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.
Author: Suspsy
All reviews by this author
Review: Gorgosaurus (PNSO)
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)
Review: Mosasaurus (Dinosaurs by LEGO)
“How do you do, fellow dinosaur lovers? Dr. Bella Bricking and Beth Buildit here once again, wishing you all both a happy National Dinosaur Day and a happy Pride Month! Are you ready for yet another dive deep into the exciting world of prehistoric LEGO sets?”
*sigh* “Why are we wearing these getups, Doc?
Review: Baryonyx (2020)(Schleich)
Review: Smilodon with Neanderthal (ANIA by Takara Tomy)
The majority of items in my prehistoric collection are purchased online. Schleich abounds at several brick and mortar stores in my neck of the woods, but I’m not a huge consumer of their wares. Safari Ltd. products are sold at Michael’s and the local natural history museum, but the assortment is always woefully limited.
Review: Hesperosaurus (Jurassic World: Wild Roar by Mattel)
Pop quiz: which Upper Jurassic dinosaur from the famous Morrison Formation of North America had two rows of large plates on its back and four long spikes on its tail? I reckon the majority of respondents would immediately say that the answer is Stegosaurus, and of course, they wouldn’t be wrong.
Review: Elasmosaurus (Jurassic World: Gigantic Trackers by Mattel)
One of the biggest and admittedly funniest fiascos in paleontological history involved the legendary American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope and the famous plesiosaur Elasmosaurus platyurus. The latter’s fossil remains were first discovered in 1867 in the Pierre Shale Formation of Kansas and formally described by Cope in 1869.
Review: Eotyrannus (Beasts of the Mesozoic by Creative Beast Studio)
As the Neovenator pair appears on the scene, the nesting Iguanodons begin rising to their feet and bellowing aggressively. The carnivores pace back and forth rapidly in front of them, jaws snapping and sharp eyes scanning for any discernible weaknesses as they attempt to panic the big herbivores into stampeding.
Review: Ceratosuchops (CollectA)
For many years, the only described spinosaur from the United Kingdom was the famous baryonychine Baryonyx. That finally changed in 2021 with the announcement of two additional species: Riparovenator milnerae and Ceratosuchops inferdios. Both were discovered in the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight, both are estimated to have been around 8.5 metres in length, and both have been determined to be more closely related to Suchomimus than Baryonyx.
Review: Nanuqsaurus (CollectA)
Nanuqsaurus (“polar bear lizard”) is a poorly understood Alaskan tyrannosaurine that lived around 68 to 70 million years ago. Although it is presently known only from fragments of skull and an array of teeth, it recently received a major boost of publicity in 2022 by appearing in the first season of the fabulous Apple TV series Prehistoric Planet.
Review: Dearc (Deluxe by CollectA)
Discovered in the Lealt Shale Formation on the Isle of Skye in Scotland in 2017, Dearc sgiathanach (pronounced ‘jark ski-a-naw-ka’) was a Middle Jurassic rhamphorhynchine pterosaur, and quite a large one at that. Its precise size is uncertain, but the estimated wingspan is between 1.9 and 3.8 metres, which makes it the largest known aligerous animal of its time as well as one of the largest known rhamphorhynchids.