon (and Flormoon even made another one I'm after), one by Safari, two by Kaiyodo, and six by Collecta.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

01.19.2022

The cephalopod group shot is great, you've got such a nice variety already and hopefully companies will keep making more to fill the gaps and broaden your collection. I have a collection of fossils myself (real, not figure), so it's pretty cool seeing them reconstructed as the living creatures.

Very beautiful Cephalopods Collection! I just have 2 from Bullyland , one Belemnite and one Ammonite (Pledellia too I think) I had bought to show the living looking of the fossiles we found together to my little pupils! :)

Love your presentations. I learn a lot withhh hthem as I was reading short reviews of each figures. It is also very kind from you finding an American friend for a spiky Portuguese.

Thanks, everybody! A new addition from Toys-From-The-Ark eBay store.

Giant Hatchetfish (Argyropelecus gigas??) (AAA)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Twilight Zone
Length: 6 inches
Scale: 1:1

The only other figure from this set I need is the Anglerfish, but it's not currently available on eBay, so this will be my last AAA Bottom Feeder for a while. The species ID for this figure has eluded me, but my best guess would be A. gigas or the Giant Hatchetfish. I am open to suggestions regarding this identification. Some Giant Hatchetfish can be brown or dark green (according to some of the websites I've read), but I have had trouble finding actual images to verify this. Aside from being hard to identify, the AAA Hatchetfish is a much better Hatchetfish than Safari's tube figure, which looks more like a Fangtooth. The AAA figure has an accurate mouth and fins compared to Safari's figure. The AAA figure also has a good silvery color added to its sides. In real life, Hatchetfish can produce an interesting effect with bioluminescence that makes them almost clear against the water.

Here is a comparison shot of the AAA Hatchetfish vs the previous Hatchetfish in my collection
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I also got the Shuohu Prehistoric Mammals set from Amazon. I only bought this set for the Synthetoceras (the pronghorn-ish yellow mammal on the left)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Synthetoceras (Shuohu)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Miocene North America
Length: 6 feet
Scale: 1:12

Only the males of this species have the forked horn on their noses. This figure was originally sold in a Dollar Store set sometime in the 2000s but has since made its way to Amazon where I found it. Synthetoceras is part of the Protoceratidae family, which started in the Eocene and ended with Synthetoceras, who was the last and largest member of that family. Despite its visible seams, it's still a good figure.

US Yowies are sold by the masses in the Walmart I go to, so here are some that have already ended up in my collection.

Tasmanian Giant Freshwater Crayfish (Astacopsis gouldi) (Yowie)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Tasmania
Length: 2.5 feet
Scale: 1:12

I don't have any of the major species like Lions, Tigers, and Elephants (but I assure you, there will be a day!). Instead, a majority of my modern collection are weird creatures. I like that about my collection. This species happens to be the largest freshwater invertebrate in the world, reaching the sizes of some saltwater lobsters. Sadly, it's endangered.


Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus) (Yowie)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Central America
Height: 3 feet
Scale: 1:15

The Horned Guan is critically endangered and is in the same order as chickens and turkeys.

Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) (Yowie)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
North America
Length: 21 inches
Scale: 1:12

Black-Footed Ferrets are the first US endangered species to be cloned, with the first individual being cloned in December of 2020. The Black-Footed Ferret is one of the rarest and most endangered mammals in North America.

Sunflower Sea Star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) (Yowie)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Northeast Pacific Ocean
Length: 3 feet
Scale: 1:18

I took a trip to Walmart today and got a chance to get another US Yowie. They're doing a new series titled "Animals With Superpowers" and the toy series is about animals with natural abilities we would consider special. The Sunflower Sea Star is the second largest sea star known and is a voracious predator of urchins, clams, and snails. Yowie lists its superpower as regeneration, as sea stars have the ability to detach limbs and regenerate them.

01.22.2022

Just before the end of the month, two new prehistoric animals arrived at my doorstep.

