Review and photos by Ravonium, edited by Suspsy
In 2014, a group of Chinese paleontologists working in Yunnan Province discovered a near complete skeleton of Atopodentatus, a new genus (and likely, lineage) of Sauropterygia (the main group of Mesozoic marine reptiles) with an odd and somewhat creepy skull unlike that of any other known vertebrate. This was reconstructed as a ‘zipper jaw’ just below the nose, which quickly made it a sensation in the paleontological community. But two years later, more skulls were discovered, and they revealed that Atopodentatus had slightly less weird (but still unusual) vacuum cleaner-like jaws. Despite this change, its popularity hasn’t waned too much.
Until recently, representation in the toy market of this genus was sorely lacking, being limited to a collector-oriented model by Paleo-Creatures. This was until PNSO released their second series of miniatures last year. Their Atopodentatus, along with various other unique taxa, finally brought this unique reptile into the spotlight. The figure is approximately 10 cm long, which would make it 1:30 scale. Of all the 24 minis in the series, this one is the closest to 1:40 scale.
The paint job of this figure starts out as cyan on the jaws and nasal area, then employs a shade of brown on the rest of the head, neck, upper torso, and feet, and peach on the rest of the animal. On the brownish and peach areas, there are patches of cream, usually where the skin flaps are. Cream is also the colour of the painted area of the underside of the animal (as with the Keichousaurus, a significant area of this figure is unpainted). Overall, while I would have preferred the brown to cover more of the body, I don’t have much problem with the paint job otherwise, and it is a plausible colouration for the habitat that it lived in.
Accuracy-wise, the figure is okay overall. The head, neck, and upper torso are all pretty excellent, but that’s where my praise ends. The upper legs are a bit too long, and the lower end of the body in general needs to be beefed out quite a bit (this is especially an issue with the tail, which is thin to the point of looking emaciated). On the other hand, the skin texture is quite accurate for a marine reptile and unlike the Keichousaurus, the flaps on it are always clearly not scales.
Overall, I would recommend this Atopodentatus figure to anyone who’s a marine reptile completist or otherwise wants this genus in their collection, but cannot get the Paleo-Creatures version, whether it be due to price or because it’s just not the kind of figure in your scope (I fall into the latter category myself). However, due to the issue with the lower end of the body, I would actually recommend getting the Paleo-Creatures version if you aren’t the types of people I mentioned above.
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The atopodentatus of PNSO is as you say a figure for which we are completistas of collections of prehistoric animal toy brands (PVC, resin or vinyl). Neither is very good nor is very bad is in a medium term but honestly could a company (perhaps Collecta or Safari) in the future (perhaps distant) make a replica on a larger and detailed scale of this rare prehistoric marine animal.
His mouth reminds me of the nigersaurus. It has the nigersaurus an evolutionary similarity with the atopodentatus in relation to its mouth similar to a vacuum cleaner.
I’m very sure Finch is female, (I actually thought Finch was male, but that could also be correct). PNSO made a larger Atopodentatus, called Zewail that is now available. I’m not sure what gender Zewail is, but I am determined to pick it up to give my girl Finch a friend and a larger-scaled figure (I have this figure already, I just need the bigger one).