Mathison Museum of Natural History

Species: Anoplognathus punctulatus Olliff, 1890
Common name(s): green Christmas beetle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Series: Yowies Series 1; Yowies UK Series 1
Year of Production: 1997
Size/Scale: Body length of Australian version 4.3 cm (excluding appendages) for a scale of 1.4:1; body length of UK version 3.5 cm, for a scale of slightly over 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (unique as a pair)
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure on the upper left is the Australian version; assembly is required. Morphologically, it is a terrible rendition of a scarab beetle, and had I not known what the manufacturer intended, I would suspect it was modeled after a chrysomelid or maybe an anthicid. The figure on the lower right is the UK version; no assembly is required and it sits permanently affixed to its leaf base. It is also a much better example of what the actual animal looks like. If one was a synoptic collector and needed only one example of this species for their collection, my advice would be to pursue the UK version!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Australia (coastal East Queensland)
Habitat: Subtropical rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest; occasionally showing up in parks and gardens
Diet: Larvae feed on plant roots and other organic matter underground; adults feed on plant leaves, especially Eucalyptus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Members the genus Anoplognathus are commonly called 'Christmas beetles' as they tend to be abundant during Christmas time in Australia. For those of us that live in the Northern Hemisphere, scarab beetles are usually not associated with the holiday season, but one must remember Christmas comes in the middle of the summer in Australia!

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Species: †Qianzhousaurus sinensis Lü et al., 2014

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Figure length approximately 24.0 cm. Using skull as a metric (n=3.5 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:27
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This species didn't have representation in toy/figure form until 2019 (which is not bad considering it's only five years after its descrition) when PNSO produced a miniature. PNSO would follow that up later with a 'standard' sized model in 2021 with an articulated lower jaw. The larger PNSO model appears to be a similar size and scale to today's Safari version.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of present-day Asia
Habitat: Subtropical forests, often in riparian areas and along floodplains
Diet: Predaceous on smaller animals
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Qianzhousaurus sinensis is known for its skull, which is rather long but not very deep, suggesting the animal didn't possess the bite force of larger tyrannosaurids. This skull morphology, in combination with its smaller size and gracile build, were probably adaptations for animal that was a fast, agile predator of smaller animals.

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Can people see my images OK? There are new security protocols because content was being stolen from ATB and DTB. As such, if I post on ATB, images won't show on DTB.
Can they be seen here on STS? I cannot see them, but if others can, that's what's important.

I can't see the pictures, it's only showing broken picture icon.

Not here. But i can see it in the gallery. And that problem with the pics is sometimes, mostly on my smartphone.

The same for me

Unfortunately, the problem is probably related to new security measures on ATF.
I am traveling for work now, so there will not be a new Museum post until Sunday anyway.
The admin for DTF is looking for a solution, but I won't worry about it now since I won't have a new post until Sunday anyway.

Not sure if the changes are working yet, but I will keep posting until they do. If the changes don't work, I will have to re-evaluated how I host the images or where I post this thread:



Species: Dermatophagoides spp.
Common name(s): house dust mite

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wolff Marketing Group
Series: Zyrtec
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Base of globe 8.3 cm in diameter. Body length of mite approximately 3.0 cm for a scale of 150:1-100:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was sold as a medical novelty along with a cat and pollen, three common causes of allergies (Zyrtec is a drug prescribed to combat bad allergies). I still keep mine displayed complete; the inset below showing the individual mite was taken by forum member stemturtle who took his out of the globe. The blue base has some text, including the common name 'dust mite' and Zyrtec logo and scientific name of the drug (cetirizine HCl), as well its recommended dosage. I wish there was an easy way to remove and open the globe part; I would love to display it dry, but sitting atop the blue base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Cosmopolitan
Habitat: Human habitations, especially warm, humid environments in carpets, upholstery, under furniture, pillows, and mattresses
Diet: Human and pet dander, fungi, organic detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Allergies to dust mites are triggered by compounds such as peptidase 1 in their feces and tropomyosin in their bodies. Tropomyosin is also the major allergen in shellfish allergy and it's been proposed that tropomyosin in dust mites might be a sensitizer for shellfish allergy.

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You found so many brands that i never heard before.

Species: †Acrocanthosaurus atokensis

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Prehistoric Wildlife
Year of Production: 2012
Size/Scale: Figure length 19.0 cm. Using skull as a metric (n=3.0 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:42 based on specimen NCSM 14345
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: Acrocanthosaurus and other carcharodontosaurids have gotten some attention in recent years. Papo (2017) and PNSO (2022) both produced Acrocanthosaurus, and at scales that may be more favorable for most collectors (today's Safari version is a bit small compared other dinosaur toys one might want to display it with). While the PNSO figure has more proportionate limbs than the Safari version, I still prefer Wild Safari theropods when they're an option. PNSO has hit the market hard already in 2023 with other carcharodontosaurids, including the morphologically similar (as toys, if not actual animals) Mapusaurus, Meraxes, and Giganotosaurus.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Early Cretaceous (Aptian to Albian) of present-day North America
Habitat: Coastal forests, riparian areas, floodplains
Diet: Predaceous on other dinosaurs, such as sauropods and ornithopods
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: One of the most notable features of A. atokensis is the row of tall neural spines running along the vertebrae of the neck, back, hips, and upper tail. These spines may have been support for tissue forming more of a hump. The purpose of such a structure remains unknown, but theories include temperature regulation, fat storage, and visual communication, possibly for territorial display or sexual communication.

