HAOLONGGOOD - New For 2023

[Flaffy]

The Edmontonia is very cute. Despite the weird oral tissue (missing cheek plates?), the overall sculpt is done quite well. Herbivores are clearly HLG's strong suit.

Apparently the cheek plate is only known in E.rugosidens (from Carpenter, 1990. I couldn't actually find the reference in the text, but I'm litterally sleepwalking right now so I might have missed it).

An argument can be made for soft tissue like E. regalis's comb vs E. annectens, but I'd be very surprised if E. longiceps didn't have the same structure considering it's hard bone.

The presence of buccal plates on Panoplosaurus suggests that at least in derived nodosaurs of the late Cretaceous, these structure would've likely been present.




Dunno if this counts for anything, but Saurian felt comfortable enough to include buccal plates on their Denversaurus reconstruction.

[Duna]

@Duna Sorry to hear about the loss of that. I'd be pretty frustrated in your shoes. That's not cheap. Is there no way to start an investigation with your local postal service about it?

Oh, if it was my local post service it would have been no problem. The problem is Aliexpress hires a very cheap courier service in my case (this is the second time I lost a parcel from that courier)and it works horrible. I wasn't at home when they brought the package, and since that there hasn't been any possibilities to contact that agency, they were on holiday, no phone ...

[Faelrin]

@Duna Oh I see. So sorry that was the case. I hope you can at least get a refund with the seller if at all possible since the package was lost or stolen. I also hope you have better luck with whatever you get next time.

[Paleoclapas]

I think this Ampelosaurus figure arrives a bit too early. Eva's skeleton will be described very soon. Bernat Vila and colleagues are re-studying Ampelosaurus material from the Bellevue site (some of the bones attributed to Ampelosaurus belong to a second titanosaur genus). They presented the preliminary results of their comprehensive study this summer at the Annual Conference of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists. This revision also includes the description of the partially articulated skeleton of Eva which will allow sorting through the disarticulated material of this site.

There are two disarticulated skulls of Ibero-Armorican titanosaurs (France + Spain) which have not yet been described. Both date from the Lower Maastrichtian but they are not contemporary. That of Ampelosaurus Eva (found in 2001 and 2003) is from a 71.5 My level, preceding the Maastrichtian Dinosaur Turnover observed in this region of the world, while the specimen from El Nerets in Spain (found in 2013 and 2016) dates from 70.5 My ago and belongs to the post-turnover assemblage where new titanosaurs lineages cohabited with lambeosaurine hadrosaurs (which are unknown in older levels such those with Ampelosaurus). Interestingly, the shape of head of the Haolonggood Ampelosaurus is reminiscent of several reconstructions of the El Nerets titanosaur. This reconstruction is very different from the head of Ampelosaurus made in 2003 from the bones of Eva's skull, even if in both cases we can note the presence of an enlarged anteorbital fenestra as in Rapetosaurus. Perhaps the reconstruction of the disarticulated skull of Ampelosaurus which will be proposed in its future description will be closer to that of the El Nerets titanosaur. Although disarticulated, the skull of Eva is nearly complete, much more than what Wikipedia shows. In the Lettre de Dinosauria  published in 2002, it is mentioned that almost all the skull bones have been found. At the Espéraza dinosaur museum, only the most robust skull bones (premaxillae, maxillae, dentary, braincase) were exposed to the public (see photo wikipedia), fixed on a metal frame. The other bones of the skull were too fragile to be mounted on this structure. I visited this museum this summer and these skull bones are no longer on display, probably because they are under study by Vila et al. which suggests a publication very soon.

Head reconstruction of Ampelosaurus made in 2003 from the bones of Eva's skull :


Only one side of the skull is known from the El Nerets titanosaur but this made it possible to make a 3d reconstruction of the skull. What is actually known about skull is shown on this Llabuses Chardonnay wine label, the paleontological site being on the land next to the vineyards owned by the Vila Corona winery.


And here 3d reconstructed skull and head of the El Nerets titanosaur :
https://icra-art.cat/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/20210806_091436-1.jpg
https://i.etsystatic.com/19789300/r/il/d67165/3311464146/il_600x600.3311464146_ii63.jpg
[img]https://icra-art.cat/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/20210806_091818-e1650446768917.jpg[/url]

