The Ediacaran is the first geological period with widespread evidence of multicellular life. And those fossils are actually quite extraordinary, as many of them are of soft-bodied creatures that normally do not preserve easily in the fossil record. Most of the fossils are casts and molds in sandstones.
Author: bmathison1972
All reviews by this author
Review: Tully Monster (Paleocasts)
5 (5 votes)
The Tully Monster. Tullimonstrum gregarium. What was it? Ever since fossils of this marine predator were first discovered in the Mason Creek formation by amateur collector Francis Tully, paleontologists have been baffled trying to decipher its phylogenetic placement and relationships.
Review: Shantungosaurus (1:35 Science and Art Model by Haolonggood)
5 (3 votes)
Shantungosaurus giganteus, as its name suggests, was a monster of a hadrosaurid from the Late Cretaceous of China. It is known from a handful of incomplete skeletons. Shantungosaurus may be the sister genus to the American Edmontosaurus.
Review: Euhelopus (1:35 Science and Art Model by Haolonggood)
5 (4 votes)
In the last several years, the toy dinosaur community has seen an exponential increase in figures of dinosaurs discovered in China, driven mainly by the prolific China-based companies PNSO and Haolonggood. Today we looking at the first dinosaur seriously scientifically investigated from China, the sauropod Euhelopus zdanski of the early Cretaceous.
Review: Jaekelopterus (Prehistoric World by CollectA)
5 (7 votes)
The genus Jaekelopterus contains two species from the Early Devonian; fossils of J. rhenaniae were originally discovered in the Rhineland of Western Germany while those of J. howellii were originally discovered in Wyoming, USA. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae is not only the largest eurypterid, it is the largest known arthropod…EVER!
Review: Utahceratops (1:35 Science and Art Model by Haolonggood)
5 (5 votes)
Before I start this review, I would like to thank our generous friends at Happy Hen Toys for providing this review sample. Of all of Haolonggood’s 2024 releases, this is the one I was most excited for, so I am honored to have been able to receive it as a gift.
Review: Utahraptor (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
3.9 (42 votes)
Review and photos by bmathison1972, edited by Suspsy.
In 2016, I moved from the hot and humid deciduous forests of Georgia to the hot and dry high deserts of Utah. It wasn’t a stark change for me, though, as I grew up in the hotter and drier Sonoran Desert of Arizona.
Review: Sinoceratops (Haolonggood)
4.8 (29 votes)
Review and images by bmathison1972; edited by Suspsy
Sinoceratops zhuchengensis is a centrosaurine ceratopsid that lived during the Late Cretaceous of present-day China. The holotype specimen was discovered in 2008 from the Hongtuya Formation in Shandong Province and was formally described in 2010.
Review: Dreadnoughtus (CollectA)
4.2 (53 votes)
Review and images by bmathison1972; edited by Suspsy
Dreadnoughtus schrani is a titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian) of present-day South America. Remains of only two individuals have been described to date, both from the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in Argentina.
Review: Evolution of Humanity (Tama-Kyu)
4 (22 votes)
Review and images by bmathison1972; edited by Suspsy
Prehistoric and primitive hominids are not rare in the animal toy market, but evolutionary sets of them are. The first, and probably the most popular, was called Evolution of Man, produced by Bullyland in 1999.
Review: Goticaris (Extinct Bath Bomb by Diamond Company)
3.9 (21 votes)
Review and images by bmathison1972; edited by Suspsy
Goticaris longispinosa is a tiny, enigmatic arthropod originally described from both immature and adult forms from the Orsten Lagerstätten (Upper Cambrian) of present day Sweden. It was originally described as an early offshoot of the clade Pancrustacea but is now considered stem-group Mandibulata outside of Pancrustacea.
Review: Ampelosaurus (1:35 Scientific Art and Model by Haolonggood)
4.3 (47 votes)
Review and images by bmathison1972; edited by Suspsy
Ampelosaurus atacis is a titanosaur described in 1995 from fossils from the Late Cretaceous (Early Maastrichtian) of present day France. Interestingly, in 2012 morphometric studies of titanosaur fossils from the area showed the presence of a second, currently undescribed species of titanosaur, bringing into question historic reconstructions of the animal (a little more on that later in the review).