The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[AcroSauroTaurus]

Papo Polacanthus. OK, I defended it initially, but the head is actually pretty weird. Apart from the ceratopsian-esque frill at the back, it sort of looks like a Panoplosaurus head, which would be fine given that the skull of Polacanthus isn't known. Despite the odd noggin, I think this figure is an improvement on the Toyway version that it replaced. Still, the Toyway was the best around for 18 years! The Papo is about 1:25.

That Polacanthus appears to be screaming, probably because of his head.

I'd interpreted it as reaching for a tasty leaf, but now I won't be able to see anything but screaming in horror.

So thats what the Baryonyx's pose is for...

[Ravonium]

Papo Polacanthus. OK, I defended it initially, but the head is actually pretty weird. Apart from the ceratopsian-esque frill at the back, it sort of looks like a Panoplosaurus head, which would be fine given that the skull of Polacanthus isn't known. Despite the odd noggin, I think this figure is an improvement on the Toyway version that it replaced. Still, the Toyway was the best around for 18 years! The Papo is about 1:25.

That Polacanthus appears to be screaming, probably because of his head.

I'd interpreted it as reaching for a tasty leaf, but now I won't be able to see anything but screaming in horror.

So thats what the Baryonyx's pose is for...

Yes it is.

[Halichoeres]

Aquatic bilaterians of the Mesozoic!

Even though I was for a while a strict chordate collector, I realized my bookshelf ecosystems looked woefully incomplete, so I've been packing in the protostomes lately, starting with arthropods. Now it's time for ammonites! At this point I think I have all the fleshed-out ammonites with at least a genus-level identification that are available.

There are almost enough ammonite figures available to construct a rudimentary stratigraphy of the Cretaceous (but it's not even close for other periods). CollectA's sea life tube will help a bit when it's released later this year, but we'd also need some inoceramid clams to fill in the gaps, because lots of important fossil localities were laid down under chemical conditions in which aragonite, the main component of ammonite shells, dissolved too quickly to leave a mold in the sediment. For example, the Western Interior Seaway has very little ammonite material, and most of what has been found is isolated aptychi (the flap-like parts usually reconstructed as partially covering the shell aperture), which are made of calcite.


Kaiyodo Douvilleiceras (Dinotales 4) from the Albian. It specifically looks like D. mammillatum, which I think means "having little breasts." I can only assume that's in reference to the knobbly protrusions along the ribs of the shell. D. inaequinodum looks similar but the knobbly bits are of uneven sizes, rather than uniform like these. About 1:3.


Tropaeum imperator, a very large ammonite known from the Albian. This figure looks more or less like a generic ammonite, but in life this was one of the earlier members of the Ancyloceratina (or heteromorphs) that unwound the planispiral shells into all sorts of weird shapes. It would have looked like the result of winding up a garden hose tightly, and then letting it go slightly slack. About 1:25.


Nicely to scale with the Safari Kronosaurus, an animal known from the same strata as Tropaeum.


Kaiyodo Nipponites mirabilis ([Japanese] National Museum of Science and Nature "Study Room" series), possibly the most insanely convoluted cephalopod of all time. Lived from the Cenomanian to the Coniacian. If you've ever watched a nautilus swim in a complex environment, they just look like the dumbest things on earth--colliding with completely avoidable obstacles left and right. Nipponites is even worse, being basically a floating porous cube, which strikes me as biomechanical nonsense. I want to know how the hell something like this lived. About 1:3, I think, but it was hard to estimate because I can't find a photograph of a specimen with a scale bar.


Kaiyodo Polyptychoceras (Dinotales 6), known from the Coniacian to Santonian. Only slightly less hydrodynamically ridiculous than Nipponites, this is a floating paper clip. I once scoffed at the idea of a Safari ammonite tube, but then I read about heteromorphs, and man, it's actually a pretty cool idea. But it turns out we're going to get them from CollectA later this year, instead. This one from Kaiyodo is about 1:4.


Kaiyodo Pachydiscus (Dinotales 1.2), one of the largest ever ammonites, which lived from the Santonian all the way through the Maastrichtian (maybe a data point in favor of Cope's Rule?). There's been some taxonomic confusion between the species of Pachydiscus and its close relative Parapuzosia. As the largest specimen of either, this one is about 1:55.


Some ammonites, straddling the Lower/Upper Cretaceous boundary. Douvilleiceras never saw the other two. Good thing they scale well together, because they aren't to scale with almost anything else in my collection (which is kind of a shame, because it would be so cool to use these to index the time periods of my marine reptiles).


CollectA Excalibosaurus, which is a pretty good genus name. They fixed the sclerotic ring problem from the Temnodontosaurus they released two years ago, and this presents the relatively frictionless profile more appropriate to an aquatic predator. Very nice addition by CollectA. About 1:45.


These ichthyosaurs are all roughly to the same scale, about 1:45-ish.

[AcroSauroTaurus]

Papo Polacanthus. OK, I defended it initially, but the head is actually pretty weird. Apart from the ceratopsian-esque frill at the back, it sort of looks like a Panoplosaurus head, which would be fine given that the skull of Polacanthus isn't known. Despite the odd noggin, I think this figure is an improvement on the Toyway version that it replaced. Still, the Toyway was the best around for 18 years! The Papo is about 1:25.