Regarding the osteoderms, it is not certain that those attributed to Ampelosaurus actually belong to this taxon, since Ampelosaurus is no longer the only titanosaur present at Bellevue. In any case, the arrangement of osteoderms chosen by Haolonggood is not that favored today by paleontologists for titanosaurs possessing bulb and root type osteoderms (saltasaurines like Saltasaurus have different, less extravagant osteoderms, made up of ossicles and scutes smaller in size, and Mendozasaurus has different osteoderms, tall and narrow).
There are at least three morphotypes of bulb and root osteoderms and they all appear to be present in a same individual. A morphotype with a convex bulb, the latter corresponding to a bony spine which must have been covered by a keratinous spike. A morphotype with a concave bulb which perhaps served as a support for a spine entirely made of keratin (without a bony spine inside, like rhino horn), and a morphotype with a flat bulb. In Ampelosaurus and other Ibero-Armorican titanosaurs it is suggested that osteoderms were arranged in two parasagittal rows, those with flat bulbs were placed on the back, those with bony spines would be positioned on the pelvis, and those with concave bulbs bearing a possible fully keratinized spine would be placed on the proximal half of the tail. Osteoderms of morphotype 3 often have large roots, so a spine made entirely of keratin (without a bony spine inside) would have made it possible to reduce the weight of such osteoderms positioned on the tail.

Images of Ibero-Armorican titanosaurs with osteoderms in two parasagittal rows by Oscar Sanisidro and Daniel Vidal
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3qXvIaCLDw/VD5SrE8gbBI/AAAAAAAAAvw/vM-lO5ZJWk8/s1600/titano.tif
https://www.deviantart.com/rick-raptor/art/CHAPI-Armored-Iberian-Titanosaur-475345485

[SidB]

@Duna Sorry to hear about the loss of that. I'd be pretty frustrated in your shoes. That's not cheap. Is there no way to start an investigation with your local postal service about it?

Oh, if it was my local post service it would have been no problem. The problem is Aliexpress hires a very cheap courier service in my case (this is the second time I lost a parcel from that courier)and it works horrible. I wasn't at home when they brought the package, and since that there hasn't been any possibilities to contact that agency, they were on holiday, no phone ...

I lost the PNSO acrocanthosaurus from aliexpress for exactly the same reason. No cure from them. I have never ordered from them again. I'd rather pay more for a sure carrier - the post office, so I use Lana on ebay.

[Faelrin]

P @Paleoclapas Wow thanks for providing all that in depth information about Ampelosaurus, etc here. Welcome to the forum as well.

[Sim]

Yes, thanks for the info!  I'm going to consider the Haolonggood Ampelosaurus a representation of the El Nerets titanosaurian given how well the skull matches.

[Leyster]

The Edmontonia is very cute. Despite the weird oral tissue (missing cheek plates?), the overall sculpt is done quite well. Herbivores are clearly HLG's strong suit.

Apparently the cheek plate is only known in E.rugosidens (from Carpenter, 1990. I couldn't actually find the reference in the text, but I'm litterally sleepwalking right now so I might have missed it).

An argument can be made for soft tissue like E. regalis's comb vs E. annectens, but I'd be very surprised if E. longiceps didn't have the same structure considering it's hard bone.

Not saying it shouldn't be present, expecially because it's not part of the armor like in Panoplosaurus and so it might have been lost due to taphonomy, but that may be the reason why it's not present in the model. Or it might be simply there and not expecially apparent. Not owning the model yet, I cannot check it myself.

[Sim]

Leyster, what do you mean when you say the cheek plate isn't part of the armour in Edmontonia rugosidens?  How is it different to that of Panoplosaurus?

[Flaffy]

Can't seem to stop fiddling with these two tanks. Would really like to see more armoured lads from Haolonggood, especially some basal ones like Scleidiosaurus (long overdue for a new figure, especially considering how well known it is).

[Sim]

Great photos Flaffy!   I too would like more thyreophorans from Haolonggood!  They are my favourite figures by them.  I really want a modern Scelidosaurus, but I fear it might be too small for Haolonggood to make since Kentrosaurus was.  At the top of my list for species I'd like from Haolonggood is Tuojiangosaurus.  For ankylosaurids, Scolosaurus or Euoplocephalus would be nice, or... Talarurus!  Haolonggood would just need to avoid basing a figure on the weird, inaccurate skeleton reconstructions of Talarurus.  Talarurus is the most interesting of the three ankylosaurids for me, there is no figure of it and it coexisted with some interesting dinosaurs that would also make great Haolonggood figures... the huge dromaeosaurid Achillobator, the robust ornithomimosaurian Garudimimus, the therizinosaurian with known skull Erlikosaurus or the gigantic therizinosaurian Segnosaurus!  The Bayan Shireh Formation is overlooked!

  (Image source)

[Samrukia]

Thought I'd share this...
After all these years, a possibly good feathered velociraptor NOT made by Safari LTD

this just accidentally came into my memory, does anybody want to speculate?

[Quiversaurus]

Thank you for the pictures, @Flaffy ! Always nice to have comparison images. These guys really are beautiful.

