Mathison Museum of Natural History

Species: Turbo sazae Fukuda, 2017
Common name(s): turban snail; sazae; Korean top shell

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Toys Spirits
Series: Shellfish with a Lid Mascot Vol. 1
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Shell height approx. 5.0 cm for a scale of 1:1.4-1:2.8 [see below]
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare [probably unique as a sculpt, see below]
Miscellaneous Notes: Figures in this set represent commercial edible shellfish. The fleshy parts and operculum are included and can be removed from the shell (see inset). They were also sold as strap figures. There have been at least two other collections in this series, and I know T. sazae was featured in at least the 2022 set, although the paint job is different than mine shown here. I had trouble finding consistent measurements to calculate scale; the scale above is based on a shell height of 7-20 cm.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan, South Korea
Habitat: Rocky subtidal habitats
Diet: Algae, kelp
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Turbo sazae has been a delicacy in Japan for many years, but known under the names T. cornutus or T. japonicus. True T. cornutus is known only from the Mascarene Basin, the Philippines, Jeju Island (South Korea), and China. The name T. japonicus was historically used for two populations, one around Mauritius and Réunion in the Indian Ocean and one in Japan and South Korea in the West Pacific Ocean. Those two populations are considered distinct species, and the Mauritius/Réunion population has priority for the name T. japonicus, so in 2017 the Japanese/Korean population was renamed T. sazae.

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Species: Polistes carnifex (Fabricius, 1775)
Common name(s): executioner wasp

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Curatorial LLC
Series: Brave Wilderness
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (excluding appendages) approx. 5.3 cm for a scale of 2.2:1-1.6:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was produced in conjunction with a YouTube nature series called Brave Wilderness. Upon learning about this figure, I have discovered a number of other arthropod figures produced for the series I would love to hunt down (at the time of this writing, this executioner wasp is still available on Amazon)!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southern USA (extreme southern Arizona and Texas) to Brazil
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical evergreen forests, open mixed woodlands, coastal forests; nests are usually constructed in trees or on the sides of buildings
Diet: Larvae feed on nectar and macerated insects prey provided by adult wasps; adults feed on nectar
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Polistes carnifex is notorious for its sting, which ranks 4 (highest possible) on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. However, like most of these large, formidable wasps, it is not an aggressive species and likely only to sting if provoked.

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Species: Gerris latiabdominalis Miyamoto, 1958
Common name(s): lesser water strider

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kitan Club
Series: Nature Techni Colour - Water Striders
Year of Production: 2010
Size/Scale: Base 3.5 cm long. Body length (excl. appendages) approx. 1.1 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was marketed as Gerris lacustris latiabdominalis, although its elevation to full species based on molecular studies occurred two years earlier in 2008. This set came with five species of water striders (and three 'mini' Japanese tree frogs). When a surfactant is applied to a small hole in the clear plastic behind the insect, the decrease in surface tension causes the figure to propel forward, as if the bug was actually moving across the surface of the water!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia, Japan
Habitat: Ponds, irrigation ditches, canals, rice paddies
Diet: Insects that fall on the water surface or emerge from the water; rarely carrion, frog eggs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other water striders, G. latiabdominalis is primarily a scavenger of insects that fall on the surface of the water or aquatic insects (e.g. nematoceran flies and mayflies) that emerge from the water. Other sources of nutrition, such as scavenging on dead vertebrates in the water, is considered a very rare event. In 2020, G. latiabdominalis was observed feeding on frog eggs floating on the water surface, the first time this behavior was documented in water striders.

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Species: Papilio xuthus Linnaeus, 1767
Common name(s): Asian swallowtail; Chinese yellow swallowtail

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kabaya
Series: World Insect Series 1
Year of Production: 2002
Size/Scale: Wingspan approx. 6.8 cm for a scale of 1:1.3-1:1.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the sixth time we've seen P. xuthus in the Museum. The butterfly is painted realistically dorsally and ventrally. It is removable from its base but it leaves to very long black pegs on the underside, so the butterfly can never lay completely flat.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia, Japan; introduced to Hawaii
Habitat: Forests, gardens, parks, citrus orchards
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the family Rutaceae, including cultivated Citrus; adults are attracted to flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Papilio xuthus participates in seasonal migrations of up to 200 kilometers.

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Species: Millepora intricata Milne-Edwards, 1860
Common name(s): intricate fire coral; hydrocoral

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Corals in Colour
Year of Production: 2005
Size/Scale: Figure 3.3 cm across its widest points for a scale of roughly 1:8 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This is one of two figures in the set that are hydrozoans rather than true corals. The Yujin corals are small and made out of a limestone-calcium carbonate sandstone, rather than the usual PVC. They make great accessories for other marine wildlife. I had difficulty finding metrics to calculate scale. One online reference indicated size data has not been analyzed; another said a maximum colony size of 25 cm. While this figure is not a large, mature colony, the scale above is calculated based on that 25-centimeter metric.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: West-Central Pacific
Habitat: Coral reefs, at depths of 3-30 meters
Diet: Predators on zooplankton and other small organisms that drift by their colonies; also metabolic byproducts of zooxanthellae (symbiotic algae) living in the tissues of the hydrozoan
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other Anthoathecata, M. intricata is a colonial A-form hydroid. Reproduction is more complex than other true reef-building corals. After sexual reproduction, the zygote develops into planula inside the gonophore and is later released as an actinula which metamorphoses into polyp stage.

