Using Extant figures as Prehistoric species

[Thialfi]

Very cool move with the Mojo warthog, @Flaffy. I just ordered one myself to stand in as a Metridiochoerus. It's got me thinking about other adaptations/ substitutions that I could make.

Happy to hear that you're doing the same with the warthogs!

I was wondering if either of the Safari ltd, or the Schleich Plains Bisons could stand in for B. occidentalis; as I'll be using the new 2022 CollectA version as the modern species. Of course, a B. latifrons could reasonably be acheived by horn extensions (albiet a small specimen if using standard sized models); and B. antiquus with hump extensions.

1. Safari Wildlife Wonders Plains Bison: Attractive sculpt and large size. Probably too big to scale with the standard sized figures below?
2. Safari standard Plains Bison: More robust sculpt compared to the leaner CollectA
3. Schleich Plains Bison: Taller hump more true to the ancient Bison?
4. CollectA Plains Bison

Spoiler

[close]

I've been thinking if any camel model, be it Dromedary or Bactrian, would be suitable for substitution too. But I admit it is rather challenging as the Dromedary's hump position is rather distinct compared to fossil camels, and 99% of Bactrians on the market depict the domesticated species.
I'd really like to find a suituable substitution for C. knoblochi, the Pleistocene camel.

I would say either the Safari Plains Bison or the Schleich one - B. occidentalis had a relatively large hump compared to Bison Bison. Its horns were curved backwards, but some hot water and patience could take care of that.

Loving this thread by the way @Flaffy, something I have thought of quite often myself, great to see our options in a single thread! Tapirs apparently haven't changed much in looks since the Miocene, so adding a tapir to the ancient mammal mix is a pretty safe bet as well. I have this CollectA Baird's Tapir:

[Flaffy]

I would say either the Safari Plains Bison or the Schleich one - B. occidentalis had a relatively large hump compared to Bison Bison. Its horns were curved backwards, but some hot water and patience could take care of that.

Honestly modern Bison seem to be the outlyers in having relatively small humps
Still surprised how B. latifrons isn't really remembered as one of the iconic fauna of the Pleistocene. It's just such an impressive beast.

Loving this thread by the way @Flaffy, something I have thought of quite often myself, great to see our options in a single thread! Tapirs apparently haven't changed much in looks since the Miocene, so adding a tapir to the ancient mammal mix is a pretty safe bet as well. I have this CollectA Baird's Tapir:

*snip*

My pleasure! Wanted to consolidate my thoughts, as well as others in a single thread since I haven't really seen this topic discussed in detail.
I just thought, "Why wait aimlessly for the miniscule chance that a company will make an extinct species of an exant genera... when there are already plenty of models on the market that only require minimal edits to represent their extinct counterparts?"

And speaking of Tapirs, they're among my favourite animals; particularly the Malayan Tapir, to the point where I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't manage to track down the ever elusive retired Safari ltd figure. As you've said, the Tapir body plan stayed pretty consistent over their evolution. I'd reckon the 3 South American tapirs on the market can stand in for any extinct species within Tapirus, and maybe the Malayan could serve as T. augustus ("Megatapirus") as they have pretty similar skull morphologies iirc.

[Flaffy]

-duplicate post again sorry-

[Halichoeres]

The ultimate survivor, the tadpole shrimp:

This one is by Kaiyodo for the Animatales line, but there are others. Essentially identical to its relatives going back to the Triassic.

[Loon]

The Safari Ltd. Hyena could work as a slightly off cave hyena. It's a bit bulkier than most spotted hyena figures, though the limbs are a bit short.

[Flaffy]

The Safari Ltd. Hyena could work as a slightly off cave hyena. It's a bit bulkier than most spotted hyena figures, though the limbs are a bit short.

Good call on the Safari Hyena. Certainly looks more robust that other Hyenas on the market. Depending on size it could work well in my Eurasian Pleistocene / Ice Age display.

[Thialfi]

Honestly modern Bison seem to be the outlyers in having relatively small humps
Still surprised how B. latifrons isn't really remembered as one of the iconic fauna of the Pleistocene. It's just such an impressive beast.

Right?! It's huge, imposing and those horns are just beautiful. Should definitely be out there in the pantheon of Iconic Fauna.

My pleasure! Wanted to consolidate my thoughts, as well as others in a single thread since I haven't really seen this topic discussed in detail.
I just thought, "Why wait aimlessly for the miniscule chance that a company will make an extinct species of an exant genera... when there are already plenty of models on the market that only require minimal edits to represent their extinct counterparts?"