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Species: Setophaga petechia (Linnaeus, 1766)
Common name(s): yellow warbler; American yellow warbler

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Backyard Birds TOOB
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: Scale difficult to calculate but body length approximately 6.5 cm for a scale of 1:2 for North American subspecies
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure appears to represent a female, as it lacks the chestnut streaking seen on the breast of breeding males. However, the lack of streaking is probably due to the overall generally simple paint jobs of figures in this set and not a conscious decision by the manufacturer.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Throughout much of North America, wintering in southern Central America and northern South America
Habitat: Highly variable, including forest edges, thickets, riparian areas, orchards, farmland, cemeteries, suburban parks and gardens; often in areas with scattered trees and dense shrubbery
Diet: Primarily insects and spiders; occasionally berries
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Like many other warblers, Setophaga petechia nests in trees, forming a small, tight, cup-shaped nest. Yellow warblers are primarily monogamous, but occasionally polygynous matings occur. Both sexes take care of the young equally, but with different tasks. Females primarily build the nest and incubate the eggs, while males guard the nesting site and supply food for the chicks. An average egg clutch is 3-6 eggs and incubation takes 11-14 days. Young are fully independent of their parents 3-4 weeks after hatching.

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Species: Carassius langsdorfii Temminck & Schlegel, 1846
Common name(s): Langsdorf's goldfish; silver crucian carp; ginbuna

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book 2
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 5.0 cm for a scale of 1:3-1:8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (unique as a sculpt, see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: Yujin released their Freshwater Fish series twice, and according to forum member sbell, there is a 'special' release of this particular figure that is brighter orange and represents a domestic variant of this species. I am not sure which mine is, but it could be the latter.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan; naturalized in other parts of the world, including the Elbe River system in Europe, Lake Tahoe in California, and Lar National Park in Iran.
Habitat: Freshwater, demersal; favors the confluences of tributaries, still sections of rivers, lakes, and marshes, usually in areas with muddy substrates
Diet: Benthic invertebrates, zooplankton, algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated (IUCN site classifies C. langsdorfii as a subspecies of goldfish, C. auratus, which is listed as Least Concern globally)
Miscellaneous Notes: Carassius langsdorfii is sometimes considered a subspecies of the goldfish, C. auratus, although molecular studies support it as a distinct species. Studies can be complicated by fact that the ginbuna will hybridize with congeners as well as other cyprinids such as the common carp.

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Species: Galago senegalensis Geoffroy, 1796
Common name(s): Senegal bushbaby; northern lesser galago; lesser galago

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Paradise of Monkeys
Year of Production: 2023
Size/Scale: Scale difficult to calculate but body length approximately 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:2.9
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Some assembly is required and the final product has minimal articulations. There were to versions in the set, one slightly darker than the other. This figure is a little larger than I would have liked, but it's the best version after the very large Safari Ltd. Incredible Creatures model.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Sub-Saharan Africa south to Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Habitat: Tropical dry forest, savanna; arboreal
Diet: Primarily insects and arachnids; occasionally small birds, eggs, fruits, seeds and nuts, flowers, tree gum
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Galago senegalensis is a polygynous breeder and males compete for the home ranges of several females. Breeding occurs twice a year, once at the onset of rainy season in November and again at the end of the rainy season in February.

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Interesting but much pieces

widukind wrote:

Interesting but much pieces

but the pieces attach easily and hold together well

bmathison1972 wrote:

widukind wrote:

Interesting but much pieces

but the pieces attach easily and hold together well

Ah okay. What are the other species of this serie?

widukind wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

widukind wrote:

Interesting but much pieces

but the pieces attach easily and hold together well

Ah okay. What are the other species of this serie?

Just a gorilla. Four figures, 2 species: 2 bushbabys, 2 gorillas. Would be best to look for a bushbaby singly.

Species: Leptoptilos crumenifer (Lesson, 1831)
Common name(s): marabou stork

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Papo
Series: Wild Animals
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Figure stands approximately 9.0 cm tall. Scale difficult to calculate due to posture, but using beak length as a metric (n=2 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:13.2-1:17.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: There have been a small handful of marabou stork figures made, but most are long retired. The only other option that might still be readily available is the pair by Caboodle! Toys (Noah's Pals).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Sub-Saharan Africa
Habitat: Wet and dry savanna, arid grasslands, fishing villages, landfills
Diet: Primarily carrion; also dung and human refuse. During the breeding season, mainly a predator on fish, reptiles, amphibians, small birds, insects (see below)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Leptoptilos crumenifer is primarily a scavenger and will often follow predators and vultures, waiting for their turn at the scraps. The stork has adapted to using human refuse as a food source too, and birds are becoming a common sight at landfills in urban and suburban areas in Africa. Their chicks require fresher food, so during the breeding season they switch more to predation and hunt small birds, fish, frogs, small mammals, insects, and small reptiles, including crocodile hatchlings.

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Nice marabou

bmathison1972 wrote:

widukind wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

widukind wrote:

Interesting but much pieces

but the pieces attach easily and hold together well

Ah okay. What are the other species of this serie?

Just a gorilla. Four figures, 2 species: 2 bushbabys, 2 gorillas. Would be best to look for a bushbaby singly.

Thank you.