PNSO : New for 2023

[Flaffy]

Looking forward to seeing how all the PNSO Carcharodontosaurs stack up to one another. I plan to get all 3 as I doubt there'll be better versions of them on the market, especially Mapusaurus, which undoubtedly gets overshadowed by Giganotosaurus.

I do not consider CollectA's Mapusaurus a good reconstruction, even on release. It's based on a highly outdated skeletal & reconstruction, and does not reflect what we do know about these megatheropods. The only aspect it has above PNSO's version is the rugose keratin, which I personally find more likely and interesting than PNSO's highly conservative approach.

[Stegotyranno420]

toys are evolving into resin kits...

[SRF]

Mila the Mapusaurus is already available at PNSO's stores on Amazon and AliExpress.

[Sim]

Thanks for the info and images @Faras!   I liked the photos that showed the Mapusaurus in blue and the one that showed its silhouette against the light, although I prefer the full silhouette pic that you posted.  Besides those though PNSO didn't initially share photos that showed the Mapusaurus clearly, which I found frustrating.  So I'm very happy with the images you shared!

I'm surprised that the Mapusaurus is longer than the Giganotosaurus, since Giga is estimated to be longer than Mapu.  Looking on the Theropod Database I saw that the largest specimen of Mapusaurus is around 12.6m while the holotype of Giganotosaurus is around 12.2m.  The larger Giganotosaurus dentary is from an individual estimated at 13.2m though.  I've calculated the scale of the PNSO Mapusaurus to be exactly 1:35 scale without taking into account the small curves of the figure.  The new PNSO Giganotosaurus on the other hand is around 1:38 scale by my calculations again without taking into account any curves.  If curves are taken into account Giga might end up being 1:35 and Mapu larger than 1:35.  I'm not sure why the PNSO Mapusaurus is larger than the 2023 PNSO Giganotosaurus in the end though...

[SRF]

The larger dentary of the other Giga specimen is just that, a dentary.
I think one can hardly estimate a total length of an animal from a peace of jaw bone alone. Multiple sources mention Mapusaurus to be slightly bigger than Giganotosaurus as well, based on the material we have now from these animals.

One interesting read I've found even mentions that Mapusaurus and Giganotosaurus could even be the same genus: http://psdinosaurs.blogspot.com/2020/07/were-giganotosaurus-and-mapusaurus-same_24.html?m=1

[Sim]

I've tried to take the curves into account for the PNSO 2023 Giganotosaurus and it comes out at around 1:35 scale.  @Renecito thanks for including good images of the 2023 PNSO figures in the first post of this thread, with measurements, it's very helpful!

Earlier I was thinking that it seems Giganotosaurus evolved into Meraxes which evoleved into Mapusaurus...  In which case why not consider them all species of Giganotosaurus?  If that had been done PNSO probably wouldn't have made so many nearly identical carcharodontosaurids.

As for estimating the size of an animal from fragmentary remains, it's done often in palaeontology, a well-known example being that the size of an adult Spinosaurus is estimated from just an upper jaw...

[Flaffy]

Earlier I was thinking that it seems Giganotosaurus evolved into Meraxes which evoleved into Mapusaurus...  In which case why not consider them all species of Giganotosaurus?  If that had been done PNSO probably wouldn't have made so many nearly identical carcharodontosaurids.

The temporal differences probably justifies splitting them into separate genus. Along with the anatomical differences ofc.

Moreover, anagenesis isn't a good basis for lumping per se, as shown in the example below. Another good example would be the proposed Styracosaurus --> Pachyrhinosaurus line.

[Sim]

I don't support classifying species in one genus if the species differ a lot, e.g. Styracosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus.  But Meraxes, Giganotosaurus and Mapusaurus are nearly identical and occur one after the other in time.  The two Edmontosaurus species are separated in a similar amount of time, while actually having a gap between the two species without any known occurrence of Edmontosaurus in between.  Yet they are still classified in the same genus.

[Skorpio V.]

Taking an enthusiast with a budget's perspective, is there anything really stopping one from calling Mila a Giganotosaurus; ie. something really distinguishing this figure as a Mapusaurus in the same way the claw and the dip along the hip distinguishes PNSO's Meraxes as a Meraxes?

[Faras]

Mapusaurus in hand pics:

https://tieba.baidu.com/p/8324036929
https://tieba.baidu.com/p/8325169937

[RobinGoodfellow]

@Flaffy  : Please, stop using pictures from my Flickr Pro Account without authorization. Thank you.