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Species: †Arborea arborea (Glaessner in Glaessner & Daily, 1959)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Cambrian TOOB
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: Total figure height approx. 5.2 cm. Petalodium lengths range from 3.2-3.7 cm for a scale of 1:18.8-1:16.2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was marketed as Charniodiscus. However, looking at pics of several fossils online, the figure looks like it may have been inspired by a species now in the genus Arborea, and most probably A. arborea. Arborea was long considered synonymous with Charniodiscus (see below). I think the Yujin figure still represents true Charniodiscus, however.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Ediacaran; probably present in most oceans at the time
Habitat: Marine, benthic
Diet: Presumably filter feeder of planktonic organisms in the water column
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Arborea arborea was originally described in the genus Rangea in 1959. In 1966, the genus Arborea was described to accommodate it. In 1978, Arborea was synonymized with Charniodiscus. The type species of Charniodiscus, C. concentricus, has a multifoliate frond, whereas A. arborea and other species usually placed in Charniodiscus are bifoliate and do not have a fractal branching pattern. Because of these differences, Arborea was reinstated as a valid genus in 2018.

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Species: Geococcyx californianus (Lesson, 1829)
Common name(s): greater roadrunner

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari North American Wildlife
Year of Production: 2010
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 8.0 cm for a scale of 1:6.5-7.8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: To my knowledge this is the only standard-sized roadrunner figure. Safari previously made this species for their Desert TOOB in 2004.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southwestern United States, northern Mexico
Habitat: Deserts, arid and semi-arid scrubland, chaparral, coastal sage scrub, arid grasslands
Diet: Reptiles, small mammals, small birds, large arthropods, cactus fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: While not as fast as depicted in cartoons, G. californianus is a very fast runner and doesn't often take to the air. It can run 29-32 kph over long distances and has a top speed clocked of 42 kph.

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Funny roadrunner!

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

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Hidden Kingdom Insects
Year of Production: 2000
Size/Scale: If spread like a mounted specimen, wingspan would come to approx. 12.0 cm for a scale of 1.4:1-1.1:1 (slightly over 1:1 for a very large specimen).
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the twelfth time we have seen D. plexippus in the Museum. Wires in the base of the wings allow them to be positioned at different levels above the body. This is also one of the few monarch figures that gets the number of functional legs correct (4).

About the Animal:
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: Danaus plexippus acquires poisonous cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) from the milkweed weed plants they eat as larvae. This makes them distasteful to many predators. A couple native North American birds have found ways around the toxin. The black-backed oriole has the ability to detect cardenolides by taste and reject them. The black-headed grosbeak on the other hand has developed an insensitivity to the poisons that allows it to ingest monarchs without getting sick. Both birds can occasionally get build-ups of cardenolides in their bodies, forcing them to temporarily shift their diet to prey that doesn’t contain these compounds.

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Species: Trichogomphus lunicollis Burmeister, 1847

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Diversity of Life on Earth - Beetles Vol. 6
Year of Production: 2024
Size/Scale: Body length (incl. cephalic horn) approx. 8.0 cm for a scale of 1.5:1-1.1:1 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Assembly is required. I had difficulty finding information on this species to calculate scale. The scale above was calculated based on a length of 5.5-7.0 cm, which is based on specimens for sale online.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Philippines, Sumatra)
Habitat: Tropical rainforest (see below)
Diet: Unknown (see below)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had difficulty researching information on the habitat and biology of this species (or even genus, for that matter). Trichogomphus lunicollis is a member of the tribe Oryctini. Larvae of many oryctines feed in decaying organic material, such as humus and compost, while adults feed on rotting fruit and vegetation or burrow into the stems of living plants, such as sugarcane and palms.

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Species: Shijimia moorei (Leech, 1889)
Common name(s): Moore's cupid; bicolor cupid

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Natural Monuments of Japan
Year of Production: 2002
Size/Scale: Total figure height approx. 4.2 cm. If spread like a mounted specimen, wingspan would come to approx. 5.0 cm for a scale of 1.5:1-2:1.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was marketed as Everes moorei. I cannot remember if assembly was required or not..

