Mathison Museum of Natural History

Species: Gymnothorax javanicus (Bleeker, 1859)
Common name(s): giant moray

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Saltwater Fish Pictorial Book 1
Year of Production: 2004
Size/Scale: Scale difficult to calculate based on the 'hunched' posture near the head, but body length approx. 15.5 cm for a scale of 1:19.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Some assembly is required. The moray comes with a bonus; attached to the mouth is a bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), a species itself that has only one other representative as a toy or figure, and that's one of the original Australian Yowies. The wrasse is not removable from the eel.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Coral reefs, at depths of 0-50 meters
Diet: Fish, crustaceans
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Gymnothorax javanicus engages in cooperative hunting with the roving coral grouper, Plectropomus pessuliferus. The eel hunts in the reef, and fish scared up into the water column are eaten by the grouper, while the grouper may scare fish down into the coral to hide where they are eaten by the moray.

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Species: Desmodus rotundus (Geoffroy, 1810)
Common name(s): common vampire bat

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Play Visions
Series: Bats
Year of Production: 1996
Size/Scale: Wingspan approx. 7.7 cm. Body length approx. 3.7 for a scale of 1:2.4.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Vampire bats as a whole are surprisingly rare in toy/figure form, having also been made by at least Action Products, Bullyland, and AAA. I always favored the Action Products figure but it's hard to come by!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and South America, from Mexico to Uruguay, northern Argentina, and central Chile; also Caribbean Islands Margarita and Trinidad
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical woodlands, grassland, savanna
Diet: Mammalian blood
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Vampire bats have both anesthetic and anticoagulant compounds in their saliva, allowing them to feed virtually unnoticed by their prey at night.

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P.S...yes, it's a total coincidence I just reviewed this on the Blog! At least, most of the research into the animal and figure and the photography was already done for me! LOL.

Appropriate that this one came up around Halloween.

Do you always do the research and write about the figure on the morning that you post it? I am very impressed by your diligence.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Appropriate that this one came up around Halloween.

Do you always do the research and write about the figure on the morning that you post it? I am very impressed by your diligence.

I do the research and take the image the day before. I post when I first get up in the morning, then I using the number generator to select the next one. I start writing in the morning but usually have to finish the writing and take the picture in the evening after work. So, everything is ready to go first thing in the morning. The amount of time it takes to put one of these together depends on the availability of information on the animals. Sometimes it's difficult to find biological information or metrics to calculate scale.

One of the reasons I started this thread is it forces me to study the figure in detail and learn more about the animal itself. It's as educating for me as it is my audience.

thanks for the comments and hope you enjoy it!

Definitely, your posts in this topic are something to look forward to every day. Always interesting and with great photos.

A treasure bat

Species: Pandinus imperator (Koch, 1841)
Common name(s): emperor scorpion

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Diversity of Life on Earth - Scorpions
Year of Production: 2022
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 10.0 cm for a scale of 1:2 for a very large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fifth time we've seen P. imperator in the Museum. The figure has multiple articulations. I do not know if assembly is typically required (mine came assembled), but it's possible it might depending on the packaging. This same sculpt was also used in the set for the Tanzanian red-clawed scorpion (Pandinoides cavimanus) and large-clawed scorpion (Scorpio maurus). The set also came with larger (18.0 cm) versions of P. imperator and P. cavimanus, but I only purchased the three smaller figures.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: West Africa
Habitat: Rainforest, tropical savanna
Diet: Insects and other arthropods; occasionally small vertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: With a maximum length of around 20 cm, P. imperator is one of the largest scorpions in the world, second only to the giant forest scorpion (Gigantometrus swammerdami) which tops out at about 23 cm.

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I missed loads of presentations here.
As an exercice, I tried to ask t some AI tool which species of butterfly would match better the last Toy Major butterfly presented. The given suggestion was the yellow clouded but when the AI tool was confronted with the Southern dogface identification, it assumed the latter as a better match. Those tools are not very efficient yet but they've improved abruptally in a short time. Also, these Toy Major figures are not very realistic.

