Alternate Species for Figures

[Loon]

Would Archelon and other protostegids have looked very similar to the Leatherback? I know they had leatherback style shells. Skeletally, their fins generally look a lot shorter and rounded to me, but life reconstructions always seem to make them longer and more leatherback-like. What do you guys think? Would a leatherback make a good stand-in for a protostegid?

I did a review on the Favorite Archelon, so I have some knowledge about this. Leatherback sea turtles are no closer related to protosetgids than any other turtle, so it's not the best comparison.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Would Archelon and other protostegids have looked very similar to the Leatherback? I know they had leatherback style shells. Skeletally, their fins generally look a lot shorter and rounded to me, but life reconstructions always seem to make them longer and more leatherback-like. What do you guys think? Would a leatherback make a good stand-in for a protostegid?

I did a review on the Favorite Archelon, so I have some knowledge about this. Leatherback sea turtles are no closer related to protosetgids than any other turtle, so it's not the best comparison.

Thanks! Good to know.

I use the Kanna Citipati as a stand-in for Chirostenotes. I'm not super familiar with oviraptorids; does anyone know of a figure that might be closer to Chirostenotes?

Isn't Chirostenotes usually reconstructed with an Anzu-style crest? In which case you could use the Safari Ltd. model.

[Dinoguy2]

Would Archelon and other protostegids have looked very similar to the Leatherback? I know they had leatherback style shells. Skeletally, their fins generally look a lot shorter and rounded to me, but life reconstructions always seem to make them longer and more leatherback-like. What do you guys think? Would a leatherback make a good stand-in for a protostegid?

I did a review on the Favorite Archelon, so I have some knowledge about this. Leatherback sea turtles are no closer related to protosetgids than any other turtle, so it's not the best comparison.

Thanks! Good to know.

I use the Kanna Citipati as a stand-in for Chirostenotes. I'm not super familiar with oviraptorids; does anyone know of a figure that might be closer to Chirostenotes?

Isn't Chirostenotes usually reconstructed with an Anzu-style crest? In which case you could use the Safari Ltd. model.

Yes, Anzu would be a much better stand in as they are close relatives. In fact, the specimen currently named Anzu was called Chirostenotes for many years (parallel to the whole Citipati/Oviraptor thing, where pretty much every depiction of Oviraptor is actually Citipati). Caenagnathids like Chrio and Anzu seem to have looked a lot different than oviraptorids like Citipati in terms of overall skull shape.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

I recently acquired the Collecta Megalodon, and I made sure to buy the Collecta Minke and Beaked whales to give it some decent prey items! Both quite handily stand in for the numerous genera of small (by modern standards) beaked and cetothere whales that Megalodon would have preyed upon. (The Miocene also appears to have been a high point in the diversity of whale genera.) Now if only somebody would make a decent Livyatan... I could use my MBA Sperm Whale, but Livyatan is just too unique looking for that to be a decent substitute.

[Faelrin]

Does anyone here know if there's any extant squid or other cephalopod figures out there that could stand in for Tusoteuthis?

[Stegotyranno420]

Any figures besides that ugly collecta one that can be a good sized rajasaurus?

[stargatedalek]

Does anyone here know if there's any extant squid or other cephalopod figures out there that could stand in for Tusoteuthis?

Safari's Incredible Creatures reef squid should fit the role decently. Though Tusoteuthis was likely magnitudes more unusual in appearance, the proportions are probably close enough to act as a realistic stand-in.

[Faelrin]

Does anyone here know if there's any extant squid or other cephalopod figures out there that could stand in for Tusoteuthis?

Safari's Incredible Creatures reef squid should fit the role decently. Though Tusoteuthis was likely magnitudes more unusual in appearance, the proportions are probably close enough to act as a realistic stand-in.

Interesting that you mention that squid because I've been behind on getting that since it came out in 2017. Been on my wishlist, but I kept putting it off for their other releases. The big size of it probably helps too I imagine. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Does anyone here know if there's any extant squid or other cephalopod figures out there that could stand in for Tusoteuthis?

Safari's Incredible Creatures reef squid should fit the role decently. Though Tusoteuthis was likely magnitudes more unusual in appearance, the proportions are probably close enough to act as a realistic stand-in.

Interesting that you mention that squid because I've been behind on getting that since it came out in 2017. Been on my wishlist, but I kept putting it off for their other releases. The big size of it probably helps too I imagine. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I've been considering getting that same figure for that exact reason, haha! Great minds think alike. Yeah, as a potential relative of vampire squid, it should be chonkier than a Giant Squid, but since it was pelagic it should still be streamlined, so the Reef Squid seems like a close enough approximation as any.

Any figures besides that ugly collecta one that can be a good sized rajasaurus?

Not to my knowledge. Indian dinosaurs are very poorly represented in toy form. If you think Collecta's Rajasaurus looks ugly, I take it you haven't seen Schleich's Barapasaurus! 

[Stegotyranno420]

@Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews) honestly i'd take THAT over the rajasaurus

? @Stolpergeist well is just not my tastes, and its a very underrepresented dinosaur. I'd love papo to do one but they probally wont hear that name until they die, and if they do, well, you know what happens next, right? Its horribly deformed and limited edition with a terrible bland paint, or they pull a carno-Acro-spinosaurus move and its what i state"best figure on the market"

[Faelrin]

@Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews) ? @Stolpergeist Thanks for the additional feedback on this. I've also been wondering about the color scheme? I'm really not well versed in cephalopod anatomy stuff, despite my fascination with them (probably no surprise since I spend more of my time researching vertebrates instead), so I'm sure if the coloration if the smaller extant reef squid is fine or if would be better to have it repainted? Like would the dark red of the vampire octopus and giant squid be more fitting? What could of modifications could it use to make it more accurate?

Also right CollectA is probably the only one likely to put one out. They have a knack for doing obscure genera justice like no one else except Kaiyodo before them did.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Dark reds are most often characteristic of deep sea creatures. As a resident of the Western Interior Seaway, I'd say other colors are certainly reasonable. The deepest point of the WIS was 2,500-3,000 feet, and I believe the average depth was less than 1,000 feet. In the Dallas area where I live, the deepest point was only 800 feet, barely enough to cover the tallest skyscrapers in Downtown Dallas.

[Faelrin]

? @Stolpergeist I honestly had forgotten about those unfortunately, but I see what you mean with those.

@Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews) Thanks for the information about that.