Dino Skulls (Toob by Safari Ltd.)

From the savage teeth of tyrannosaurs to the intimidating horns of ceratopsians to the endearing crests of hadrosaurs and to the peculiar noggins of pachycephalosaurs, dinosaur skulls truly are stupendous. I previously reviewed Safari’s toob of prehistoric mammal skulls; now I’ll be looking at their Dino Skulls toob. There are eleven skulls in total, all painted medium brown with streaks of dark grey for a worn appearance.

We begin with the bodacious Brachiosaurus. This skull measures 4 cm long and is immediately recognizable thanks to its high crest. Mind you, given that we now know that fossil material once assigned to Brachiosaurus is actually Giraffatitan, it may be safer to say that this skull represents the latter. From the sides, the skull looks good, but viewed from above, it becomes apparent that it is far too wide.

Our second skull is that of the commanding Carnotaurus. It measures slightly under 4 cm and is probably one of the best skulls in this set. It looks good from both the sides and the front, and while the horns might look a little small, it could just be that this individual isn’t fully mature.

Third up is the distinctive Dilophosaurus. This 4.5 cm skull is also fairly impressive, featuring the telltale notch in the upper maxilla as well as the twin crests covered in grooves.

Our fourth skull is the dapper Diplodocus. 4.5 cm long, it features the small, peg-style teeth at the front of the mouth that enabled the animal to effectively strip branches of their foliage.

And here’s the skull of the devilish Dracorex. Or possibly that of an immature Pachycephalosaurus; we may never know for certain. The horns protruding from the back of the cranium could afford to be a little longer, but aside from that, this is quite nice. It too measures 4.5 cm long.

Behold the nifty Nigersaurus. At 3.5 cm long, this is one of the shortest skulls in the set. It looks okay from the sides, and the teeth lining the front of the mouth are appropriately tiny, but the muzzle is not nearly wide enough. It should be almost twice the width of the cranium!

Our seventh skull, which also measures 3.5 cm in length, is the optimal Oviraptor. But, as has been noted here on the blog in the past, Oviraptor‘s appearance is really based on Citipati, so that makes three dinosaurs suffering from an identity crisis here.

The lone ornithopod skull is none other than the popular Parasaurolophus. Thanks to its crest, it is the longest skull in the set at 7 cm. The length and shape of the crest make this specimen a P. walkeri.

And the lone ceratopsian skull is, surprise, surprise, that of the tremendous Triceratops. It measures 5.5 cm long and 4 cm wide, the widest in the set. Unlike all the other skulls, it features a perforated nasal cavity.

And what would a set of dinosaur skulls be without the terrific Tyrannosaurus rex? This 4.5 cm long rendition appears to have been based on good old AMNH 5027. While unmistakeable as a T. rex, the orbits are not facing forward as they should be.

And finally, here’s the very cool Velociraptor skull. It measures 5 cm long and manages to look reasonably scary in spite of its small size.

Overall, I find Dino Skulls to be a pretty nice toob. Sure, you really can’t play with skulls like you would with little dinosaur figures, but one could argue that it’s the most scientifically accurate out of all the Safari dinosaur toobs. These would also come in handy for educational purposes, or for dioramas. It can be ordered through Safari’s website or found in stores with other prehistoric toobs.