Link to Flickr (copyright June 6 2018): https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140542@N03/42618861141/in/photolist-DD4P6F-27W5NAH-KN9sFh

Forum Rule (under Registration Agreement ): "... You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material.. "

_

[Leyster]

I'm surprised that the Mapusaurus is longer than the Giganotosaurus, since Giga is estimated to be longer than Mapu.  Looking on the Theropod Database I saw that the largest specimen of Mapusaurus is around 12.6m while the holotype of Giganotosaurus is around 12.2m.  The larger Giganotosaurus dentary is from an individual estimated at 13.2m though.  I've calculated the scale of the PNSO Mapusaurus to be exactly 1:35 scale without taking into account the small curves of the figure.  The new PNSO Giganotosaurus on the other hand is around 1:38 scale by my calculations again without taking into account any curves.  If curves are taken into account Giga might end up being 1:35 and Mapu larger than 1:35.  I'm not sure why the PNSO Mapusaurus is larger than the 2023 PNSO Giganotosaurus in the end though...

You cannot reliable scale a specimen from an isolated dentary, for at least three reasons:
1) It might as well belong to a specimen with different proportions, since animals are not isometrical copies
2) Said dentary is 8% longer but 2% thicker... so what measure do you consider?
3) The dentaries aren't even comparable (alveoli count don't match).
So the only reliable (more or less) extimations from Giganotosaurus are those for the holotype.

ALso the whole lumping/splitting thing is an exercise in tedium, since the only real "unit" in nature is the species (and it's not that easy, think ring species) and genus, family, order etc are only "drawers" created by men from a time when he tought that nature was immutable since created by God. I personally think that, If we really cannot leave behind the Linnean system, all extinct species should be in monotypic genuses (which would solve the "nooo this is a species of genus X!" "nooo it's its own genus!"), but that's only me.

[Flaffy]

@Flaffy  : Please, stop using pictures from my Flickr Pro Account without authorization. Thank you.

Link to Flickr (copyright June 6 2018): https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140542@N03/42618861141/in/photolist-DD4P6F-27W5NAH-KN9sFh

Forum Rule (under Registration Agreement ): "... You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material.. "

Very well, I have changed the image to not use yours. I'm guessing you don't want the rest of the forum to use your images in the future as well?

[RobinGoodfellow]

@Flaffy  : Please, stop using pictures from my Flickr Pro Account without authorization. Thank you.

Link to Flickr (copyright June 6 2018): https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140542@N03/42618861141/in/photolist-DD4P6F-27W5NAH-KN9sFh

Forum Rule (under Registration Agreement ): "... You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material.. "

Very well, I have changed the image to not use yours. I'm guessing you don't want the rest of the forum to use your images in the future as well?

I've always said "yes" to people asking me the authorization before using my pictures.

[Flaffy]

@Flaffy  : Please, stop using pictures from my Flickr Pro Account without authorization. Thank you.

Link to Flickr (copyright June 6 2018): https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140542@N03/42618861141/in/photolist-DD4P6F-27W5NAH-KN9sFh

Forum Rule (under Registration Agreement ): "... You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material.. "

Very well, I have changed the image to not use yours. I'm guessing you don't want the rest of the forum to use your images in the future as well?

I've always said "yes" to people asking me the authorization before using my pictures.

Noted, I apologise for using your pics without asking. Won't happen again

[Sim]

If PNSO can make three nearly identical large carcharodontosaurids in a row, including an update of Giganotosaurus, I wonder why they haven't made an updated 1:35 adult Spinosaurus?

[bmathison1972]

If PNSO can make three nearly identical large carcharodontosaurids in a row, including an update of Giganotosaurus, I wonder why they haven't made an updated 1:35 adult Spinosaurus?

Shhhhhh. We don't want to give them any ideas     

[SRF]

If PNSO can make three nearly identical large carcharodontosaurids in a row, including an update of Giganotosaurus, I wonder why they haven't made an updated 1:35 adult Spinosaurus?

Probably because it's safer to wait and see if our current understanding of it retains for a longer period of time.

[Quiversaurus]

What's making me particularly happy these few weeks is Haolongood also coming up with great models and species that PNSO hasn't done yet (Nasutoceratops, Ouranosaurus). Increases the chances of more high quality, accurate models of different species being made. Plus it keeps the wait between each release shorter, so there's more to look forward to~

Plus I hope it keeps PNSO on their toes and from falling into complacency (possibly)...

[ceratopsian]

Indeed.  It's given me my non-theropod fix to tide me over until PNSO turns their attention back to ornithischians!

What's making me particularly happy these few weeks is Haolongood also coming up with great models and species that PNSO hasn't done yet (Nasutoceratops, Ouranosaurus). Increases the chances of more high quality, accurate models of different species being made. Plus it keeps the wait between each release shorter, so there's more to look forward to~

Plus I hope it keeps PNSO on their toes and from falling into complacency (possibly)...