Madagascar has always been an island of oddities. From giant lemurs to horned crocodiles, there are a lot of interesting species to see. The Mesozoic likewise has some interesting animals, such as the late Cretaceous Madagascan monster Majungasaurus, an Abelisaurid known for being cannibalistic.
Classification: Ceratosaur
Review: Majungasaurus (Vitae)
Review: Majungasaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
Sixty-six million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous, Madagascar had already been an island for about 20 million years. And just as today, the island would have boasted a unique assortment of organisms isolated from most of the outside world. Thanks to fossils preserved in the Maevarano Formation we know the region was home to Beelzebufo, the world’s largest known frog, the theropod Masiakasaurus with it’s strange, forward projecting teeth, the herbivorous crocodylomorph, Siamosuchus, and the 8-meter sauropod, Rapetosaurus.
Review: Masiakasaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd.)
Review: Micromachines dinosaurs (National Geographic Collection/ Micromachines)
Review: Mini Figures Collection (Battat)
The Battat line of 1:40 scale dinosaurs is so famous that it needs little introduction. Rightly so, as these figures are some of the best representation of dinosaurs in toy form. In fact, even after 20+ years, the line is still is considered one of the best.
Review: Mini-Dino Multi-Pack (“Battle Damage”)(Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom by Mattel)
Let me start out by saying that this pack of figures are obviously part of the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World toy franchise, and likewise, each figure is designed to be a representation of its silver screen counterpart. We all know that many of the prehistoric species featured in this franchise are not scientifically accurate.
Review: Rajasaurus (CollectA)
Many kings have been released in royal family of dinosaur toys, usually in the form of Tyrannosaurus Rex but, also in the form of Cryolophosaurus, which is jokingly nick named Elvisaurus, the king of the paleo rock and roll. In 2012 CollectA added to the royal family by releasing a prince into their collection.
Review: Rajasaurus (Jurassic World: Roar Strikers by Mattel)
Rajasaurus, whose name means “princely lizard,” belonged to Majungasaurinae, a subgroup of abelisaurs that ranged from Europe to South Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. Its remains were discovered in the Lameta Formation of Western India, which has been dated to the Maastrichian age (72.1 to 66 million years ago).
Review: Rugops (CollectA)
Over the last few years, toy companies have become more and more willing to be adventurous with their choice of species to be immortalized in plastic. CollectA is a great example of this, with one of the widest varieties of dinosaur and other prehistoric animal figures around.
Review: Rugops (Jurassic World: Ferocious Pack by Mattel)
Review and photos by PrimevalRaptor, edited by Suspsy
Since obtaining the Jurassic World license, Mattel has been pumping out a lot of figures in their toyline for the series, bringing a fresh wind into the dinosaur toy market especially over here in Germany where shelves usually are dominated by Schleich models.
Review: Saltriovenator (Deluxe by CollectA)
Review by Paleo-Nerd, photographs by RobinGoodfellow and Suspsy, edited by Suspsy
Even though CollectA has always released models of almost unknown dinosaurs or recently discovered ones, when Saltriovenator was revealed as a new release for 2020, the surprise for Italian paleo-nerds was huge. Not long after the description of the theropod by Dal Sasso, Maganuco, and Cau, the third Italian dinosaur species would have had its first toy replica!
Review: Skorpiovenator (Jurassic World: Dominion, Roar Strikers by Mattel)
Skorpiovenator is a genus of late Cretaceous abelisaurid known from the Huincul Formation in Argentina. It was described in 2008 and the genus name means “scorpion hunter” due to the abundance of scorpions dwelling around its dig site. The species name, bustingorryi, was given in honor of Manuel Bustingorry, whose farm the dig site was located on.