Review and photos by Bokisaurus Tyrannosaurus rex is without a doubt the most famous dinosaur of all time. He is also one of the biggest, and for a while the largest predatory theropod found to-date.He has held that distinction for decades and still do so to some extent today. Throughout the succeeding decades, there has …
Who here loves basal sauropterygians!? The Sauropterygia is a group of marine reptiles that include the well-known plesiosaurs and several other smaller-bodied groups, including nothosaurs and placodonts, which tend to receive far less attention. This is especially the case in toy form, which is unjust because these are fascinatingly weird creatures, well-deserving of a figure …
The name Guidraco means “malicious dragon,” and looking at its head with that tall crest and mouth bristling with dozens of long, pointed teeth, it’s definitely an appropriate name for this Chinese anhanguerid. Although a relatively obscure pterosaur, it’s pretty famous here on the Dinosaur Toy Blog thanks to CollectA’s colossal 2015 toy. And here …
270 million years before orcas, 250 million years before megalodon sharks, 170 million years before even the mosasaurs, the largest macropredators in the ocean were probably eugeneodontids, large fishes with bizarre tooth arrangements and cartilaginous skeletons. They’re often referred to as sharks, although their jaw mechanics and tooth morphology suggest that they were more closely …
Review and photos by Lanthanotus, edited by Suspsy Just recently, the Chinese company PNSO stirred the DinoToyBlog community with the release of their first dinosaur (and some not so “dinosaur”) figures, especially because they became available via Amazon, thereby lowering the costs and challenges of overseas deals by a good share. So I dared to …
In 2016 the PNSO (Peking Natural Science-Art Organization) line introduced large figures of often under-represented Chinese dinosaurs. The largest of the line is the obscure macronarian sauropod Huanghetitan, which lived in the Aptian age of the early Cretaceous (some time between 125 to 113 million years ago) of what is now China. Huanghetitan being known …
Common legends says, that the first remains of Iguanodon were discovered in the heaps of a road cut by the wife of an English country doctor. Now, this may be true or not, but the doctor, Gideon Mantell, described the species in 1825 on basis of just a few teeth. Not a lot to restore …
During the Late Cretaceous, the subcontinent of India was ruled not by tyrannosaurs, but abelisaurs such as Rajasaurus, Rahiolisaurus, and Indosuchus. The latter is thought to have been anywhere from 7 to 9.7 metres in length, and, unlike most other abelisaurs, appears to have had a relatively longer skull and larger arms. This little Indosuchus, …
Review and photos by Ravonium, edited by Suspsy Apart from the ever-famous Plesiosauria, the superorder Sauropterygia also contains a significant number of lesser-known taxa. Despite the diverse morphology of these reptiles, they are pretty rarely represented as toy figures. Thankfully, PNSO has made a (relatively speaking) sizeable number of these oddballs for their line of …
As a hungry allosaur appears from the brush, Sethi abandons his breakfast and adopts a fighting stance. The predator moves in quickly, but Sethi responds by swinging his great tail in a full arc. The swooshing sound and flashing spikes give the allosaur pause, but then it resumes its advance. Sethi swings his tail again …
A couple years ago I had the privilege of attending a presentation by paleontologist Dr. Scott Sampson at my local museum. The presentation was called “Dinosaurs of the Lost Continent” and concerned the recent discoveries being made in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. When the time came to discuss Kosmoceratops he proclaimed …
Kronosaurus could easily be called the comeback kid, having the distinction of being one of the first marine reptiles to ever be featured in toy form way back in the Marx sets only to be lost to obscurity for many decades after, then just recently came roaring back into the spotlight.Having fought (or swam) its …
Within the last few years, the ornithopod group of dinosaurs has seen a renaissance after being neglected for a long time. It wasn’t always the case, in fact some of the first dinosaur toy figures were from this group. But despite having had early fame, the group would soon be relegated to the sideline as …
When we think of ceratopsians, we usually envision famous genera such as spiky Styracosaurus, burly Pachyrhinosaurus, or, of course, the numero uno itself, Triceratops. But one of the most important ceratopsians of them all is the humble Liaoceratops. Hailing from the Liaoning Province of China and growing to no bigger than an average dog, it …
Sauropods are well known group of dinosaurs for good reasons: they are the largest land animals to roam the planet and their long necks and tails make them easily recognizable. But not all sauropods are created equal, some are small and don’t have the long necks that have defined the group. The sauropod family known …