Mathison Museum of Natural History - Prehistoric Edition

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Diprotodon optatum Owen, 1838
Common name(s): giant wombat

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Southlands Replicas
Series/Collection: Australian Animals
Year of Production: 2018
Size/Scale: Height at shoulder approx. 8.7 cm for a scale of 1:18.4-1:20.7 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was retired in 2019 when Southlands Replicas folded after a short three-year run. Today's figure was based on a female specimen. In 2024, CollectA produced a male. In 2022, Mojö Fun reissued several Southlands Replicas models, but to my knowledge this was not one of them. Bootlegs of this figure exist, however (e.g., Atralo Service). Females were smaller than males, so the figure probably scales closer to the lower end of the range listed above.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Pleistocene of Australia
Habitat: Open woodlands, savanna, semi-arid plains
Diet: Plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: With a shoulder height of 160-180 cm and an estimated average weight of 2,786 kg, D. optatum is the largest known marsupial ever.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Brighstoneus simmondsi Lockwood et al., 2021

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series/Collection: Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2023
Size/Scale: Figure length approx. 14.5 cm. Using femur as a metric (n=2.2 cm) scale comes to approx. 1:32 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Not a lot to say about a recent rendition of a unique figure! The scale above was calculated based on the femur; I estimated the figure's femur at 2.2 cm and the femur of the holotype specimen is roughly 70 cm based on the scale bar in the publication. Please correct me if I am wrong :-)

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Early Cretaceous (Barremian) of present-day England
Habitat: Open semi-arid coniferous forests and adjacent alluvial plains
Diet: Plants; probably conifers, cycads, ferns
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Brighstoneus simmondsi was initially considered to be Iguanodon and then later Mantellisaurus in the 1980s until more of its remains were discovered and it was determined to be distinct from either.

[SidB]

I appreciate the effort that you  make to ascertain the scale on the various figures on this thread, B @bmathison1972 . Once again, you answered a long-standing question mark that hovered over this figure for me in this regard.

[bmathison1972]

I appreciate the effort that you  make to ascertain the scale on the various figures on this thread, B @bmathison1972 . Once again, you answered a long-standing question mark that hovered over this figure for me in this regard.

Happy to have been of help!

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Charniodiscus concentricus Ford, 1958

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series/Collection: NHK Miracle Planet
Year of Production: 2006
Size/Scale: Height (excl. base) approx. 3.7 cm for a scale of 1:6 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare to unique (see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: I place the Safari Ltd. Charniodiscus in the genus Arborea due to it lacking a fractal branching pattern. I am not sure if Charniodiscus has been made by other companies (e.g. Paleozoo). I had difficulty finding metrics to calculate scale. The scale above is calculated based on a height of 22 cm and it probably falls within a broader range.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Ediacaran; probably present in most seas and oceans at the time
Habitat: Marine, benthic
Diet: Presumably filter feeder of planktonic organisms in the water column
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: It has been hypothesized that Charniodiscus concentricus could have functioned biomechanically either erect in the water column like a frond on a stick (as usually depicted), or held in a recumbent position parallel to the seafloor, with its frond functioning to funnel water over and possibly between its branches.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Tlatolophus galorum Ramírez-Velasco et al., 2021

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Haolonggood
Series/Collection: 1:35 Science and Art Model
Year of Production: 2023
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 22.5 cm for a scale of 1:35.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare   
Miscellaneous Notes: Only formally described in 2021, it didn't take Haolonggood long to introduce the world to a model of this species! Like all Haolonggood figures, this Tlatolophus came in two colors, red (as shown here) and green. The only other figures of this species I could find are a pair by Ancestors but I am not entirely certain they were ever released?

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of present-day Mexico
Habitat: Semi-arid open woodlands and adjacent riparian areas
Diet: Plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: One of the most exciting things about Tlatolophus is that it was discovered with a nearly-complete skull, leaving us little doubt how the head of the animal may have likely looked!

[Concavenator]

The only other figures of this species I could find are a pair by Ancestors but I am not entirely certain they were ever released?

Yeah, they were released. I used to have it, and @TlatolophusJuanorum got it too. But worth noting that Ancestors' is a resin figure, so HLG's Tlatolophus is still the only PVC figure of the species currently available.

[bmathison1972]

The only other figures of this species I could find are a pair by Ancestors but I am not entirely certain they were ever released?

Yeah, they were released. I used to have it, and @TlatolophusJuanorum got it too. But worth noting that Ancestors' is a resin figure, so HLG's Tlatolophus is still the only PVC figure of the species currently available.

Thank you! I suspected they had been ordered, since someone on the dinotoycollector site indicated they had it, but when I did a Google search, everything that came up were preorder announcements on social media    Thanks again for the clarification!

