The family of Baobabs is one of the most distinct and recognizable trees in the world. Eight species exist under the genus Adansonia, they are native to Subsaharaian Africa, Madagascar and Australia. The natural history of Baobabs is somewhat clouded and methods as molecular clocking yield debatable results.
Age: Paleocene
Review: Diatryma (Bullyland)
The Bullyland Diatryma is a well done replica of an athletic, robust bird. Bullyland scores with a credible posture, nice colouring and some neat details. On the other hand one can say Bullyland perhaps interpreted Diatryma a little bit too clumsy.
Diatryma, nowadays better known under the name Gastornis, is an extinct genus of large flightless bird that lived during the late Paleocene and Eocene periods of the Cenozoic.
Review: Diatryma (MPC)
MPC’s fifth group of prehistoric animals included one truly original mold in the form of Diatryma (ie Gastornis), one of the earliest plastic representations of this icon from the post-Mesozoic age.
During the 1950s and 1960s, interest in paleontology was starting its climb back to mainstream interest, and companies like Marx took the initiative to start producing dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures in small plastic fashion for the first time, encouraging kids to create prehistoric worlds in their own homes.
Review: Diatryma and Phorusrhacos (Starlux)
A few months ago I stumbled upon pictures of several dinosaur figures made by the French company Starlux while I was reading through the “Recent Acquisitions” thread in the DTF. I looked up this company and found that they had made a great array of dinosaurs as well as some very obscure and rarely depicted prehistoric animals.
Review: Entelodon (Mojö Fun)
Review: Entelodont (AAA)
Review: Gastornis (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
Review: Ginkgo (Deluxe by CollectA)
While being a recent species, Ginkgo biloba already existed long before any human had the brilliant idea to develop writing or another kind of reliable method to record dates or stories for generations to come and so setting the foundation for our modern understanding of history and therefore the time before.
Review: Medusa (Bullyland)
Today I want you to introduce you to one of those creatures everybody knows, but knows almost nothing about, a jellyfish. Jellyfish are a very very old group of animals, they date back to the famous Ediacarian, more than 600 mya.
Review: Monanthesia and Cycadeoidea (CollectA)
Greens, stems, and leaves, but no teeth, no blood, no gore . . . no wonder plants seldom provide more than background for movies or our dinosaur collections. Day of the Triffids (1962) is the classic plant horror film par excellence, where seemingly harmless plants attack and kill humans and charge to take over world domination within days (for those of you that can’t stand classic B-movies or modern semi-quality TV adaptations of them, Splinter may be a more thrilling choice, though the antagonist is !SPOILER ALERT!
Review: Prehistoric Animals (Panini, review part 2)
Figure numbers 13 to 15 are a trio of marine reptiles, and their dark blue colour works very well for aquatic animals.
Review: Prehistoric Landscapes Cycad by Safari Ltd.
Here comes another (unfortunately retired) one of the prehistoric plants produced by Safari Ltd, the other two being reviewed here. I did not include it in the first review as my usual retailer didn’t have it in stock anymore and it took some time to find one for a reasonable price.
Review: Prehistoric Plants (Safari Ltd)
Plants and trees may not be a collector’s first choice of models to collect, and not only because there’s so few around. In general, humans feel more attracted to animals than towards plants despite the fact that we could still live well without keeping or even breeding (and feeding on) animals, but not without plants.
Review: Titanoboa cerrejonensis (Monty, premium edition, by Rebor)
“If you should wonder through the jungles of Colombia, watch out. If you see a quick object move through the brush, lose hope as you are in the realm of…….TITANOBOA!!!!!! See it’s 42 foot long body lunge from the water!!! Quake as it’s thick body constricts the life out of it’s prey!!!!