Mathison Museum of Natural History

Species: Eupatorus gracilicornis Arrow, 1908
Common name(s): five-horned rhinoceros beetle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: B.I.G. Beetles
Year of Release: 2005
Size/Scale: Body length (including horns) 8.6 cm, within scale 1:1 for a large male specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen E. gracilicornis in the Museum. Not one of the more commonly-made species, but still a standard among some Japanese companies. There is some assembly required for this figure.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood; adults feed on nectar, plant sap, and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like many large dynastine scarab beetles, E. gracilicornis has marked sexual dimorphism. Males (as shown here today) have four large pronotal horns and one cephalic horn (hence the common name, 'five-horned rhinoceros beetle'). Females have a more rugose pronotum and lack the pronotal and cephalic horns.

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Beautiful species and model!

Species: Dorcus hopei binodulosus Waterhouse, 1874

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kitan Club
Series: Nature Techni Colour - Nature of Japan Vol. 3
Year of Production: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length (including mandibles) 6.5 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fifth time we've seen D. h. binodulosus in the Museum; it is one of the most commonly produced species by Japanese manufacturers. With several good options available, this is one of the best examples of this species produced, along with those by F-toys (2011, 2016) and Kaiyodo (2013).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan, Korean Peninsula
Habitat: Broadleaf forests
Diet: Larvae breed in rotting wood; adults feed on tree sap
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Dorcus hopei binodulosus is popular with beetle breeders as it is very easy to rear in terraria. There are concerns however with escaped beetles in Japan competing with, or having genetic introgression with, native species and subspecies in places where reared strains, species, or subspecies of Dorcus are not native to.

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Beautiful model and picture!

Species: Vombatus ursinus (Shaw, 1800)
Common name(s): common wombat; coarse-haired wombat; bare-nosed wombat

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Wildlife
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:12.7-1:20
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was intended to represent a nursing mother, as it was sculpted with a baby poking its head and left front paw out of its pouch (see inset).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeastern Australia, including Tasmania
Habitat: Open woodlands and montane forest, heathlands, alpine grassland, coastal scrub
Diet: Primarily grasses, sedges, mosses; also shrubs, roots, tubers, bark
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Vombatus ursinus has low metabolic activity and a large digestive tract (in relation to its body), allowing it to digest vegetation that would otherwise be poor quality to other herbivores. The stomach is small and very acidic and the small intestine is simple. The large intestine houses microbial fermentation and consists of a proximal colon (which makes up approximately 60-80% of gut contents), a cecum, and distal colon. It takes about two weeks for a wombat to digest its food. Vombatus ursinus is also known for its cube-shaped dung, which are formed near the terminal end of the intestinal tract. It is believed the fecal pellets are cube-shaped because it prevents the dung from rolling away, and wombats use their dung for marking their territories.

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very interesting!

Species: Erinaceus amurensis Schrenk, 1858
Common name(s): Amur hedgehog; Manchurian hedgehog

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Animatales Series 10
Year of Production: 2005
Size/Scale: Base of figure 2.7 cm in diameter. Scale difficult to calculate, but body length approximately 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:3-1:5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Minimal assembly is required. From what I can tell, this figure is unique for this species. Kaiyodo made rolled-up four-toed hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris) for the Capsule Q Museum Hedgehogs and Sugar Gliders collection, but they do not represent the same sculpt and do not require assembly.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia (southeastern Russia, eastern China, Korean Peninsula)
Habitat: Mixed woodlands, forest edges, steppes, shrublands, grasslands, agricultural fields, city parks
Diet: Primarily terrestrial invertebrates; occasionally mice, frogs, fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Much like porcupines and echidnas, E. amurensis and other hedgehogs use their keratin-based quills for defense against would be predators, an excellent example of convergent evolution! Unlike the quills of porcupines, the quills of hedgehogs do not come out. A major predator of E. amurensis is the sable (Martes zibellina).

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I've been negligent about hedgehogs since I only have the common hedgehog represented in my collection. Not even an African pygmy hedgehog. Most hedgehog figures are not identified to the species level but it is nice to see this model representing one of the few unusual species.

cute unique model!

