Herrerasaurus is a dinosaur very rarely represented in toy form, so I applaud CollectA’s choice to make one.
Dinosaurs weren’t the first giant plant-eaters to roam the Earth; that frontier was pioneered first among vertebrates by the dicynodonts, a group of tusked therapsids (the clade which includes modern mammals) which survived the Permian Mass Extinction and lasted to the end of the Triassic period. They ranged widely in size and distribution, from the diminutive Diictodon, to the pervasive Lystrosaurus, to giants like Lisowicia and Kannemeyeria.
The earlier dinosaurs of the Triassic are often overshadowed by their larger and more glamorous decedents. Though less flashy than later genera these were important animals in their time that paved the way and gave rise to the later dinosaurs we all know and love. That is why when a genus of dinosaur from the Triassic pops up, collectors should take notice.
Time has eventually come, for one of the most impressive CollectA figures of 2020 to hit the European continent. And fittingly, it represents a European species.
In 2006 paleontologists Jerzy Dzik, Tomasz Sulej and Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki discovered large bones in a clay pit in Poland. What was initially considered to be sauropodomorph dinosaur, was later recognized to be a massive dicynodont synapsid.
Review and images by PhilSauria, edited by Suspsy
Lufengosaurus, at least as realised by the sculptors and designers at PNSO, does not embody the typical image of a sauropod. It is no towering beast with head held aloft at the end of a long neck, standing or striding along on four long pillar-like legs, though its stablemate, the massive Huanghetitan does fit that description admirably!
Lufengosaurus lived during the early Jurassic period and is a primitive sauropodomorph from China. A full osteology of Lufengosaurus was done in 1941 and was the first complete dinosaur skeleton mounted in China. Fortunately, much is known on its size and shape as there is quite a lot of known material.
One of the positive outcomes from the release of Jurassic World: Dominion was its launching of the generally obscure Lystrosaurus to stardom. Although relegated to what was basically a cameo appearance in the film it was enough to give the little synapsid far more public attention than it would have otherwise received.
Review and photos by Faelrin, edited by Suspsy
In 2022, the last of the Jurassic World films was released, ending the trilogy that started back in 2015, for better or worse. While I didn’t enjoy the film overall, I did enjoy some aspects of it, one of those being the batch of new creatures.
