Mathison Museum of Natural History

Interesting that you returned to Safari Alligator, it seems to be a personal favorite for you. I enjoyed also to see the S&N bilby, it is such a cool species that even Southlands missed in their short series.

Species: †Mammuthus trogontherii (Pohlig, 1885)
Common name(s): steppe mammoth

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Eofauna
Series: 1:35 Scale Dinosaurs
Year of Production: 2017
Size/Scale: Height at shoulder approximately 11.0 cm for a scale of 1:33.6-1:40.9
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The only other figure of this species I am aware of was produced by Papo in 2000 and retired in 2009. Either represent a nice change of pace to the onslaught of woolly mammoths, that are the 'go-to' prehistoric proboscideans to produce!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Early-Middle Pleistocene of northern Eurasia
Habitat: Temperate forests, steppes
Diet: Grazer to grazing-predominant mixed feeder of grasses, trees, shrubs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Mammuthus trogontherii is believed to have originated in East Asia around 1.8 million years ago (mya) and is believed to be descended from the southern mammoth (M. meridionalis). The steppe mammoth is believed to have crossed Beringia around 1.5-1.3 mya, giving rise to the Columbian mammoth (M. columbi). Roughly 0.8 mya, populations of M. trogontherii gave rise to the woolly mammoth(M. primigenius), which eventually replaced M. trogontherii about 200,000 year ago. However, it's possible relict populations occurred in Mongolia and northern China into the Last Glacial Period, as recently as 33,800-24,800 years ago.

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A wonderful model

The most complete M.trogontherii squeletton has been found here in Durfort, close the village I am living. It has recently been restored and can be seen in Paris "Museum d'Histoire Naturelle"! :)
Interesting figure!

Species: †Nyctosaurus gracilis Marsh, 1876

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: PNSO
Series: Age of Dinosaurs
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Total figure height 8.5 cm. Using crest height as a metric (n=5.5 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:10
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: PNSO chose to have this figure sculpted with a headsail on the crest (perhaps to avoid breakage), although the current consensus is that the crest lacked a sail and looked more like a two-pronged antler (see below).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian) of present-day North America
Habitat: Coastal areas
Diet: Unknown, presumably fish or possibly flying insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: The belief that the crest of Nyctosaurus lacked a sail comes mainly from the absence of soft-tissue attachment points along its edges. It has been suggested that such a sail could hinder aerodynamics, although a 2009 study looking at aerodynamics both with and without a sail demonstrated that was not the case. It has been suggested the purpose of the crest was for display, possibly intraspecies communication, but not for sexual selection as both sexes appeared to have had them.

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Curious but beautiful unique model!

Interesting to read that the current consensus is that they didn't have a sail. I would have thought that any side wind would make it almost impossible to fly/float with a sail.

Species: Spizaetus melanoleucus (Vieillot, 1816)
Common name(s): black-and-white hawk-eagle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Naturalism
Series: Eagles
Year of Production: 2022
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 9.3 cm for a scale of 1:5.4-1:6.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Naturalism is a little-known Chinese company that has been producing high-quality animal figures in the last few years, including sets of whales, owls, and now eagles. In 2016 they produced the Naturally Adorkable line featuring mammals of Central Asia and the Himalayas. Naturalism figures are generally not too expensive (when new), but can quickly be hard to find and usually require shipping from China or Japan.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and South America, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina
Habitat: Lowland tropical and subtropical forests and shrubland, preferably in areas with closed canopy
Diet: Apex predator on other animals, including small and medium-sized birds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Spizaetus melanoleucus hunts prey by soaring high, and then diving quickly (often right into the forest canopy) after it finds a suitable target. Individual birds require a hunting territory of at least 1,400 hectares.

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Very beautiful figure!

One of the highlights in 2022

Species: Pagurus filholi (De Man, 1887)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Primary Colour Crustaceans Book
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Figure 3.5 cm across its widest dimensions. Using shield length as a metric (n=0.5 cm), scale comes to approximately 2.3:1-1:1.3 (within scale 1:1;see below).
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen P. filholi in the Museum. It was marketed as Pagurus samuelis, but as currently delineated that species is endemic to the Pacific Coast of North America (see below). Minimal assembly is required. When Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. bought the Primary Colour Book line from Yujin and re-released this set, it included a second shell option for this figure (which I don't possess). The scale above is calculated based on the shield length of Pagurus geminus (see below).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan
Habitat: Intertidal zone, usually in rocky areas
Diet: Scavengers, especially on algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had difficulty researching information on this species as presently delineated. Past records of P. samuelis from Japan now refer to P. filholi, as the former is now considered restricted to the West Coast of North America. In 1976, McLaughlin described P. geminus from Japan, which is now placed in synonymy with P. filholi.

