Mathison Museum of Natural History

Species: Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis (Stauton, 1796)
Common name(s): Eurasian great cormorant; Continental great cormorant

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Animatales Series 6
Year of Production: 2002
Size/Scale: Scale difficult to measure due to posture but body length approximately 8.0 cm for a scale of 1:10.5-1:11.3 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen P. carbo in the Museum, although the last time was the nominate subspecies by Papo. Unlike Papo's figure, today's by Kaiyodo is painted in its full breeding plumage! Being one of the original Animatales figures, assembly is required. The scale above was calculated for the species as a whole, and P. c. sinensis is the smallest of the 4-5 subspecies (see below).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eastern Eurasia, from north-central Europe to China and Japan; wintering in Southeast Asia and Indonesia
Habitat: Ocean and sea coasts, large inland lakes and rivers; breeding usually occurs more inland
Diet: Fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern[at the species level]
Miscellaneous Notes: Depending on the taxonomy followed, there are 4-5 subspecies of P. carbo: P. c. carbo (North Atlantic), P. c. novaehollandiae (Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Chatham Islands), P. c. sinensis (north-central Europe to East Asia), P. carbo hanedae (Japan: Honshu Island), and P. c. maroccanus (coastal northwestern Africa), the last of which is sometimes considered a subspecies of the white-breasted cormorant, P. lucidus.

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Nice bird

I did not know this species..

Species: Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): monarch; milkweed butterfly

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Little Wonders
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: If spread like an actual specimen, the wingspan would come to approximately 9.3 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the eleventh time we have seen D. plexippus in the Museum. This is one of the few butterflies produced by major manufacturers that got the number of functional legs correct (four) for a member of the family Nymphalidae (see below). CollectA did not get this right three years earlier when they produced their small tortoiseshell butterfly, however!

About the Organism:
Geographic distribution: North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, the Azores, Canary Islands, North Africa, Australia, Philippines, and South Pacific islands; rare stray to the United Kingdom
Habitat: Fields, forests, parks, gardens, disturbed areas
Diet: Larvae feed on milkweeds in the family Apocynaceae, especially members of the genus Asclepias; adults take nectar from a variety of flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Members of the family Nymphalidae are called brush-footed butterflies, due to their extremely reduced forelegs. The function of these reduced legs is uncertain, but the leading theory is that they are used as accessory organs for smell, since they possess a modified set of brush-like setae (hence the common name).

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Species: Cerambyx cerdo Linnaeus, 1758
Common name(s): great capricorn beetle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: AAA
Series: Insects
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (excluding appendages) approximately 6.5 cm for a scale of 2.7:1-1.2:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure came in a polyvinyl bag with set of otherwise generic insects and the identification is my own.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa
Habitat: Oak woodlands, suburban areas
Diet: Larvae develop in living and dying Quercus (oak); adults feed on oak sap
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Cerambyx cerdo is threatened throughout much of its range due to habitat destruction and alteration, such as the removal of partially dead oak trees in open and semi-open woodlands. In some places it was become extinct, such the British Isles. Interestingly, in some parts of the Mediterranean, it has become a pest of ornamental trees in urban and suburban settings.

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Species: Ovis canadensis Shaw, 1804
Common name(s): bighorn sheep

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari North American Wildlife
Year of Production: 2005
Size/Scale: Height at shoulders approximately 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:16.4-1:19.1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: With the retirement of this figure in 2011, there are no standard-sized versions of this species readily available on the market. To the best of my knowledge, the species was never made by Bullyland, Schleich, Papo, or CollectA. Standard (or slightly larger than) figures were also produced by AAA, Treehouse Kids, K&M International, New-Ray, and possibly others, but they can be hard to find.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Western North America
Habitat: Alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes, desert mountains, and foothills in proximity to rugged, rocky cliffs and bluffs
Diet: Grasses, sedges, forbs; desert populations eat a wider range of plants and get the majority of their water from plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: There are currently three subspecies of bighorn sheep. The Rocky Mountain bighorn is the nominate subspecies, O. c. canadensis. It occurs in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest. The Sierra Nevada bighorn, O. c. sierrae, occurs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California although historic populations may have ranged into the California Coastal Ranges. The desert bighorn sheep, O. c. nelsoni occurs throughout arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico; the desert bighorn can be further divided into three genetic lineages (formerly independent subspecies) that occupy desert habitats that vary significantly in climate and vegetation. Molecular studies suggest the Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada bighorns diverged from the desert bighorn sheep during, or prior to, the Illinoian glaciation roughly 315-94 thousand years ago.

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An excellent and unique model!

Seeing a butterfly with four legs is so strange! I guess I never looked closely enough at a monarch in real life.