Species: †Hallucigenia sparsa (Walcott, 1911)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Favorite Co.
Series: Cambrian Creatures Mini Model - Burgess Shale Series
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 7.5 cm for a scale of 7.5:1-1.5:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen H. sparsa in the Museum. This is probably the first figure to display the current concept of what H. sparsa may have looked like.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Middle Cambrian of present-day Canada
Habitat: Marine, epibenthic
Diet: Presumed filter feeder of detritus, or predator on sponges or other soft-bodied animals, or carrion (see below)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Hallucigenia sparsa appears to have had a simple mouth with radial teeth and pharyngeal teeth in front of its gut. While long thought to be a filter feeder of detritus, it may have used its radial teeth to feed on living, or dead, animal prey. Hallucigenia is often found in conjunction with the sponge Vauxia and it may have used its teeth in a rasping method to feed on this and other sponges. It may have also used the same method to feed on carrion on the sea floor.

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Species: Tapirus indicus Desmarest, 1819
Common name(s): Malayan tapir; Asian tapir; piebald tapir; black-and-white tapir

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Papo
Series: Wild Animals
Year of Production: 2010
Size/Scale: Height at shoulder approx. 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:16.4-1:20
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: While not commonly made, several of the well-known Western companies have produced a Malayan tapir, including also Safari Ltd., CollectA, and Schleich. It was also popular with now-vintage companies and several miniatures have been made by Japanese companies. When I went to purchase a Malayan tapir in 2018 or 2019, all available at the time were retired; this figure was kindly gifted to me by forum member Roger who found one in a local shop in Spain! CollectA has since released theirs in 2020, but to the disappointment of many collectors, it was merely a repaint of their 2013 Baird's tapir. Papo reissued this model in 2023.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia, from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra
Habitat: Primary and secondary rainforest, marshes, rubber plantations, agricultural fields
Diet: Non-discriminant herbivore, favoring young shoots, leaves, buds, herbs, and fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Tapirus indicus is the only extant tapir that occurs outside of the Americas. It was first described in the genus Tapirus, but was moved to the genus Acrocodia in 1913. However, molecular analysis in 2011 showed it forms a sister group with extant Tapirus species from the Americans and that it diverged from that group about 25 million years ago during the Late Oligocene. The subspecies T. i. brevetianus was described based on a melanistic individual from Sumatra, but the validity of the taxon is in question.

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Beautiful picture! This one belongs to a trio of tapirs released in 2010. It's not that common that three main players of this hobby release a not so common animal in the exact same year. It happened again in 2012 with the less common giant sable and Safari Ltd is the only player wich contributed for both trios.
Curiously I have myself the Safari and the Schleich models instead. Unfortunately the painting of my Schleich model is peeling.

Roger wrote:

Beautiful picture! This one belongs to a trio of tapirs released in 2010. It's not that common that three main players of this hobby release a not so common animal in the exact same year. It happened again in 2012 with the less common giant sable and Safari Ltd is the only player wich contributed for both trios.
Curiously I have myself the Safari and the Schleich models instead. Unfortunately the painting of my Schleich model is peeling.

You probably can't go wrong with any of the three. If I had a choice I might favor Safari, but this Papo one is very nice and I am thankful for your kind gift!

I certainly don't ever seeing myself replacing it!

Oh, a tapir

Species: Anthaxia nitidula (Linnaeus, 1758)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wing Mau
Series: Insects
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (excl.) appendages approx. 5.5 cm for a scale of 11:1-7.9:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The Wing Mau Insects collection consists of 24 figures representing 23 species of beetles (there are two color variants of Adalia bipunctata). The figures have the Latin name printed on the underside. The figures seem to have been influenced by an Italian poster, Beetles, from 1992, as all the species are represented in that poster (including both variants of Adalia bipunctata) and have the same Latin names assigned to them (this poster hangs in my home office; I've had it since 1995). Some figures in this set were also produced for Play Visions for their Habitat Earth line. Most of the species in this Wing Mau collection are unique, at least as sculpts, but they are commonly bootlegged and often repainted in unrealistic colors. Anthaxia nitidula is sexually dimorphic in relation to color, and today's figure is painted after a female. I would have liked to photograph this figure outside, but alas we got our first snow yesterday (a light snow, but enough that it wouldn't have fit with this species' flight period lol).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Western Palearctic (Europe, North Africa, Near East)
Habitat: Forests, fruit orchards, parks, gardens
Diet: Larvae bore into leaving trees; common host plants include Prunus (almond, plum, peach), Crataegus (hawthorn), Pyrus (pear), Mespilus (medlar), and Sorbus (mountain ash). Adults eat pollen from flowers.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Despite that its larvae bore into important crop trees, such as almond, pear, peach, and plum, A. nitidula is not considered a serious crop pest, and is actually considered a beneficial insect as a pollinator.