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Species: Scolopendra gigantea Linnaeus, 1758
Common name(s): giant Peruvian centipede; Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede; Amazonian giant centipede

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: K&M International
Series: Wild Republic - Venomous Adventure Nature Tube
Year of Production: 1998
Size/Scale: Body length (exclusive of appendages) approximately 8.7 cm for a scale of 1:3.4 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: It's a rare treat to get a centipede figure marketed at the species level, despite the simplicity of its design.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northern South America and adjacent islands (Aruba, Trinidad, Margarita, Curaçao)
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical rainforest, tropical dry forest; usually in dark secluded places such as in leaf litter, under rocks, and in rotten wood
Diet: Other arthropods and small vertebrates (small birds, rodents, bats, lizards, frogs, small snakes)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Scolopendra gigantea, as its scientific name hints at, is the world's longest centipede, with large individuals exceeding 30 cm in length!

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Species: Eurytides marcellus (Cramer, 1777)
Common name(s): zebra swallowtail

About the Figure:
Manufacturers: Club Earth; Beam
Series: Caterpillars to Go; Imomushi
Years of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (of both figures) approximately 7.5 cm for a scale of 1.5:1 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure on the lower right is by Club Earth for their Caterpillars to Go collection. The figure on the upper left is by Beam for their Imomushi collection (I don't know the production year for either). Club Earth caterpillars have been copied and recopied numerous times throughout the years. Interestingly, while the Beam collection was clearly influenced the Club Earth collection (many shared species between them), they are not direct copies as they are all displayed in different positions. Initially in this thread, I would have posted these two separately, but it's fun to compare the two. I've also seem the Beam figures released under different names, sometimes with a leaf accompanying each larva.
I had trouble finding metrics to calculate the scale, and so the above scale is based on a body length of 5.0 cm, which is about average for most papilionid larvae.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eastern North America
Habitat: Moist woodlands, often around rivers, lakes, and marshes
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the genera Asimina (pawpaw) and Annona (soursoap); adults take nectar from a variety of flowers.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated [NatureServe status is listed as Secure]
Miscellaneous Notes: Female E. marcellus deposit their eggs singly on the leaves or trunks of host plants, as the larvae are cannibalistic after they hatch!

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Very realistic!

Species: Carcharhinus melanopterus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
Common name(s): blacktip reef shark

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Toymany
Series: 8PCS Shark Toys
Year of Production: 2023
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 13.7 cm for an average scale of 1:6.6-1:8.8 or 1:14.6 for a maximum-sized specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen Carcharhinus melanopterus in the Museum; the last time was a figure by Safari Ltd. that today's version by Toymany has since replaced. I was hesitant to replace a Safari shark, because even when their version isn't the 'best' or most accurate, I really like their style. But, after comparing both in-hand, I decided to keep this Toymany fish. This is the first time in this thread we've seen a figure come up that was an outright replacement for something that has already been showcased. There will be others.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Reef-associated, usually at depths of 20-75 meters
Diet: Fish, marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Carcharhinus melanopterus has been known to bite people wading or diving in shallow water, but generally they are not considered an aggressive shark. None of the documented attacks to date have been fatal. Often, the shark is drawn to people because of fish they are catching, rather than the person themselves.

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I can't hide my surprise at seeing a Safari figure being replaced by one from Toymany. Especially considering your preference for the Floridian brand. Even more surprising since it's a shark, but that has been well explained. Perhaps the fact that I don't have any Toymany figures makes me look at this brand with much less attention than it deserves.

Species: Acanthophis pyrrhus Boulenger, 1898
Common name(s): desert death adder

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Venomous Snakes
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: Maximum width of figure approximately 4.8 cm. Body challenging to measure due to coiled state, but measured along midline, body length approximately 17.0 cm for a scale of 1:4.1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Figures in this set come with a black base with the Latin and Japanese names and degree of toxicity in a 1-5 scale using skulls-and-crossbones (see inset).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and Western Australia
Habitat: Deserts, grasslands, stony flats, sandy ridges, rocky outcrops
Diet: Lizards, small mammals
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Acanthophis pyrrhus is a specialist predator on lizards, but also small mammals. It lures potential prey by lying in ambush and wiggling the tip of its tail, which looks like a worm or caterpillar to passing lizard.

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Very realistic model and display!