And speaking of Tapirs, they're among my favourite animals; particularly the Malayan Tapir, to the point where I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't manage to track down the ever elusive retired Safari ltd figure. As you've said, the Tapir body plan stayed pretty consistent over their evolution. I'd reckon the 3 South American tapirs on the market can stand in for any extinct species within Tapirus, and maybe the Malayan could serve as T. augustus ("Megatapirus") as they have pretty similar skull morphologies iirc.

Good to hear you agree on the addition of extant Tapirs in an extinct collection and I love the fact you're so fond of them. They are indeed very charming animals. Thanks on the heads up on T. augustus!

Another easy one is using a Komodo Dragon as Megalania. I took the Schleich one as it looks relatively generic. Perhaps a little small to fit into a 1:20 scale collection, but the true size of Megalania is unknown to this day. Seing estimates are between 3.5-7 meters the Schleich figure fits in alright at the lower estimate.



(I would actually prefer the Rebor GnG one, but its's just too big.)

[Flaffy]

Good to hear you agree on the addition of extant Tapirs in an extinct collection and I love the fact you're so fond of them. They are indeed very charming animals. Thanks on the heads up on T. augustus!

I'm just missing the "Kambomani Tapir" and the Mountain Tapir to complete my tapir collection. I can't beleive I missed Ana's wonderful little custom tapir model. Wish I can track one down someday...

Another easy one is using a Komodo Dragon as Megalania. I took the Schleich one as it looks relatively generic. Perhaps a little small to fit into a 1:20 scale collection, but the true size of Megalania is unknown to this day. Seing estimates are between 3.5-7 meters the Schleich figure fits in alright at the lower estimate.

I would probably try adding a tiny "crest" on the top of it's skull to properly represent V. priscis. Shouldn't be too difficult a job to do.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Honestly modern Bison seem to be the outlyers in having relatively small humps
Still surprised how B. latifrons isn't really remembered as one of the iconic fauna of the Pleistocene. It's just such an impressive beast.

Right?! It's huge, imposing and those horns are just beautiful. Should definitely be out there in the pantheon of Iconic Fauna.

Another easy one is using a Komodo Dragon as Megalania. I took the Schleich one as it looks relatively generic. Perhaps a little small to fit into a 1:20 scale collection, but the true size of Megalania is unknown to this day. Seing estimates are between 3.5-7 meters the Schleich figure fits in alright at the lower estimate.

A little off-topic, but I just reviewed a decent 3D printed B. latifrons (among others) if that interests you.
https://dinodadreviews.com/2022/11/06/paleosculpture-by-michael-eischen/

As a 1:40 aficionado myself, I find that the Komodo Dragon from the Safari Venomous Creatures Toob works just about perfectly for a Megalania.

[Thialfi]

Thanks @Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews), definitely appreciated!

[Leyster]

If I recall correctly, there should be differencies in incisors number, too.

Ooh! Is there a place where I can read up on the differences in incisor number?

Sorry for the late answer! I think still in Mazza, 1995.

[Thialfi]

Just remembered I am using a Papo Lynx as a stand in for the prehistoric Lynx issiodorensis, which I doubt will ever get a dedicated figure and most likely looked like a modern Lynx quite a lot.

[SidB]

That's innovative,@Thialfi.

[Flaffy]

Just remembered I am using a Papo Lynx as a stand in for the prehistoric Lynx issiodorensis, which I doubt will ever get a dedicated figure and most likely looked like a modern Lynx quite a lot.

Great idea! I'll add it to my list of figures that has potential for substitution.

A lot of modern species's "extinct giant" counterparts can quite easily be substituted with extant figures, especially those that have no major morphological/proportional deviations save for size.

One animal I'm really intersted in finding a representative of are the Ice Age Horses (e.g. E. lambei, E. scotti), and the Stilt-legged Horse Haringtonhippus. Problem is, most good horse figures on the market are incredibly specific to the domestic breed they're representing, so it's considerably harder to find one that can be interchangeably used as a wild horse. Would be great if someone more horse savvy than me can reccomend some good Equus models to add into my collection.





Of course, there's the Przewalski's Horse models on the market. Namely the CollectA, Safari and Schleich versions. But I was under the impression that Przewalski's Horses are quite distinct in their own right; and I have some minor nitpicks on all 3 models above:

CollectA: The proportions feels incredibly off, looks like it's suffering from short-spine syndrome.  The pose is very awkward too.