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Species: Anotogaster sieboldii Sélys, 1854
Common name(s): golden-ringed dragonfly; jumbo dragonfly; Siebold's dragonfly; oniyanma

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: B.I.G. Insects
Year of Production: 2021
Size/Scale: Body length of nymph approx. 6.0 cm for a scale of 1.2:1. Body length of adult approx. 7.0 cm for a scale of 1:1.4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: While no dragonfly species are commonly made as toys or models, this is probably the most commonly made species, due to its popularity and familiarity in Japan (and somewhat surprised it took this long to come up for this thread, but that's the nature of random selection). The nymph and adult shown in this image are variations of the same figure! It is an ingenious design whereby components of the adult (minus the wings) are contained within the nymph. So, if one wanted to display both an adult and nymph as I did here, one would need to purchase two figures! I did a step-by-step of the reveal when I reviewed the figure on the Animal Toy Blog. With the final products, the nymph comes out to slightly larger than 1:1 while the adult comes to slightly under 1:1.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia, Japan
Habitat: Lakes, ponds, canals, ditches, riverbanks
Diet: Nymphs feed on aquatic invertebrates, tadpoles, small fish; adults feed on flying insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Female A. sieboldii lay eggs in mud or sand in freshwater. Eggs hatch about a month after being laid. The dragonfly can spend upwards of 3-5 years as an aquatic nymph (naiad) before becoming and adult, molting up to ten times during the process. The nymphs are voracious predators of any aquatic animal small enough for them to attack, including aquatic insects, freshwater crustaceans, tadpoles, and small fish. After molting to adult, the adult dragonflies mate and lay eggs after about two months.

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Just a head's up, there will not be a Museum post tomorrow (11/8 ) and Saturday's may post a little bit later in the day than usual.

Species: Madrasostes kazumai hisamatsui Ochi, 1990

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Dango Mushi 04
Year of Production: 2019
Size/Scale: Body length (as presented here) approx. 8.5 cm. Head width approx. 3.5 cm for a scale of 24.3:1-17.5:1 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure is articulated and can roll into a ball (Bandai produced a second species of Magrasostes in 2020 and I display that one rolled up). Forum member Beetleguy showed the 'unrolling' when he reviewed this figure on the Animal Toy Blog. I couldn't find any metrics for this species to calculate scale and the original description of the species isn't available online. The scale above is calculated based on other East Asian species of Madrasostes.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan (Tokara Islands)
Habitat: Subtropical hardwood forests
Diet: Larvae feed on rotten tree wood; the beetle's association with termites (below) might indicate the beetles specialize on byproducts of the termites. Adult diet unknown, but possibly the same substrate as the larva or they may not feed.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: A had difficulty finding open access information on the biology of the species. However, several papers indicate the beetles are associated with the termites Coptotermes formosanus and Hodotermes sjoestedti in the dead wood of trees such as Machilus thunbergii (Japanese bay tree) and Quercus (oak). The beetle larvae were found in inner rot which was described as 'reddish-brown clay-like rotten wood substances'. It is unknown if these substances are the biproducts of a brown-rot fungus or the termites, since areas of this stage of decay have often been adandoned by the termites.

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A beetle with an unusual shape.

Species: Petrogale xanthopus Gray, 1855
Common name(s): yellow-footed rock-wallaby; ring-tailed rock-wallaby

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Science and Nature
Series: Animals of Australia - Small
Year of Production: 2019
Size/Scale: Total figure height and width both approx. 5.0 cm. Posture makes calculating a scale challenging, but using hind foot as a metric (n=2.1 cm) scale comes to 1:5.7-1:8.1.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Science and Nature had previously made a larger version of this species in 2010 (I think).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Australia (fragmented regions of New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland)
Habitat: Rocky outcrops, cliffs, and ridges in semi-arid habitats such as mulga scrub
Diet: Primarily grasses in the wet season, switching over to fallen leaves during times of drought
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: Populations of P. xanthopus dropped drastically from the 1880s to the 1920s due to hunting for its pelt. Since 1968, multiple national parks have been established to protect the yellow-footed rock wallaby.

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