Tylosaurus (Safari Ltd)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous North America
Length: 42 feet
Scale: 1:55

I was going to buy the PNSO Tylosaurus, but I chose this one on closer research, and I'm glad I did because the PNSO one cost four times this one's price. Tylosaurus means "knob lizard" because of the two "knobs" that are really just toothless extensions of the snout.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The PNSO figure lacks these, and it's frustrating to see PNSO miss the animal's namesake in their figure. This seems like a small nitpick, but they also got the animal's build incorrect. Tylosaurus was leaner than Mosasaurus, and so PNSO's stockier reconstruction is also incorrect. I'm very selective with PNSO in general, but even more so when something better is out there. Some of PNSO's figures are great, but the Tylosaurus isn't among them. Admittedly, Safari's tigerstripe color scheme is a bit odd for a large marine predator, but it's grown on me. A common misconception is that mosasaurs are dinosaurs, but they are actually Squamates, meaning they are closer to lizards and snakes than to Archosaurs like birds and crocodiles. The Safari Tylosaurus has a forked tongue, which has been around on mosasaurs since their discovery. Snakes have forked tongues, but they have them because of an olfactory organ called the Jacobson's organ, which are given odor particles by the tongue. A lot of other animals have Jacobson's organ (even humans do, but it's vestigial), but snakes have it function like that. I couldn't find any information on whether mosasaurs had Jacobson's organs (and it's best not to assume), but if they didn't there'd be no need for a forked tongue.

Mosasaurus (Collecta)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Late Cretaceous Worldwide
Length: 49 feet
Scale: 1:50

I've been wanting this figure for a very long time. Mosasaurus lived with Tylosaurus in North America, but it was bulkier and lacked the knobby snout. Historically, Mosasaurs were depicted with paddle-shaped tails, but more recent findings in the 2010s revealed that Mosasaurs actually had flukes (though not in the same fashion as whales did). Since Mosasaurs were reptiles, they had to go up to the surface to breathe. Tylosaurus was regionally locked to North America, but Mosasaurus was found on every continent be it skeletons or teeth, even Antarctica and Japan! Mosasaurs were sometimes depicted as living in family groups, but bite marks on the snout and fins show that Mosasaurs were cannibals instead. Around 66 mya, the asteroid strike killed all the dinosaurs, along with the Mosasaurs and Plesiosaurs.

The current figure depiction of the Mosasaurus family. These are all the Mosasaurs currently made by the companies. The little pipsqueak beside the Mosa is PNSO's Ectenosaurus. Ectenosaurus was a dwarf mosasaur, but it lived during the same time and place as the main two. These three could have coexisted if they occupied different niches, but one instance of Tylosaurus attacking Mosasaurus was present in fossils, and Ectenosaurus would have probably been prey for these two. Ectenosaurus may look tiny, but it was 15 feet long, or the average size of a modern Tiger Shark.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Mosasaurus attacking Collecta's Elasmosaurus.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Here you can see that the snout of Tylosaurus is more "knobby". You can also see the Pterygoid Teeth or the second set of teeth on the roof of their mouths. They were used to hold prey still in its mouth while the main rows of teeth got to work.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Mosasaurus would have also coexisted with Parapusozia.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My full group shot in January 2022. My collection is one of the fastest-growing, and my private wishlist won't last much longer if this growth continues at this rate. On a different subject, my modern animal collection won't be as all-inclusive as my ancient fauna because the ancient fauna is the main focus. I won't be able to track down rare or discontinued figures as easily or as often as I am with dinosaurs, and I'm mainly going to rely on Papo, Safari, Collecta, and Schleich.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Here is a quick rundown of January.

Carboniferous~

Rayonnoceras (Kaiyodo)

Jurassic~

Miragaia (Ynryn Industry)
Pleydellia (Flormoon)

Cretaceous~

Mosasaurus (Collecta)
Tylosaurus (Safari Ltd)

Neogene~

Smilodon (Mojo)
Synthetoceras (Shuohu)
Meiolania (Kaiyodo)

Modern~

Giant Hatchetfish (AAA)
Pacific Viperfish (AAA)
Prince Axel's Wonderfish (AAA)
Soleatus Barreleye (AAA)
Starry Handfish (AAA)
Sunflower Sea Star (Yowie)

01.31.2022

I like those prehistoric aquatic animals. One of my favorite subjects even if I am not collecting them.
It is interesting to see all your research about them.

Congrats

Very rich january batch!