Mathison Museum of Natural History - Prehistoric Edition

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Bothriolepis sp.

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Dinotales Series 1
Year of Production: 2001
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 7.5 cm for a scale of 1:4-1:22.7 depending on the species
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Dinotales figures, some assembly is required. This sculpt, or a slight variation of it, was also used by Kaiyodo in 2015 for the Capsule Q Museum line; the 2015 version came with a base that included a placard with the animal's Latin and Japanese names.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Middle to Late Devonian, nearly worldwide
Habitat: Freshwater lakes and rivers, possibly brackish or coastal marine; benthic
Diet: Planktonic organisms, algae, detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Bothriolepis had gills, but members of the genus also possessed a pair of sacs that originated from the pharynx. Some researchers have suggested these structures may have been analogous to lungs, allowing the placoderm to breath air as well and possibly venture onto land at times.

[Blackdanter]

Species: †Bothriolepis sp.

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Dinotales Series 1
Year of Production: 2001
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 7.5 cm for a scale of 1:4-1:22.7 depending on the species
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Dinotales figures, some assembly is required. This sculpt, or a slight variation of it, was also used by Kaiyodo in 2015 for the Capsule Q Museum line; the 2015 version came with a base that included a placard with the animal's Latin and Japanese names.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Middle to Late Devonian, nearly worldwide
Habitat: Freshwater lakes and rivers, possibly brackish or coastal marine; benthic
Diet: Planktonic organisms, algae, detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Bothriolepis had gills, but members of the genus also possessed a pair of sacs that originated from the pharynx. Some researchers have suggested these structures may have been analogous to lungs, allowing the placoderm to breath air as well and possibly venture onto land at times.

The fish from those Kaiyodo sets are great. I wish they'd expanded on those some more.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Spinops sternbergorum Farke et al., 2011

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: PNSO
Series: Prehistoric Animal Models
Year of Production: 2019
Size/Scale: Raw figure length 15.0 cm. Using the base of the frill spikes as a metric (n=0.5 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:20
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: To my knowledge, there are only two figures of this species available, both by PNSO. In 2016, PNSO produced a miniature Spinops.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of present-day North America
Habitat: Open forests, seasonal floodplains
Diet: Vegetation; presumably browser on low-growing plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Spinops sternbregorum has an interesting paleontological history. Two partial skulls of the animal were found in 1916 and sent to the British Museum in London. The museum considered the remains too fragmentary for display and wrote back to Charles Sternberg, who found the fossils with his son, saying they were 'nothing but rubbish'. So, the material sat tucked away in the museum, overlooked and unprepared for over 90 years. It wasn't until the fossils were re-examined in the early 2000s that was it realized they represented a new genus of dinosaur, and in 2011 the species was formally described.

[Bread]

That Bothriolepis is very nice, I definitely prefer it over the 2015 rerelease.

Spinops is also very nice, do you happen to know if this is part of the first batch or did you happen to get this recently?

[bmathison1972]

That Bothriolepis is very nice, I definitely prefer it over the 2015 rerelease.

Spinops is also very nice, do you happen to know if this is part of the first batch or did you happen to get this recently?

I got it fairly recently, when Happy Hen Toys had it marked down quite a bit on one of their recent sales. Perhaps that's why it's less colorful (especially on the frill?!?); I was curious about that myself.

[Halichoeres]

Bothriolepis is the ideal fish. The pinnacle of evolution.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Otodus megalodon (Agassiz, 1835)
Common name(s): megalodon

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Prehistoric Life - Deluxe
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 29.0 cm for a scale of 1:49-1:69 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: The bottom jaw is articulated. We have no idea how long O. megalodon was. The scale above is calculated based on a body length of 14.2-20.0 meters. That maximum length is based on studies from 2021 and 2022. I am sure the scale will fluctuate as we/if we ever learn more about the actual size of the animal.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Early Miocene-Early Pliocene; worldwide in seas and oceans at the time
Habitat: Pelagic
Diet: Opportunistic, indiscriminate predator; prey probably included cetaceans, sea turtles, sirenians, seals, fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: There are four species currently assigned to the genus Otodus. The evolution of this clade is characterized by changes in the teeth, notably an increase in serrations, a widening of the crown, formation of a more triangular shape, and the disappearance of lateral cusps. This shift is believed to be related to a shift in predation, from a tear-grasping bite to a cutting bite that corresponds with a shift in prey from fish to cetaceans.

[Concavenator]

Species: †Otodus megalodon (Agassiz, 1835)
Common name(s): megalodon

Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon

Are you sure about that? 

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Otodus megalodon (Agassiz, 1835)
Common name(s): megalodon

Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon

Are you sure about that? 

I almost posted as: Uncommon (becoming more common)

Outside of Japan/China it's still a fairly rare find, but if this species came up in a couple years, it probably would be 'Common' LOL

[Halichoeres]

By the standards of prehistoric fish, it's extremely common, but if we were comparing it to a dinosaur or modern mammal of similar fame, I think it would be fair to call it uncommon!

