Ceoptera (meaning “mist wing”) is a genus of darwinopteran that lived in Scotland during the mid-Jurassic. It is notable in several respects. It’s the only pterosaur known from the Kilmaluag Formation, one of the only pterosaurs known from the middle Jurassic, the second described pterosaur from Scotland (Dearc is the first), and the most complete pterosaur found in the UK...
With the release of Jurassic World: Rebirth this past summer, Toy Monster released an entirely new product in their Captivz line: dioramas! Three of them were released, featuring a Captivz figurine and a buildable diorama depicting the scene in the movie that the animal was featured in. Diorama sets were made for the T. rex, Mosasaurus, and Quetzalcoatlus scenes. After...
When it comes to pterosaur toys the companies that make them have two options; make it in a flying pose or make it in a standing pose. Since kids play with them, most pterosaurs are in flying poses, but there have been many standing pterosaurs over the years going all the way back to Marx in the 1950’s with their...
When news of the discovery of Quetzalcoatlus first began breaking back in the late 1970s, it inspired a wave of paleoart depicting a rather bizarre and somewhat unnerving creature that ended up bearing very little resemblance to the mighty azhdarchid. The very first rendition appears to have been by Giovanni Caselli in 1975. A similar portrait was created by Bob Hersey in...
Takara Tomy is a millennial industry giant of toy production, whose products have probably found their way into everyone’s homes at least once. Naturally, my introduction to the brand came through their ANIA “Animal Adventure” line of palm-sized action figures featuring extant and extinct animal life. Beginning in the early 2010s, Tomy released the ANIA line primarily under small (AS)...
Before we begin the review, I would like to thank the generous folks over at ToyMonster, for sending me a large selection of Captivz figures to share with the blog. When Jurassic World: Dominion came out there was a lot of talk about the inaccuracies of its dinosaurs. Wrist-winged Pyroraptor this and tall-spined Giganotosaurus that. But, as usual, the pterosaur...
“HHHHRRRRRROOONNKKK!!! Never fear, fellow dinosaur lovers, that’s not a real megatheropod bellowing menacingly at you. No, it is actually I, Dr. Bellasaurus rex, along with my faithful and friendly companion, Tricerabeth!” “Already told you not to call me that, Doc. This is degrading enough as it is!” “Tut, tut, Beth, you did vehemently insist that you were worn and tired...
Collectors of extant animals are no doubt familiar with Yowie Group, who have been producing animal figurines for U.S. markets since 2014 and for Australia since 2017. Yowie Group is a relaunch of Cadbury Yowie, which produced toy animals and chocolate in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, before Cadbury and Yowie parted ways. There are quite a few Yowie...
I, Emperor Dinobot, am also fond of plush prehistoric fauna. When I read that Little Softs were offering a quirky, newly described Scottish rhamphorhynchid, I had to jump into it. It is very bittersweet for me to be writing this review, though, and I will explain so later. My dear Dearc came in a plastic baggie to avoid dirt (I...
Review and photos by Harper Bloomingdale, edited by Suspsy For those of you not into LEGO, LEGO Ideas is a website where users share their builds and, provided the goal of 10,000 supporters is achieved within a time frame, the build has a chance of getting put into production. The subject of this review is one of those lucky...
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, for my next magic tr…I mean 50th review, I will address Mattel’s strange choices when it comes to making figures based on my new favorite group of ancient reptiles: pterosauria. Ornithocheirus is a name that has been in paleo literature since the 1870’s, though the genus had become kind of a wastebasket taxon through the early 1900’s and onward....