Safari: Undetailed, looks cartoonish, and a rather geometric & unnatural face sculpt.


Schleich: Too stocky and robust, looks more like a domestic draft-horse than the titiular wild(?) subspecies.

[Doyouthinkhesaurus Rex]

Yes! Love this thread! Something I have been thinking about a lot recently as well. A good place to start is checking the living fossils page on wikipedia! Although the list is not exhaustive (it doesn't have tapirs), it includes many animals who have been around for millions of years or resemble their extinct relatives in the fossil record.

I agree having tapirs in your collection is a great idea since they have been around for 33 million years, I myself have the Collecta models.

Some other mammals I have include the Przewalski wild horse, saiga antelope, bison, musk ox, and caribou.

The safari Sumatran rhino also makes a nice baby coelodonta to go with the Safari adult!

For fish the obvious choice is the coelacanth, but I also think it's worth getting the collecta sawfish to represent onchopristis. It scales very nicely with the 1/35 scale spinosaurs from various companies. I also have the safari sawfish but it's a little too big haha.

The upcoming goblin shark from collecta would also make a good Scapanorhynchus!

I also have the colorata ancient fishes box set which are modern species that resemble their ancient counterparts. There's a gar, arrowana, sturgeon, coelacanth, pirarucu, bichir, and lungfish!

The nautilus and horseshoe crab are also nice extant species to add!

[SidB]

Thanks, @Doyouthinkhesaurus Rex, for mentioning the "Living Fossils" page. I didn't know that it existed - I'll check it out.

[Thialfi]

Great post @Doyouthinkhesaurus Rex, thank you! Indeed, I use a Musk Ox, Nautilus and Horseshoe Crab as well in my collection!

[Leyster]

@Doyouthinkhesaurus Rex Onchopristis is not a sawfish, representing it as such is a popular error that keeps being perpetrated. It's actually closer to sea skates (Villalobos-Segura et al, 2021)

[Flaffy]

Some other mammals I have include the Przewalski wild horse, saiga antelope, bison, musk ox, and caribou.

Save for the Przewalski, I plan to get all of the others for my ice age display. I personally prefer CollectA's rendition of the Plains Bison and Musk ox over Safari's; conversely, Safari's Caribou has better musculature.

For fish the obvious choice is the coelacanth, but I also think it's worth getting the collecta sawfish to represent onchopristis. It scales very nicely with the 1/35 scale spinosaurs from various companies. I also have the safari sawfish but it's a little too big haha.

The upcoming goblin shark from collecta would also make a good Scapanorhynchus!

I also have the colorata ancient fishes box set which are modern species that resemble their ancient counterparts. There's a gar, arrowana, sturgeon, coelacanth, pirarucu, bichir, and lungfish!

The nautilus and horseshoe crab are also nice extant species to add!

Good call on the aquatics too. I assume a lot of prehistoric collectors also have these prehistoric fish and invertebrates in their collections already. FYI to all Papo's producing a Nautilis for 2023 so might be worth adding that into your collections too. Still puzzled as to why no one includes Paddlefish in the list of ancient fishes... And it's not like they're boring looking either.

Was very impressed by CollectA's 2021 Basking shark, so I have high hopes for the 2023 Goblin shark too. It can probably stand in for Mitsukurinid, especially for those who either missed out on the Toob Scapanorhynchus, or looking for something in a larger scale.

As for the Onchopristis, like L @Leyster said, no extant sawfish fits the bill for a proper Onchopristis. They most likely had incredibly different anatomy, along with modern sawfish lacking the distinctive dorsal & lateral spikes, along with barbed rostral teeth.

[Flaffy]

For those who are more adventurous and plant savvy, may I reccomend living tree ferns to complement any dioramas and displays?

They aren't too difficult to care for, and are spectacular plants, and very rewarding to grow both indoors and especially outdoors.

The most commonly available genera on the market are Dicksonia and Cyathea. The former having it's origins in the Early Cretaceous, with the latter stemming from the Late Jurassic. Though if you're not particularly fussy about schematics, they can just as easily represent earlier trunk-forming ferns of the Triassic and Permian.

A specimen (Dicksonia fibrosa) in my dorm room last year. Now moved outside.


The roots on the trunk of my larger foot tall specimen, also D. fibrosa.