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Giganotosaurus carolinii Coria & Salgado, 1995

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2017
Size/Scale: Raw figure length is approximately 37.0 cm. Using skull as a metric (n=5.5 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:27-1:32. Using femur as a metric (n=6.0 cm), scale comes to approximately 1:23-1:24 (see below).
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon (becoming more common)
Miscellaneous Notes: Carcharodontosaurids have been gaining momentum lately is the toy animal world (especially thanks to PNSO), Giganotosaurus included, with very nice recent renditions by Eofauna (2019) and PNSO (2023). Most of the time, however, I still favor Safari Ltd. when it comes to large bipedal theropods and I am not at all bothered by theropods on bases. The scales above are calculated based on estimates for the holotype specimen (MUCPv-Ch1). I find the skull easier to estimate a length for than the femur. Because the figure is essentially stretched out, using the estimated body length for the holotype (n=12-13 meters), the scale comes to approximately 1:32-1:35. Overall, the figure could probably be safely estimated at a scale of 1:32.

About the Organism:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of present-day South America
Habitat: Open woodlands and adjacent riparian areas
Diet: Apex predator of reptiles and other dinosaurs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Carcharodontosaurids have relatively conserved morphology as a group. A 2016 cladistic analysis places Giganotosaurus as a sister taxon to Mapusaurus, and together with Tyrannotitan form a clade (Giganotosaurini) that is the sister group to Carcharodontosaurus. Meraxes was described in 2022 and also believed to be in Giganotosaurini.



P.S. I got a new phone a couple days ago and I think I am already noticing a difference in quality of my pics. My pics were historically yellowed, and I thought it was from the lighting in my apartment, so I always adjusted the color balance in Photoshop before posting. But I haven't had to make any color adjustments the last couple days and things look sharper, which makes me wonder if it was the camera and not the lighting (?). For those who follow this thread daily on ATF or STS I am curious if you start to notice a difference (?).

[Halichoeres]

This figure has been a little forgotten because of a bunch of other versions of the genus soon after, but it's a solid rendition. I think the base is nicely done, too, warping less easily than some do.

[Gwangi]

Not sure that I would consider Giganotosaurus uncommon. 

This is a good figure but I'm still content with the Carnegie model I have!

[Concavenator]

Not sure that I would consider Giganotosaurus uncommon. 

I had the same thought!

[marisaura]

the safari giganotosaurus is still my favorite one on the market. the dynamism of the sculpt and the striking quality of the stripes make it look so imposing and outweigh the advantages of the more recent renditions for me.

[bmathison1972]

Not sure that I would consider Giganotosaurus uncommon. 

This is a good figure but I'm still content with the Carnegie model I have!

Oh! I meant to edit that to 'Uncommon (becoming more common)', but, among animal toys broadly, which is the metric I use, it isn't that common.

[SidB]

I've always liked the energy of this figure, as it aggressively strides forward. It makes a good companion piece with the old Carnegie Safari (the first serious attempt at this genus in the mass market), both having a bluish coloration.

[bmathison1972]

Another thing I forgot to mention, is the material of this Safari Giga seems 'different'. It almost feels like a resin figure and it appears delicate! Hope not LOL.

[Halichoeres]

Not sure that I would consider Giganotosaurus uncommon. 

This is a good figure but I'm still content with the Carnegie model I have!

Oh! I meant to edit that to 'Uncommon (becoming more common)', but, among animal toys broadly, which is the metric I use, it isn't that common.

Yeah, compared to most other [Mesozoic] dinosaurs it's quite common, but in the universe of all animal toys, it's outnumbered by all manner of filthy mammals!

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Vagaceratops irvinensis (Holmes et al., 2001)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2012
Size/Scale: Raw figure length approximately 15.5 cm. Using width of frill as a metric (n=3.8 cm), scale comes to 1:27-1:28 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The scale above is calculated based on metrics from the holotype (NMC 41357) and a second specimen (TMP 87.45.1) from the original description.

About the Organism:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of present-day Canada
Habitat: Open woodlands and surrounding riparian areas
Diet: Plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Vagaceratops irvinensis was initially described in the genus Chasmosaurus in 2001. In 2010, the genus Vagaceratops was described based on the following  autapomorphies: jugal notch on proximal squamosal broadly rounded and open; transverse parietal bar straight; epiparietals and epiparietosquamosal short, forming recurved flat laminae; and predentary length one half that of dentary. The same paper also described the new genus Kosmoceratops and a phylogenetic analysis placed Vagaceratops and Kosmoceratops as sister taxa and not close to Chasmosaurus. In 2015 another cladistic analysis also supported Vagaceratops and Kosmoceratops as sister taxa and basal within Chasmosaurinae.