[Libraraptor]

I am still a "regular" to this thread 

[bmathison1972]

I am still a "regular" to this thread 

Happy to hear :-)

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Deinotherium giganteum Kaup, 1829

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Mojö Fun
Series/Collection: Prehistoric
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: Height at shoulder approx. 11.0 cm for a scale of 1:33.0-1:36.4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: I believe this figure was reissued in 2018 with a slightly different paint job; I'm pretty sure mine represents the original 2013 version, even though it was purchased in late 2018 or 2019. Mojö Fun did not market this model at the species level. Generally, unless there is evidence to the contrary, I assume a prehistoric figure marketed at the genus level only represents the type species.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Middle Miocene to Early Pliocene of Europe
Habitat: Open woodlands
Diet: Plants; probably a browser of tree leaves
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Deinotherium is known for its short, backwards bending tusks. The tusks are not associated with sexual dimorphism, so it is believed their function is involved with feeding. Presumably a browser of leaves on high trees, the tusks may have been used for removing or pushing aside branches that would have obstructed feeding efforts.

[Halichoeres]

Does the umlaut on Mojö change how you pronounce it, and if so, how?

[bmathison1972]

Does the umlaut on Mojö change how you pronounce it, and if so, how?

Honestly, not sure. I say 'Mojo' like anyone in America would LOL

[Halichoeres]

Does the umlaut on Mojö change how you pronounce it, and if so, how?

Honestly, not sure. I say 'Mojo' like anyone in America would LOL

Yeah, I guess it's one of those purely decorative metal umlauts like Blue Öyster Cult!

[Libraraptor]

Does the umlaut on Mojö change how you pronounce it, and if so, how?

Honestly, not sure. I say 'Mojo' like anyone in America would LOL

Yeah, I guess it's one of those purely decorative metal umlauts like Blue Öyster Cult!

Or in "Motörhead" or "Mötley Crüe"

[crazy8wizard]

Does the umlaut on Mojö change how you pronounce it, and if so, how?

Mojooo

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Triceratops horridus Marsh, 1889

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series/Collection: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2018
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 23.0 cm for a scale of 1:35-1:39
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: One of the most common species of dinosaur produced, and possibly second to only Tyrannosaurus rex, there are endless examples of this genus available in the toy/figure market. Other nice versions available in a standard range since the production of today's include those by Creative Beast Studio (2020), PNSO (2021), Eofauna (2021), CollectA (2022), and Haolonggood (2024), among others I am sure I have missed.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) of present-day western North America
Habitat: Open forests, fern prairies, river deltas, coastal floodplains
Diet: Plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: There is been a lot of discussion of other ceratopsian dinosaurs being various growth stages of Triceratops. Torosaurus has been considered a full-sized adult Triceratops (although this theory is not widely accepted). The genera Nedoceratops and Ojoceratops might be juvenile stages of Triceratops. Lastly, the enigmatic Tatankaceratops might represent a juvenile or dwarf Triceratops, or possibly a Triceratops that suffered from some developmental disorder.



Clue for tomorrow's species:
This critter is believed to be a reservoir for Nipah virus.

[note: I have started adding clues for the daily post on ATF; those clues may not pertain to DTF]

[Trenchcoated Rebbachisaur]

Huh, are all those other figures also T.horridus? I could swear the PNSO one looks slightly more like T.prorsus to me... (don't own it currently)
Edit: Okay nevermind, it's also T.horridus. Eofauna and HLG represent the "Yoshi's Trike" but T.prorsus is apparently near universally shunned, rip

[bmathison1972]

Huh, are all those other figures also T.horridus? I could swear the PNSO one looks slightly more like T.prorsus to me... (don't own it currently)
Edit: Okay nevermind, it's also T.horridus. Eofauna and HLG represent the "Yoshi's Trike" but T.prorsus is apparently near universally shunned, rip

Not sure; that comment was on the genus as a whole, although I am sure some might represent a different species. I'll edit accordingly.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Machairoceratops cronusi Lund et al., 2016

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: PNSO
Series/Collection: Prehistoric Animal Models
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Figure approx. 17.0 cm long. Using frill height (exclusive of horns) as a metric (n=2.2 cm) scale comes to 1:22.3 based on the holotype specimen.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Not much to say about a recent figure of a relatively recently described taxon for which there are no other figures to compare.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Late Campanian) of present-day western North America (Laramidia)
Habitat: Open woodlands, riparian areas, seasonal floodplains
Diet: Plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Known only from a single specimen, M. cronusi is closely related to the morphologically-similar Diabloceratops eatoni, with which it shared its habitat. Diabloceratops itself is known only two specimens, one of which (UMNH VP 16704) may actually be Machairoceratops. With so little material known between the two taxa, they could also represent intraspecific variation of the same species!