Coiled-Toothed Shark/Helicoprion (Lost Kingdoms Series B by Yowie)

Evolution has thrown out some wonderful oddities across time life has existed on earth. The shark family has shown some incredible adaptations leaning towards the bizarre. From early examples like Stethacanthus, to the modern species, like the Hammerhead and Saw shark. One of the more bizarre sharks known from the fossil record, found Asia, Australia, North America and Eastern Europe: Helicoprion, with it’s weird tooth whorls.

As with many Yowie models, this is pretty small, measuring 3″ long and 1″ high, which seems odd for an animal that could reach between 33 and 39 ft long, but this is a line that fits inside chocolate snacks, so it’s going to be small. The pose is a steady, straight pose, not the most dynamic, but works well enough. There is a little wiggle to the front fins, though not enough to alter the pose much. The colour scheme is interesting, with a stripped pattern reminiscent of young Tiger sharks, with mixes of brown being the main colouration. It stands out quite well and works well for a shark.

Accuracy is very difficult to assess here, as shark bodies are cartilaginous bodies that don’t fossilise well unless it’s at a site of spectacular preservation and buried swiftly. Further issue is brought about by it’s odd whorl, leading to many different interpretations of how it could look. This is based off an older look, with the whorl coming out from the mouth, whereas modern interpretations have the whorl inside the mouth, replacing teeth as they go. The main body is a standard shark body, but works well here. Pretty good overall.

This is quite a nice little model, showing an odd species in all it’s glory. There aren’t many models of Helicoprion, and this is among the better models. As this line is long since discontinued, eBay is your best bet, but I’d say it’s worth the hunt for this little fella!