The Curious Compendium 2023 Tour Finale: Griffons!

I reclassified the beavers but I won't do it with many groups of animals that have a dominant species. I won't list a grey wolf as a generic wolf if it is not identified to the species level. Our discussion is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

European rabbits!

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This is the ancestor for all domestic rabbit breeds. If need warrants it, these guys can survive over a week without food! Pretty tough little critters if you ask me. Unfortunately, these coneys (as they are also called), have been introduced to every continent but Antarctica and have become invasive species in many locales.

Not wanting to be boring, here is a good example of an animal which is rarely marketed to the species level. Listing all tese figures as generic rabbits would work as incomplete information to the traditional Wiki visitor. Most of them are defintely supposed to represent the European species for sure.

Nice collection of lagomorphs!

Postimage was having issues again... sorry for the delay. And thank you my friends! 

Hares- various species.

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I chose the familiar here: the black-tailed jackrabbit! These are the 3rd largest species; after the antelope jackrabbit and the white -tailed jackrabbit. With the high position of their eyes and flattened head they can see 360 degrees around! Lastly, their leverets (offspring) sometimes only nurse for 3 days before they are able to forage for their own food!

Just a heads up, we have finally reached the end of the Temperate Mammals category and I will do a double post for the last 2 groups tonight. Then on Teusday we will begin the new year with a new category!

It still surprises me today that Schleich decided to go for a mountain hare. What I often suggest to other brands about presenting unusual species which look like common species to show something innovative and alternative but with the same commercial potential, is exactly what Schleich did with this figure. I don't see a kid looking at it, reading the catalogue and saying, no, I won't buy it, it is a mountain hare. It is commercially just as appealing as any other white rabbit figure. I thought that would be CollectA's phylosophy when they started that incredibly diversified and alternative second wave of figures. The third wave is being quite more conservative but fortunately the realism of the models is increasing. Curiously, CollectA is adopting a less agressive strategy for the woodland animals. Wolves, foxes and many others are still the same as before and even the hare and wild rabbit are still the original ones. CollectA doesn't even have an Arctic hare.
Looking forward to see your next category.

I agree, and its a very nice model at that! 

A TRIPLE post as I forgot one other group hadn't been done...

Weasels! 
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The least weasel has some of the strongest jaws ever recorded for a mammal ! Depending on the experiment, it often gets listed in the ranks of animals like the Tasmanian devils for power and strength! 

European Bats!
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The brown long-eared bat is sometimes called the "whispering" bat. I bet you can't guess why! 

North American bats! 
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When roosting or hibernating, the Townsend's big-eared bats can curl their large earls up; they look like ram's horns!

I love that middle paint variant of the Mojo stoat

I really like this small animal figures of unusual species :)

Oh, I must remember getting the Safari weasel, it is a species I don't have and Safari discontinued it. I know it is somewhat big but I don't mind anymore. I have the McDonald's ermine so...

Thank you everyone, and Happy New Year!

I am excited to move into the next category so I decided to start today rather than tomorrow. However, a quick explanation before I do... For the next few categories these are definitely outside my wheelhouse of expertise, so please be patient with me. I depend largely on TAW especially for this category as I know nothing about IDing these, and TAW recategorizes these A LOT. Gentle corrections are VERY welcome so I can update my references accordingly, but if there is a mistake or an ID that you don't agree with, just realize it was not my own determination. :) Ok, enough of that...

AMPHIBIANS!

Gonna start with some of my favorites!
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Hellbenders have been around for 150 million years! They are also call snot otters, devil dogs, and mud cats (gotta love the Eastern nicknaming here!), and are sometimes called mudpuppies (don't call them that though! That refers to a completely different species of salamander!). Lastly, these guys have lungs but do not use them to breathe air; scientists think they are used for bouyancy in the water instead.

Yay amphibians!! That hellbender on the top left is astonishing, I am sure I have commented on him before and you have probably told me his brand, haha. But I have to ask again!! I also really want that green one someday, despite looking more like He-Man's Battlecat in coloration than any hellbender.

Love all the others, too, especially the olm and the actual mudpuppy. I desperately need more salamanders . . . just in my life, in general, I think.

That is actually a Japanese Giant Salamander, but I do love this model. Thanks Jill!

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These updated group portraits are already uploaded on TCC, but haven't been shown here. :)

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And with all those Toymany models, I have PLENTY of updating to do now.

ToyMany is updating our lives. I also don't know but probably with so many new topics about the brand, we will probably need to open a dedicated section on STS. Not to talk about TAW because I can't surely start it. Let's hope some other editor is motivated to do the job.

I probably will if I have enough pictures

Thank you friends.

More salamanders!
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Tiger salamanders: For one, these guys dig their own hibernation burrows; and have been found as deep as 2 feet! They are some of the largest salamanders! The biggest recorded was 13 inches.

Great collection!

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

That is actually a Japanese Giant Salamander, but I do love this model. Thanks Jill!

Oh yeah, okay, the big version of the hellbender! It's lovely!

Love the marbled salamanders. That big one is making a very classic salamander expression.

Sometimes you remind me that my Safari salamander collection is still missing a few models and those are figures I love so much.

Thank you everyone!

Another batch of salamanders!

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Green salamanders have flattened bodies so they can climb right into crevices of rock! Thei coloration is designed to imitate lichen on rock which is found in their natural habitat. They also have square shaped toes to help them with their mountaineering!