@Samrukia there was a bit of a discussion on this previously, from post #118 onwards. It's a good time to compare HLG's releases so far with this teaser image, though I agree with @Sim that the silhouettes don't reflect entirely what was/is on HLG's release timetable.

https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=10571.msg340754#msg340754

From the labelled image:
"Mamenchisaurus" > Apatosaurus
"Tuojiangosaurus" > Dacentrurus
"Allosaurus" > Allosaurus and/or Daspletosaurus
"Stegosaurus" > (hoping for S. ungulatus here...)
"Dilophosaurus" > teased
"Hadrosaur" > Ouranosaurus and/or Edmontosaurus (teased)?

[Samrukia]

Thank you for the pictures, @Flaffy ! Always nice to have comparison images. These guys really are beautiful.

@Samrukia there was a bit of a discussion on this previously, from post #118 onwards. It's a good time to compare HLG's releases so far with this teaser image, though I agree with @Sim that the silhouettes don't reflect entirely what was/is on HLG's release timetable.

https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=10571.msg340754#msg340754

From the labelled image:
"Mamenchisaurus" > Apatosaurus
"Tuojiangosaurus" > Dacentrurus
"Allosaurus" > Allosaurus and/or Daspletosaurus
"Stegosaurus" > (hoping for S. ungulatus here...)
"Dilophosaurus" > teased
"Hadrosaur" > Ouranosaurus and/or Edmontosaurus (teased)?

thanks, exactly what i wanted to say.
seems like that silhouette teaser was there for a reason, as we see now.

i feel pterosaur will come sooner or later

[ceratopsian]

An update on the size of the Ampelosaurus from Paleofiguras:

"Apparently the size of the figure is: 42cm Length × 14.4cm Height × 6cm Width and the 45.6cm Length × 7.6cm Width × 17.6cm Height, which appear in the promotional image, are actually the measurements of the package."

[Bread]

Thought I'd share this...
After all these years, a possibly good feathered velociraptor NOT made by Safari LTD

this just accidentally came into my memory, does anybody want to speculate?

V @vampiredesign said to ignore this poster.

[ceratopsian]

Indeed he did.  The poster seems to have been created to give a general formulaic idea of the breadth and diversity of their planned releases.

Thought I'd share this...
After all these years, a possibly good feathered velociraptor NOT made by Safari LTD

this just accidentally came into my memory, does anybody want to speculate?

V @vampiredesign said to ignore this poster.

[Bread]

Some in hand images of the Ampelosaurus green and orange variant. I am glad I went with this variant as I find the colors to be very vibrant.

[Flaffy]

Regarding the osteoderms, it is not certain that those attributed to Ampelosaurus actually belong to this taxon, since Ampelosaurus is no longer the only titanosaur present at Bellevue. In any case, the arrangement of osteoderms chosen by Haolonggood is not that favored today by paleontologists for titanosaurs possessing bulb and root type osteoderms (saltasaurines like Saltasaurus have different, less extravagant osteoderms, made up of ossicles and scutes smaller in size, and Mendozasaurus has different osteoderms, tall and narrow).
There are at least three morphotypes of bulb and root osteoderms and they all appear to be present in a same individual. A morphotype with a convex bulb, the latter corresponding to a bony spine which must have been covered by a keratinous spike. A morphotype with a concave bulb which perhaps served as a support for a spine entirely made of keratin (without a bony spine inside, like rhino horn), and a morphotype with a flat bulb. In Ampelosaurus and other Ibero-Armorican titanosaurs it is suggested that osteoderms were arranged in two parasagittal rows, those with flat bulbs were placed on the back, those with bony spines would be positioned on the pelvis, and those with concave bulbs bearing a possible fully keratinized spine would be placed on the proximal half of the tail. Osteoderms of morphotype 3 often have large roots, so a spine made entirely of keratin (without a bony spine inside) would have made it possible to reduce the weight of such osteoderms positioned on the tail.

Images of Ibero-Armorican titanosaurs with osteoderms in two parasagittal rows by Oscar Sanisidro and Daniel Vidal
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3qXvIaCLDw/VD5SrE8gbBI/AAAAAAAAAvw/vM-lO5ZJWk8/s1600/titano.tif
https://www.deviantart.com/rick-raptor/art/CHAPI-Armored-Iberian-Titanosaur-475345485

Thank you for the detailed analysis! I really hope "Eva" gets properly described soon! That unfortunately also means that the HLG figure will likely be inaccurate in a short period of time. Such is the reality of producing genera that aren't well studied (at the time of production).

Regarding the osteoderm arrangement, I agree it is not very convincing on the figure. Seems like other paleoartists like Knuppe also favour the parasagittal arrangement, which is based on fossil evidence unlike previous Ampelosaurus armour reconstructions.

[Quiversaurus]

Some in hand images of the Ampelosaurus green and orange variant. I am glad I went with this variant as I find the colors to be very vibrant.

I don't know much about the accuracy of this figure, but man are those colours gorgeous...