This figure is excelent

Species: Oryx leucoryx (Pallas, 1777)
Common name(s): Arabian oryx; white oryx

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Wildlife
Year of Production: 2006
Size/Scale: Height at shoulder approximately 7.5 cm for a scale of 1:12-1:18.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The only other standard version of this species I am aware is was produced by Mojö Fun in 2019. If I remember correctly, promotional pics of the Mojö oryx showed the model painted like a hybrid between an Arabian oryx and gemsbok, but was corrected for the final product.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Middle East
Habitat: Arid plains, deserts, rocky hillsides
Diet: Grasses, shrubs, melons, succulent bulbs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Historically, Oryx leucoryx was widespread in the Middle East, especially on the Arabian Peninsula. During the 19th and 20th centuries, their population was reduced to Saudi Arabia and by 1914, only a few populations existed in the wild outside that country. By the 1930s, the only remaining populations in the wild were in the Nafud Desert and the Rub' al Khali in Saudi Arabia. In the 1960s, the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona (my hometown zoo!) and the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society of London started captive-breeding programs and in 1968 the Al Ain Zoo was founded in Abu Dhabi to conserve the animals. Today there over 1,200 Arabian oryx in the wild and 6,000-7,000 in zoos and preserves. The Arabian oryx is the first animal to go from an IUCN classification of Extinct in the Wild to Vulnerable!

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Another beautiful figure by Safari!

A species with a feel-good story!

A must have figure

Species: Dorcus hopei binodulosus Waterhouse, 1874

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King - small series, standard
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (including mandibles) approximately 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.8 for a large major male
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the seventh time we've seen D. h. binodulosus in the Museum; it is one of the most commonly beetle produced species by Japanese manufacturers. The Sega 'small standard series' were 10 sets of 10 figures each, for a total of 100 figures representing 65-75 species of Lucanidae and dynastine Scarabaeidae. The dates of release are currently unknown to me (c. 2008). The figures were produced in conjunction with Bandai and came with Pokemon-style playing cards. At the time of this writing, I think I have all but two of the species. For a review of the sets, please see the overview by forum member Beetle guy here. The tree in this photo is by Toymany; it was originally produced for their koalas but it can now be purchased by itself.

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 and its subspecies are sometimes considered subspecies of D. curvidens, resulting in the combinations D. curvidens hopei and D. curvidens binodulosus.

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Species: Actias luna (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): luna moth; American moon moth

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Smithsonian Insects
Year of Production: 1997
Size/Scale: If spread like a specimen, wingspan would come to approximately 17.5 cm for a scale of 2.3:1-1.7:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The tube-sized A. luna figure produced by Innovative Kids for the Groovy Tube Books: Bug Blast! collection appears to have been influenced by this Safari figure (as were the stag beetle, flea, and monarch from the same tube).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eastern North America
Habitat: Deciduous hardwood forests, parks, gardens, suburban areas
Diet: Larvae feed on the leaves of a variety of hardwood trees, including Betula (birch), Diospyros (persimmon), Liquidambar (sweetgum), Carya (hickory, pecan), Juglans (walnut), and Rhus (sumac); adults do not feed.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated; NatureServe status is Secure
Miscellaneous Notes: The elongated tails of the hindwings of A. luna are thought to confuse the echolocation detection used by predatory bats.

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Head's up: There won't be a post tomorrow (6/2).

Species: Oncorhynchus mykiss mykiss (Walbaum, 1792)
Common name(s): Kamchatkan rainbow trout

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book 1
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 6.5 cm long for a scale of 1:9.2-1:18.8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Yujin did not market this figure at the subspecies level, and the identification is mine based on geographic proximity to Japan. The fish is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Russian Far East (Kamchatka Peninsula, Commander Islands, Sea of Okhotsk); introduced to many other parts of the world for sport fishing and aquaculture
Habitat: Streams and rivers; some populations anadromous
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates, fish, fish eggs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Oncorhynchus mykiss is considered an invasive species in 87 countries. Most, if not all, of these introductions are presumably O. mykiss mykiss. Impacts of these introductions include hybridization, disease transmission, predation, and competition with native species.

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Species: †Borealopelta markmitchelli Brown et al., 2017

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: PNSO
Series: Prehistoric Animal Models
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 18.5 cm for a scale of 1:30
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: In 2019, CollectA also produced a standard-sized version of this species. Both figures are generally comparable in quality and accuracy, so one can't really go wrong with either. However, CollectA's is likely to be less expensive! If anyone is curious, the paint is not coming off on my model; the white seen are glares (the paint has a rather glossy finish).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Early Cretaceous (Albian) of present-day Canada
Habitat: Open forests, fern meadows
Diet: Vegetation; especially ferns
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Examination of the stomach contents preserved in the type specimen of B. markmitchelli suggests a fern-rich diet and it has been speculated that Borealopelta may have been a highly selective feeder of ferns.

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Species: Apodemus speciosus (Temminck, 1844)
Common name(s): large Japanese field mouse

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Animatales Series 11
Year of Production: 2006
Size/Scale: Figure approximately 3.5 cm tall and 3.5 cm across its widest points. Scale difficult to calculate because of the animal's pose, but using hind foot as a metric (n=1.1 cm) scale comes to approximately 1:1.8-1:2.6.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Choco Q Animatales, some assembly is required. Kaiyodo previously produced this species for the original Chocoegg series in conjunction with Furuta.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan
Habitat: Forests, grasslands, riverine fields, agricultural fields
Diet: Primarily seeds and nuts; occasionally rhizomes and small invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Apodemus speciosus can eat seeds and nuts high in tannins, which would be toxic to most other rodent species. The large Japanese field mouse can consume seeds high in tannins by the secretion of specialized proteins and symbiotic bacteria that aid in digestion. However, the mouse can also display foraging behavior to select for seeds low in tannins, perhaps to regulate the amount of tannins they consume.

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A beautiful figure