Mathison Museum of Natural History

Well, do you mean that A. narinari don't have occelated spots but plain ones ? It would mean that some Spotted eagle ray pics on the web are actually Whitepotted eagle ray pics. Do I have this right?

It's a very interesting perspective

By the way, it would mean the Safari Ltd 274529 Spotted Eagle Ray is a Louis Vuitton eagle Ray ?

Kikimalou wrote:

Well, do you mean that A. narinari don't have occelated spots but plain ones ? It would mean that some Spotted eagle ray pics on the web are actually Whitepotted eagle ray pics. Do I have this right?

It's a very interesting perspective

Honestly not entirely sure. For a long time, A. ocellatus (and A. laticeps) were considered part of A. narinari, so a lot of images and descriptions online of A. narinari may actually refer to one of the other two. My guess is that both species can have both forms, but one would have to correlate morphology with distribution to be sure. The best way to separate them is geographic distribution:
A. narinari: Atlantic Ocean
A. ocellatus: Indo-West Pacific
A. laticeps: East Pacific (West Coast of Central and South America)

Thanks for the explanations

Hmm, interesting

Species: †Pentaceratops sternbergii Osborn, 1923

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Haolonggood
Series: 1:35 Science and Art Model
Year of Production: 2023
Size/Scale: Total figure length (including horns) approximately 23.0 cm. Using skull as a metric (n=10.5 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:22 based on the holotype specimen AMNH 1624.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: Like several of Haolonggood's models, today's Pentaceratops is not in the advertised scale of 1:35. It also comes in two colors, 'orange' (shown here) and 'black' (which was shown in Gwangi's excellent recent review of the figure on the Dinosaur Toy Blog). This genus has been made a handful of times. Other decent examples are those by Favorite (2016), Creative Beast Studio (2021), and Mattel (2021), the last two of which are quite large. It has also been made by Schleich (2014) and Papo (2019), but neither really meet the standards of many of today's toy dinosaur collectors.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of present-day western North America
Habitat: Grasslands, plains, scrubland, open forest, wetlands
Diet: Plants; probably cycads, ferns, conifers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Because of its large size and bulk, P. sternbergii probably had few natural predators. One likely predator was the tyrannosauroid, Bistahieversor sealeyi.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

A great one, I have to add the dark one soon

Species: Luehdorfia japonica Leech, 1889
Common name(s): Japanese leuhdorfia; Gifu butterfly

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kabaya
Series: Insect Directory
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: If spread like a specimen, wingspan would come to approximately 6.0 cm for a scale of 1.7:1-1.3:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen Luehdorfia japonica in the Museum. The butterfly is removable from the flower.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan
Habitat: Open woodlands
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the genus Asarum (wild ginger); adults feed on nectar from flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: Populations of L. japonica have declined due to habitat destruction for agriculture and forestry.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Species: †Ampelosaurus atacis Le Loeuff, 1995

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Haolonggood
Series: 1:35 Science and Art Model
Year of Production: 2023
Size/Scale: Total figure length approximately 39.5 cm. Using left ulna as a metric (n=2.5 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:29.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: Described in 1995, Ampelosaurus has gotten some attention in recent years, with other figures by PNSO (mini, 2016), Mattel (2022), and expected releases later this year by Papo and CollectA (mini). Ampelosaurus is currently in the process of being redescribed after the discovery of another titanosaur (see below) that lived alongside it. It is quite likely that Haolonggood's reconstruction (and others produced at the time of this writing) will become outdated in the near future. Like other Haolonggood models, this one comes in two colors, 'charcoal' (shown here) and 'green'.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Early Maastrichtian) of present-day Europe
Habitat: Open woodlands, savanna, riparian areas, floodplains
Diet: Plants; probably palms and cycads
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: One of the most interesting features of A. atacis is the osteoderms that run down its back. It is currently believed there are at least three morphotypes of bulb and root osteoderms, and all three types can be present on the same individual animal. Current reconstructions of A. atacis favor a parasagittal arrangement of the larger osteoderms, with them changing in morphotype as they run down the animal's back. However, with the discovery of a second similar titanosaur from the same area where A. atacis fossils were discovered, researchers are not even sure now that osteoderms historically attributed to Ampelosaurus actually belong to that genus!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Species: Epialtoides hiltoni (Rathbun, 1923)
Common name(s): winged kelp crab

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Play Visions
Series: Habitat Earth - Crabs
Year of Production: 1996
Size/Scale: Carapace width approximately 2.0 cm for a scale of 1.3:1 for a male specimen (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (as a sculpt; see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: Play Visions marketed this figure as a 'pear crab' and for years its identity eluded most of us collectors. PEC and Battat used several of the same sculpts as those used by Play Visions in their crab and sealife collections, but I cannot remember if this was one of those that was shared. Based on the length of the chelipeds, this figure appears to represent a male specimen and the scale above was calculated accordingly.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: West Coast of North America (southern California, USA and Baja California, Mexico)
Habitat: Coastal; among low-growing algae, in kelp holdfasts, and among surf grasses
Diet: Algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Epialtoides hiltoni will often attach bits of algae to its rostrum for camouflage. The crab can be abundant in places, but its small size and cryptic coloration renders it often inconspicuous.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Wonderful Carabus blaptoïdes and display!

