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Microraptor is a relatively recent discovery, but it has quickly become very popular with dinosaur enthusiasts. And why not? It’s one of the best known dromaeosaurs, with a whopping 300 or so fossil specimens spread out globally in various museums.
Classification: Bird
Review: New Zealand Giant Eagle/Hieraaetus (Lost Kingdoms Series A by Yowie)
4.2 (5 votes)
When a species goes extinct, you take out one piece of the food web, affecting everything above and below it. When the Moa went extinct, so too did it’s main predator, the largest eagle to ever have existed, Haast’s eagle, Hieraaetus. Once it flew through the forests of New Zealand, preying on the Moa, grabbing their pelvis and slashing their neck with their sharp talons, which gave them their initial (and cooler sounding) scientific name of Harpagornis.
Review: Paradise Parrot (Forgotten Friends Series A by Yowie)
4 (6 votes)
Australia is home to numerous species of parrot, from the Gallah to the sulpur-crested Cockatoo. Many are now quite rare as a result of humanity, but most are now protected and hopefully will recover. Sadly, this isn’t the case for all of them, as one species no longer exists among them, the Paradise Parrot.
Review: Passenger Pigeon (Forgotten Friends Series A by Yowie)
4.3 (8 votes)
It is always tragic when humans in avertedly cause an animal to become extinct, whether because we didn’t know how limited the population was, destroying habitats or releasing animals that the ecosystem isn’t prepared for. What is intolerable, however, is when a species is rare and humans actively wipe the majority out.
Review: Phorusrhacos (X-Plus)
5 (5 votes)
After the death of the non-avian dinosaurs some of the remaining descendants tried to re-claim their former glory and put mammals back in their place. These of course were the terror birds or Phorusrhacidae which carried on the legacy of Tyrannosaurus and its kin between 62-2 million years ago.
Review: Prehistoric Animal Set (The Ark by Joy City)
4.2 (6 votes)
Every now and again, something rather interesting pops up that you wouldn’t expect to be as good as you’d think. The toy sets you would see at supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl, often seen as cheap item makers, having something worth getting. Here, we examine the Joy City line on prehistoric animals, a counterpoint to there Dinosaur wave, which seems more typical chinasaur.
Review: Prehistoric Animals (Panini, review part 2)
4.3 (10 votes)
In part 1 of this review we looked at 12 dinosaur toys (and one pterosaur) from Panini’s Prehistoric Animals line. In part 2 we pick up where we left off to complete the full set of 24 toys.
Figure numbers 13 to 15 are a trio of marine reptiles, and their dark blue colour works very well for aquatic animals.
Review: Prehistoric Mammals Tube (Collecta)
4.2 (17 votes)
Collecta has been bringing out prehistoric animal tubes over the last few years, and while some gave us some great new designs, others have just given us miniature versions of models they already have. This is a case of the latter, as they have released these small versions of their ancient mammals.
Review: Slender Bush Wren (Forgotten Friends Series A by Yowie)
3.8 (8 votes)
Songbirds are all around us today. So common, that it is hard to believe that any could become extinct. Of course, this is far from the case, as no species lasts forever. Here, we see the Bushwren, a near flightless species found in each of the major islands of New Zealand and many of the smaller islands.
Review: Titanis (Jurassic/Primal Clash!)
2.6 (7 votes)
The idea of humans riding on the backs of prehistoric creatures is certainly an appealing one. Indeed, the Dino Riders line of Tyco made this a success, by not only having people and aliens ride them, but use them in battle (note: I do not condone weaponizing animals in any way).
Review: Upland Moa (Forgotten Friends Series B by Yowie)
3 (3 votes)
When most people think of the Moa, it is likely they will only think about the giants of these birds, specifically the South Island Giant Moa. The reality is, however, that there were many Moa species across New Zealand, filling niches that in other parts of the world are filled by mammals.