Interesting hedgehog

Species: Himantolophus groenlandicus Reinhardt, 1837
Common name(s): Atlantic footballfish

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Deep Sea Fish
Year of Production: 2015 (2009)
Size/Scale: Body length 5.7 cm for a scale of approximately 1:10
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: My figure is the 2015 release of a model that originally came out in 2009 (although the 2009 version had a slightly different base). Minimal assembly is required (the illicium/esca comes as a separate piece) and the fish is removable from its base. The only other figure I am aware of that was specifically marketed as H. groenlandicus is by Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. for the Deep Sea Fish Encyclopedia 1 (2010). I actually like the Takara figure a little more than this one by Colorata, but I had bought the entire Colorata set and decide to retain this figure. It has been suggested that based on morphology, CollectA's 2022 anglerfish also represents H. groenlandicus; however, that figure comes with a parasitic male which H. groenlandicus doesn't have.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Nearly worldwide in subarctic, temperate, and tropical parts of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans
Habitat: Mesopelagic to bathypelagic, at depths of 200-1830 meters (usually 200-800 meters)
Diet: Fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Himantolophus groenlandicus and other deep-sea anglerfish are best known for their method of attracting potential prey. The modified dorsal ray forms a fishing rod-like organ (illicium) with a bioluminescent tip (esca); the bioluminescence is produced by symbiotic bacteria that live in the esca. The fish dangles its esca in front of its large, tooth-lined mouth to attract small fish; when the fish get close, the anglerfish devour them! It's been suggested that the lure is also used by females to attract potential mates.

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Beautiful model and display!

Species: Dorcus rectus (Motschulsky, 1857)
Common name(s): little stag beetle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Diversity of Life on Earth - Stag Beetles Vol. 4
Year of Production: 2022
Size/Scale: Wingspan 14.5 cm. Body length (excluding mandibles) 6.5 cm, for a scale of 2:1 for a large male specimen.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen D. rectus in the Museum. Like most other models in the Diversity of Life on Earth line, this beetle is large, requires assembly, is articulated, and may be expensive. It's a model for serious collectors and not a toy to be played with. Sega also produced D. rectus, at least twice that I am aware of.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia (eastern China, eastern Russia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan)
Habitat: Hardwood forests
Diet: Larvae feed in dead hardwood infected with white rot fungus; adults are attracted to sap
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Dorcus rectus is one of the few lucanid species with documented mandible trimorphism, meaning there are three different mandible types in the males. Males can have long mandibles with two pairs of teeth, long mandibles with one pair of teeth, and intermediate mandibles with no teeth. These three mandible types appear to be proportional to the body size of the beetle, from largest to smallest, respectively.

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Beautiful model and display!

Species: Paraleptuca crassipes (White, 1847)
Common name(s): thick-legged fiddler crab

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wing Mau
Series: Aquatic Museum
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Carapace width 2.9 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure is technically unique by major/professional manufacturers, but forum member Jetoar made this species for Paleo-Creatures (Unknown Depths). There are six figures in the Aquatic Museum collection, each representing a different species of crab. Each comes with a flat habitat-style base (see inset); the six bases connect to form a larger base incorporating different habitats for each of the species in the set.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: West Pacific
Habitat: Mangrove swamps, intertidal mudflats
Diet: Algae, small invertebrates, detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Paraleptuca crassipes is one of the most abundant species in its range, especially at mid and high tidal zones and in mangrove swamps. It is sometimes found among human habitations, living under stilted houses. Historically, P. crassipes was classified as an eastern subspecies of P. chlorophthalmus, which as presently defined lives in the western Indian Ocean.

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beautiful almost unique model!

A very nice crab

speaking of nice crabs...


Species: Pthirus pubis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): pubic louse; crab louse

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Sanitary Insect Pest Exhibition
Year of Production: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length 4.0 cm long for a scale of 26:1-20:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: I was trying to think of a tactful way to photograph this particular species. While not a common habitat for this species, I ended up photographing it on my arm. I almost photographed it on a pair of boxers but wasn't sure how that would have gone over with some forum members :). Surprisingly, this is not the first toy pubic louse! Play Visions produced one back in 1996 and I have seen older vintage rubber 'jiggler' style toys. I think P. pubis may have been part of the Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker or Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker II model sets (at least one of the human louse species was); I had the latter when I was a kid, but I can't remember.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Cosmopolitan
Habitat: Human hosts, usually on coarse hair (pubic hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, male chest and facial hair)
Diet: Human blood
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: There is one other extant species of Pthirus, P. gorillae, a parasite of gorillas in East Africa. It is believed that P. pubis diverged from P. gorillae approximately 3-4 million years ago; the host jump probably occurred when early humans wore gorilla pelts or slept in abandoned gorilla sleeping nests.

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Last year, I co-authored a minireview on lice: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
PM me with your email if you want a copy LOL

I gotta admit.... that one makes my stomach flip over.

A little bit strange