Species: Hyperolius marmoratus Rapp, 1842
Common name(s): marbled reed frog; painted reed frog

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Tropical Rain Frogs
Year of Production: 2019 (2005)
Size/Scale: Snout-to-vent length approximately 3.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (as a sculpt, see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: My figure is the 2019 release of a model that originally came out in 2005.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Africa, from southern Tanzania to South Africa
Habitat: Open woodlands, savanna, shrubland, grasslands, rivers, permanent and intermittent freshwater lakes and pools, pastureland, rural and suburban gardens
Diet: Terrestrial invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Hyperolius marmoratus exhibits extensive variation in color, which has led to much systematic and nomenclatural uncertainties. The species also shows developmental changes in patterning, with two defined phases: J (juveniles and many mature males) and F (mature females and some mature males). All newly-metamorphosed individuals are phase J, which is normally brownish to green with paired light dorsolateral lines, or an hourglass pattern. All females, and some males, develop into phase F before the first breeding season. Phase F is often colorful and variable, showing the diagnostic color characteristics for the species (or its subspecies). Either well-defined morphs may be present, or graded variation between the two.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Love that frog figure, it is also a very interesting species and your photo is wonderful!

Roger wrote:

Love that frog figure, it is also a very interesting species and your photo is wonderful!

Thanks. I was very happy with the way the photo turned out.


Next up:


Species: Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758
Common name(s): western honey bee; European honey bee

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Papo
Series: Wild Animals/Garden Animals
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Body length (exclusive of appendages) approximately 3.5 cm for a scale of 3:1-2:1 for a worker bee
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fifth time we've seen A. mellifera in the Museum. In 2023, Papo moved several figures from their Wild Animals line to a new Garden Animals line, including today's honey bee.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Nearly worldwide. Believed native to Africa and/or Central Asia, with natural spread throughout Africa and Europe; introduced to the Western Hemisphere, Australia, New Zealand, and East Asia for honey production.
Habitat: Highly varied; anywhere with suitable hive-building sites and flowers for food source.
Diet: Larvae are fed pollen by the adults; adults eat nectar and pollen
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Data Deficient
Miscellaneous Notes: While not native to North America, A. mellifera is a familiar and popular species. It is the state insect of 17 U.S. states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

what a pity these so thick legs..

Species: Rostratula benghalensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): greater painted-snipe; goudsnip

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Animatales Series 9
Year of Production: 2004
Size/Scale: Scale difficult to calculate because of the birds' posture, but body length approximately 5.3 cm for a scale of 1:4.3-1:5.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (as a pair)
Miscellaneous Notes: Being original Choco Q figures, some assembly is required. These two figures represent the same sculpt, just painted differently as a male (left) and female (right).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Sub-Saharan Africa (exclusive of rainforest and extreme desert), Central and Southeast Asia, Japan
Habitat: Well-vegetated lakes, rivers, marshes, swamps, mudflats
Diet: Insects, freshwater crustaceans, seeds
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Rostratula benghalensis is polyandrous and a female will mate with on average two males a season. Unlike most birds, the female of R. benghalensis is the more colorful of the pair; this is because it is the male that incubates the eggs and therefore must blend in with the surrounding habitat.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Beautiful couple!

Species: †Dryopithecus fontani Lartet, 1856

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bullyland
Series: Evolution of Men
Year of Production: 1999
Size/Scale: Figure stands 6.5 cm tall. Using the humerus as a metric (n=2.0 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:13.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure was sculpted with a rock behind its right foot, probably to aid in stability.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Middle-Late Miocene (Serravallian-Tortonian) of present-day Europe
Habitat: Woodlands, wetlands
Diet: Fruit, honey; possibly leaves when fruit and honey were scarce
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Dryopithecus was a part of an adaptive radiation of great apes in the expanding forests of Europe in the warm climates of the Miocene Climatic Optimum. However, the evolutionary relatedness of Dryopithecus to other primates is a matter of debate. It is often considered an offshoot of the ancestor of what would become the African apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, humans). It has also been considered an offshoot of Ponginae (orangutans) or placed in its own clade (along with Oreopithecus) outside of Ponginae+Homininae.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Nice figure

very precious unique model  of this species!