Dimorphodon is one of those classic pterosaurs that old thirtysomethings like myself grew up reading about in the 1980s. With a large, blocky head, stout body, and relatively short wings, it would not have been the most skillful of flyers. Instead, it probably took to the air only for brief periods in order to find food or escape predators.
The 2013 Wild Safari Dimorphodon measures 16 cm long and has a wingspan of 23.5 cm. It is sculpted in a flying pose with its limbs spread to maximum distance and its head turned to the left. While this kind of pose is always impressive, it does mean that the figure will require a good deal of space on your shelf.
The colour scheme is bright, though conservative compared to other depictions I’ve seen. On top, the body is light brown and the brachiopatagium(wing membrane) is reddish brown with black airbrushing. The underbelly is very pale brown with faint orange airbrushing. Black is used for the claws and the stripes on the neck. Finally, the head is scarlet with pale oranges eyes, white teeth, and black accents.
The detailing on this pterosaur is very impressive. The bare head is scaly and pitted while the body is covered in fine pycnofibers. The wings have countless fine wrinkles to them. The tail ends in a diamond-shaped vane similar to that of Rhamphorhynchus, although that currently remains speculative. And unlike many older pterosaur figures, the Dimorphodon‘s tail is not attached to the membrane stretching between the legs. This makes the membrane a cruropatagium as opposed to a uropatagium where the tail is attached.
The Wild Safari Dimorphodon boasts excellent sculpting, a good colour scheme, and careful attention to current science. A first rate pterosaur figure.
Available from Amazon.com here and Amazon.co.uk here.
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[…] Guidraco, but it’s still one of the biggest pterosaur toys ever made. And it easily dwarfs the other renditions of Dimorphodon, at least that I know […]
[…] With a length of slightly under 11 cm and a wingspan of 18 cm, it’s considerably smaller than the other flyers. It is sculpted in a flying pose with its wings fully spread, its head turned to the […]
Isn’t the rear membrane supposed to be a uropatagium instead of a cruropatagium?
Depends on which paleontologist you speak to. Studies on Sordes suggest that it had a cruropatagium. It is therefore possible that Dimorphodon had one too.
Indeed it is one of the best figures of dimorphodon made to date. With regard to the figure that I have of that mark Safari, the teeth are painted white, so you figure there exposed in the commentary is simply a manufacturing error.