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East and Southeast Asia, from northeastern India (Assam) to Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, southern China, and Japan
Habitat: Forests, often in open areas and along paths and roads
Diet: Larvae feed on plants including Salvia japonica (East Asian sage) and Lysionotus pauciflorus (fewflower); full host range probably not known. Adults take nectar from flowers and nutrients derived from wet soil (mud-puddling).
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Not much has been reported on S. moorei. It has a very localized, patchy distribution, favoring virgin forests. It appears to be particularly susceptible to habitat destruction, and its population is declining in areas of deforestation. While it hasn't been evaluated by the IUCN, conservation efforts are underway and it is a protected species in India and Japan. Many lycaenid butterflies have a relationship with ants, but I couldn't find any information on whether or not this species does.

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Beautiful model!

Species: †Xenacanthus sp.

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Dinotales Series 4
Year of Production: 2003
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 8.0 cm for a scale of 1:2.5-1:12.5 depending on the species.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Dinotales figures, some assembly is required. Safari Ltd. also made this species for their Prehistoric Sharks TOOB in 2010 but that figure is sculpted with an extra pair of anal fins. With at least 21 described species of Xenacanthus, determining a species identification here would be near impossible.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Carboniferous to Permian; nearly worldwide in appropriate habitats
Habitat: Freshwater lakes, rivers, swamps
Diet: Presumably predator of small fish and freshwater invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Like related sharks, Xenacanthus had a peculiar spine jetting from the back of its head. The function of the spine is unknown but it has been speculated that it is defensive, in preventing larger predators from grabbing the shark by the back of its head. It has been suggested that it may have been poisonous, analogous to the barb of a stingray.

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Species: Protobothrops flavoviridis (Hallowell, 1861)
Common name(s): habu; Okinawa habu; Kume Shima habu

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Yanbaru Creatures
Year of Production: 2017
Size/Scale: Base 5.0 cm across its widest points. Body length approx. 26.5 cm for a scale of 1:4.5-1:9.1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The snake sits loosely on its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan (Okinawa and Amami Islands)
Habitat: Montane forest, coastal palm forest, agricultural fields, parks, residential areas
Diet: Small vertebrates, including small mammals, small birds, lizards, frogs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: The venom of P. flavoviridis contains cytotoxic and hemorrhagic components. A bite can cause headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, hypotension, dizziness, collapse, and possibly death, although the fatality rate is less than 1% in treated patients (untreated, it may rise to 10-20% however, especially in patients with pre-existing conditions). In suburban areas, snakes will enter houses in search of prey and on the Amami Islands, the incidence of bites is about 2 per 1,000 people, which is considered rather high. Antivenom is available in Japan.

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Species: Haliaeetus pelagicus (Pallas, 1811)
Common name(s): Steller's sea eagle; Pacific sea eagle; white-shouldered eagle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Natural Monuments of Japan
Year of Production: 2003
Size/Scale: Total figure height approx. 6.0 cm. Body length difficult to measure based on posture but using culmen as a metric (n=0.7 cm) scale comes to 1:8.9-1:10.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon to rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Minimal assembly is required but the bird is not removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific, from Russia to the Korean Peninsula; vagrancy occurring south to Taiwan and rarely east into North America (see below)
Habitat: Sea coasts, estuaries, mouths of large rivers; nesting occurs on large rocky outcroppings or the tops of large trees
Diet: Fish, primarily salmon and trout; also crustaceans, mollusks, sea birds, small mammals
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: While normally restricted to the Northwest Pacific, at least one vagrant bird has been moving around North America since around 2020. It was first seen near Denali National Park in Alaska in August, 2020. In 2021 the same bird (presumably) was seen in Victoria, TX after a winter storm pushed it south and east. By November of that year it had been seen in several locations in eastern Canada, including New Brunswick, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. In December of 2021, it was seen on the Taunton River in Massachusetts and later along the Maine Coast. In April, 2022 it was seen on the east side of Newfoundland and in early 2023 along the shores of Georgetown, Maine. In spring of 2024, a sea eagle was observed constructing a nest in Newfoundland, but it is unsure if it is the same individual.

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A interesting specie

Species: Hippocampus kelloggi Jordan & Snyder, 1901
Common name(s): great seahorse; Kellogg's seahorse

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Ikimon
Series: Nature Techni Colour - Seaside Creatures Vol. 2
Year of Production: 2019
Size/Scale: Height approx. 8.0 cm for a scale of 1:1.9-1:3.1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Ikimon produced this figure at least twice; a more orange-colored version was part of the first volume of Seaside Creatures in 2017. Another sculpt was used for two other collections in the Nature Techni Colour line. One set included two leafy seadragons and ten different colors of the great seahorse. The other set consisted of only the great seahorse, with nine different colors of the same sculpt (I didn't check each individually, but they were certainly nine of the colors used in the set with the leafy seadragons).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Coral reefs; at depths of 1-150 meters
Diet: Small marine crustaceans, fish larvae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Hippocampus kelloggi is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Consumption of seahorses is believed to help primarily with impotence, but also wheezing, nocturnal enuresis, pain relief, and labor induction. Overfishing for medicinal purposes is one of the reason's for the species' decline. Importation and exportation of seahorses has been controlled under CITES since 2004, but not all countries adhere to their rules.

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