Gastonia was discovered in the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, USA. It lived during the Early Cretaceous period from 139 to 134.6 million years ago and is one of the very best known nodosaurids. Its name honours Robert Gaston, an American paleontologist and the CEO of Gaston Design, Inc., which makes and sells skeletal replicas of various dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.
Author: Suspsy
Suspsy has lived in Canada all his life. One day when he was in kindergarten, his teacher did a lesson on dinosaurs and put up some giant cutouts on the wall. Suspsy immediately began pretending to be a Tyrannosaurus rex at playtime, and continued to do so for many subsequent playtimes. Since then, he has acquired two degrees, worked many different jobs, travelled to many fantastic locations, fallen in love, gotten married, and settled down to raise a family, but his passion for dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals has never waned.All reviews by this author
Review: Therizinosaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
4.6 (40 votes)
Biggest by far of all known maniraptorans, bearer of the longest claws of any known animal, and just downright rocambolesque to the human eye, Therizinosaurus is one truly remarkable dinosaur. It’s been made into a toy by many of the major companies, including Safari Ltd.
Review: Lufengosaurus (2024) (PNSO)
4.7 (43 votes)
Many of us will recall the old days when the term “prosauropods” was used to describe the likes of Plateosaurus, Massospondylus, Melanorosaurus, and other early long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs thought to be the ancestors of the great sauropods like Brachiosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Diplodocus.
Review: Megaraptor (Haolonggood)
5 (39 votes)
Unlike most other prehistoric toy companies, the vast majority of Haolonggood’s dinosaurs have been herbivorous ones thus far. And the carnivores that they have tackled are mostly genera that have already been done by many of those same other companies: Allosaurus, Baryonyx, Carnotaurus, Daspletosaurus, Dilophosaurus, etc.
Review: Stegodon (TNG)
4.9 (38 votes)
Most prehistoric proboscideans followed the same basic body plan: a big body on big legs and a big head with big ears and a big nose. Even ones with comparatively small ears and noses like Deinotherium still had them bigger than any other group of mammals.
Review: Daspletosaurus (Haolonggood)
4.1 (39 votes)
As Waylay bursts out from concealment, the big male champsosaur that was basking placidly on a sandbank immediately slides into the water.* But the pools in these marshlands are half a metre deep at most and Waylay simply wades in and seizes the fleeing reptile’s tail in her jaws.
Review: Triceratops (2023)(CollectA)
3.9 (42 votes)
In 2023, CollectA followed up on the success of their 2022 Deluxe Triceratops with a smaller version for their standard line of prehistoric toys. Triceratops, of course, is one of those “A-list” dinosaurs that pretty much everybody knows and has no shortage of toys to its name, so let’s see how this one measures up.
Review: Diprotodon (Deluxe by CollectA)
4.3 (30 votes)
The very first Australian prehistoric mammal to be named and described (by Sir Richard Owen back in 1838), Diprotodon is by far the biggest marsupial that we know of. A mature male would have been over 4 metres long, 1.8 metres tall at the shoulders, and weighed at least 2800 kg, which is heavier than a male hippopotamus and rivalling a male white rhinoceros.
Review: Velociraptor (2024)(Deluxe by CollectA)
4.1 (38 votes)
Sniffing silently at the entrance of the small hole in the ground, Mammock decisively detects dinner. She raises her head and glances toward her mate, Mangle, who has located a second hole a dozen metres away. The two bob and jerk their heads in silent argument before Mammock finally snorts in irritation and begins clawing and scraping at the hole, sending dirt and pebbles flying in all directions.
Review: Polacanthus (Deluxe by CollectA)
4.2 (38 votes)
The very first time I laid eyes on the Early Cretaceous ankylosaurian known as Polacanthus was at a birthday party when I was only four or five years old. I can’t rightly recall if it was my own or some other child’s, but I’ll never forget that wrapping paper.
Review: Gorgosaurus (PNSO)
4.6 (51 votes)
July 1 is Canada Day, so today we shall be taking a gander at one of the most famous Canadian dinosaurs, Gorgosaurus. I do believe that Gorgosaurus was the second tyrannosaur I ever learned about after Tyrannosaurus rex, courtesy of an illustration in a Dover colouring book that I had when I was but a wee lad.
Review: Stegouros (Deluxe by CollectA)
4.7 (42 votes)
Most ankylosaurs are classified as either Ankylosauridae or Nodosauridae. Ankylosaurids are easily distinguishable by their wide, blocky heads and tails terminating in solid bone clubs, and include the likes of Ankylosaurus itself, Euoplocephalus, Jinyunpelta, Pinacosaurus, and Zuul.