Using Extant figures as Prehistoric species

[Flaffy]

Some extinct/prehistoric species are so similar to their extant counterparts that pretty much no company will bother making a figure of.
So I was wondering, are there any good examples of where figures meant to depict extant animals can be substituted for an extinct one?

So far, I've been using Mojo's Warthog as a Metridiochoerus; as it has much better anatomy than the Geoworld version, and in a noticeably larger scale than most other extant mammals. (and using Schleich's smaller Warthog as its extant counterpart. The pair works very well IMO since the Mojo Warthog has far more impressive tusks similar to the extinct Giant warthog.)



This got me thinking; could I reasonably pass off the Papo Hippopotamous as H. gorgops, and CollectA as H. antiquus? I haven't been able to find much information on features that differenciates the two extinct species from the modern one save for size.

[dinofelid]

The Schleich Galapagos Tortoise can work as the prehistoric giant tortoise Megalochelys at around 1:30 scale, the model's shell is about 7.5 cm measured along the curve so 30 times that would be 2.25 meters, and the post here says that a modern reconstruction "found the curved carapace length to be 2.2 meters". This preprint also points to some fragmentary remains suggesting an individual with a shell 2.7 m long, in which case it could work around 1:35 too. The model could also work as a Titanochelon at around 1:30, though I'm not sure if the quoted length of 2 meters is the straight carapace length or the curved carapace length.

[Remko]

A cape buffalo could easily fill in for  Pelorovis, although you'll need to modify the horns.

Any giraffe figure can easily fill in for some extinct relatives with some small modifications, mainly to the shape of the ossicones.

And of course zebra's can be used to portray the Quagga, which was a subspecies of zebea after all.

[Lynx]

The Papo Nile Crocodile works as a good stand-in for most prehistoric crocodile-like creatures. I'm currently using it as a Deinosuchus until REBORs offer comes around.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Any giraffe figure can easily fill in for some extinct relatives with some small modifications, mainly to the shape of the ossicones.

Giraffes have such longer necks than most of their relatives, though. I feel like you'd do better with an Okapi.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Various Toob-sized animals can easily work as Island Dwarfs (or even Island Giants, in some rare cases). I'm trying to decide between several elephants to determine which might look best as a Paleoloxodon falconeri, for example.

I also use the orangutans from this Wild Republic set as Gigantopithecus, and the so-called "Komodo Dragons" from the same set actually look even more like Trilophosaurus than what they are actually labeled as.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

This got me thinking; could I reasonably pass off the Papo Hippopotamous as H. gorgops, and CollectA as H. antiquus? I haven't been able to find much information on features that differenciates the two extinct species from the modern one save for size.

It seems to me that the biggest difference is that the eyes of H. gorgops protruded a little further from the head than modern hippos, while in H. antiquus it was a little less. Funnily enough, at least based on the pictures you shared, it seems both those models do exactly that to some extent. 

[Flaffy]

Various Toob-sized animals can easily work as Island Dwarfs (or even Island Giants, in some rare cases). I'm trying to decide between several elephants to determine which might look best as a Paleoloxodon falconeri, for example.

May I propose the Kaiyodo Palaeoloxodon?

[Flaffy]

Any giraffe figure can easily fill in for some extinct relatives with some small modifications, mainly to the shape of the ossicones.

Giraffes have such longer necks than most of their relatives, though. I feel like you'd do better with an Okapi.

Maybe if I had some skill with the scalpel and clay... To which I don't unfortunately.
But for anyone particularly savvy at customisation, any Okapi figure would definitely work as a good base.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Various Toob-sized animals can easily work as Island Dwarfs (or even Island Giants, in some rare cases). I'm trying to decide between several elephants to determine which might look best as a Paleoloxodon falconeri, for example.

May I propose the Kaiyodo Palaeoloxodon?

That's nice! I don't think I'll bother hunting it down when I've already got a half-dozen mini elephants just laying around, though, lol.

[Flaffy]

A cape buffalo could easily fill in for  Pelorovis, although you'll need to modify the horns.

Pelorovis has very different skull and horn anatomy when compared to Cape Buffalos. Maybe you're thinking of "Pelorovis" antiquus? Which has now been reassigned to Syncerus, same genus as the modern bovid.

(Skulls of P. oldowayensis and S. antiquus respectively)

And of course zebra's can be used to portray the Quagga, which was a subspecies of zebea after all.

Still waiting on CollectA to repaint their amazing 2018 Plains Zebra into a Quagga. A literal goldmine there for sales.
And based on their history, CollectA is definitely not shy to repainting existing sculpts to represent different species. (See their "Malayan Tapir", which is a repainted Baird's Tapir ) Having an existing Plains Zebra sculpt is more than fitting for repainting.

[Flaffy]

This got me thinking; could I reasonably pass off the Papo Hippopotamous as H. gorgops, and CollectA as H. antiquus? I haven't been able to find much information on features that differenciates the two extinct species from the modern one save for size.

It seems to me that the biggest difference is that the eyes of H. gorgops protruded a little further from the head than modern hippos, while in H. antiquus it was a little less. Funnily enough, at least based on the pictures you shared, it seems both those models do exactly that to some extent. 

Great! Now I have an excuse to get both Hippos

[andrewsaurus rex]

i like this thread. 

I've used Safari's large Hippo figure as a 1/18 European Hippopotamus  H. Antiquus.  There are no physical differences I could research and I couldn't think of anyway to make it look different from a modern Hippo, other than its larger size, so I just plopped it on the shelf as is.

I've modified Safari's Okapi into one of the two Climacoceras species, closely related to Giraffes and once thought to be an ancestral Giraffe..  It's hard to find detailed info on Climacoceras, so there was a bit of guess work involved.

Not quite on topic but I've used models intended to be smaller scale as small, 1/18 scale animals (I only collect 1/18 scale animal figures).  Recently I modified Schleich's Spinosaurus into a 1/18 Irritator, complete with dead pterosaur in its mouth.  And I just used Schleich's Anhanguera modified into a female Pteranodon, to pair with the male Safari Pteranodon figure...the size difference was perfect.

\

[Remko]

A cape buffalo could easily fill in for  Pelorovis, although you'll need to modify the horns.

Pelorovis has very different skull and horn anatomy when compared to Cape Buffalos. Maybe you're thinking of "Pelorovis" antiquus? Which has now been reassigned to Syncerus, same genus as the modern bovid.

(Skulls of P. oldowayensis and S. antiquus respectively)

Ah, yes. Syncerus antiquus. That's the one I meant.

[Flaffy]

I've used Safari's large Hippo figure as a 1/18 European Hippopotamus  H. Antiquus.  There are no physical differences I could research and I couldn't think of anyway to make it look different from a modern Hippo, other than its larger size, so I just plopped it on the shelf as is.

Oooo, I've also been eyeing the Wildlife Wonders large Hippopotamus. Do you happen to have any comparison pics of it with other extinct Pleistocene figures?

[SidB]

Very cool move with the Mojo warthog, @Flaffy. I just ordered one myself to stand in as a Metridiochoerus. It's got me thinking about other adaptations/ substitutions that I could make.

[Bread]

The Papo Nile Crocodile works as a good stand-in for most prehistoric crocodile-like creatures. I'm currently using it as a Deinosuchus until REBORs offer comes around.

To add, although a smaller figure, PNSO's Nile Crocodile is also treated the same for me.

Of course, Rebor's Deinosuchus is going to be a winner

[Leyster]

@Flaffy H. gorgops has more raised eyes than H. amphibius.

If I recall correctly, there should be differencies in incisors number, too.
Also it probably had a different behavior, and the threaten behaviour with lifted head we see in modern hippos was more costly to it due to different lever sistem in the skull.
See Mazza, 1995.

[Flaffy]

If I recall correctly, there should be differencies in incisors number, too.

Ooh! Is there a place where I can read up on the differences in incisor number?

[Flaffy]

Very cool move with the Mojo warthog, @Flaffy. I just ordered one myself to stand in as a Metridiochoerus. It's got me thinking about other adaptations/ substitutions that I could make.

Happy to hear that you're doing the same with the warthogs!

I was wondering if either of the Safari ltd, or the Schleich Plains Bisons could stand in for B. occidentalis; as I'll be using the new 2022 CollectA version as the modern species. Of course, a B. latifrons could reasonably be acheived by horn extensions (albiet a small specimen if using standard sized models); and B. antiquus with hump extensions.

1. Safari Wildlife Wonders Plains Bison: Attractive sculpt and large size. Probably too big to scale with the standard sized figures below?
2. Safari standard Plains Bison: More robust sculpt compared to the leaner CollectA
3. Schleich Plains Bison: Taller hump more true to the ancient Bison?
4. CollectA Plains Bison






I've been thinking if any camel model, be it Dromedary or Bactrian, would be suitable for substitution too. But I admit it is rather challenging as the Dromedary's hump position is rather distinct compared to fossil camels, and 99% of Bactrians on the market depict the domesticated species.
I'd really like to find a suituable substitution for C. knoblochi, the Pleistocene camel.