That Polacanthus appears to be screaming, probably because of his head.

I'd interpreted it as reaching for a tasty leaf, but now I won't be able to see anything but screaming in horror.

So thats what the Baryonyx's pose is for...

Yes, if your Baryonyx was a vegan (If you meant my interpretation then I'll change this post).

I meant the Polacanthus's "horrified" pose corresponds with the Baryonyx's.

[Ravonium]

Aquatic bilaterians of the Mesozoic!



Kaiyodo Nipponites mirabilis ([Japanese] National Museum of Science and Nature "Study Room" series), possibly the most insanely convoluted cephalopod of all time. Lived from the Cenomanian to the Coniacian. If you've ever watched a nautilus swim in a complex environment, they just look like the dumbest things on earth--colliding with completely avoidable obstacles left and right. Nipponites is even worse, being basically a floating porous cube, which strikes me as biomechanical nonsense. I want to know how the hell something like this lived. About 1:3, I think, but it was hard to estimate because I can't find a photograph of a specimen with a scale bar.

That probably has to be the third weirdest prehistoric creature I've seen (It is pretty hard to beat Tullimonstrum and Opabinia though).

I meant the Polacanthus's "horrified" pose corresponds with the Baryonyx's.

I've changed my original post to reflect this.

[Halichoeres]

Papo Polacanthus. OK, I defended it initially, but the head is actually pretty weird. Apart from the ceratopsian-esque frill at the back, it sort of looks like a Panoplosaurus head, which would be fine given that the skull of Polacanthus isn't known. Despite the odd noggin, I think this figure is an improvement on the Toyway version that it replaced. Still, the Toyway was the best around for 18 years! The Papo is about 1:25.

That Polacanthus appears to be screaming, probably because of his head.

I'd interpreted it as reaching for a tasty leaf, but now I won't be able to see anything but screaming in horror.

So thats what the Baryonyx's pose is for...

Yes, if your Baryonyx was a vegan (If you meant my interpretation then I'll change this post).

I meant the Polacanthus's "horrified" pose corresponds with the Baryonyx's.

The Bary does sort of give the impression that it just jumped out of the shadows to yell "BOO!" at someone.

That probably has to be the third weirdest prehistoric creature I've seen (It is pretty hard to beat Tullimonstrum and Opabinia though).

I have spent some time recently debating with a friend how something like this even makes it to adulthood, because it has to live at all these insane intermediate angles of shell coiling to even get to that point.

[Ravonium]

The Bary does sort of give the impression that it just jumped out of the shadows to yell "BOO!" at someone.

"As the Baryonyx fails to convince the Dinotoyforum that he is scary, he walks funnily and tries to scare the smaller predators, only to get bitten on the tail and fall down, since he is a tripod."

Moral: Never make your figures tripods and make them look like they're failing to scare someone.

I have spent some time recently debating with a friend how something like this even makes it to adulthood, because it has to live at all these insane intermediate angles of shell coiling to even get to that point.

The fact that the shell is so weird that there are debates between people who collect prehistoric models (who also happen to be biologists) and their friends just makes me wish we had time travel invented, so that I could get this creature out of it's misery.

[Halichoeres]

I have spent some time recently debating with a friend how something like this even makes it to adulthood, because it has to live at all these insane intermediate angles of shell coiling to even get to that point.

The fact that the shell is so weird that there are debates between people who collect prehistoric models (who also happen to be biologists) and their friends just makes me wish we had time travel invented, so that I could get this creature out of it's misery.

Among the crazier ideas: entwining itself among corals or other upright sessile organisms to establish itself as a filter feeder; having the entire structure embedded in a more hydrodynamic soft-tissue body, like a modern Spirula.


But maybe the hypothesis I like best (in terms of plausibility) is that they evolved in response to predators that had gotten good at extracting ammonites from spiral shells.

[Ravonium]

I have spent some time recently debating with a friend how something like this even makes it to adulthood, because it has to live at all these insane intermediate angles of shell coiling to even get to that point.

The fact that the shell is so weird that there are debates between people who collect prehistoric models (who also happen to be biologists) and their friends just makes me wish we had time travel invented, so that I could get this creature out of it's misery.

Among the crazier ideas: entwining itself among corals or other upright sessile organisms to establish itself as a filter feeder; having the entire structure embedded in a more hydrodynamic soft-tissue body, like a modern Spirula.


But maybe the hypothesis I like best (in terms of plausibility) is that they evolved in response to predators that had gotten good at extracting ammonites from spiral shells.

I agree, but, sadly, the other ones sound much more interesting.

PS: I searched up Spirula and it is probably one of the weirdest deep sea invertebrates I have read of. It actually has a light on top of that structure.



Now don't tell me that isn't weird.

[Sim]

It's nice to see photos of a Favorite Georama!  I really like the idea of the Favorite Georamas.  The Cretaceous forest and the Jurassic Sea Georamas look very good from the little I've seen of them.  I can't say I'm a fan of the other two Georamas though.

I'm reminded of the Beasts of the Mesozic accessory packs.  I'm getting three of them, and one reason I'm looking forward to them is because they have environments designed for prehistoric animal figures to use, even though the environment bases don't look very big.  There was another type of environment I would've liked in an accessory pack for the raptor series.  I also think it could have been really great if in addition to the accessory packs David made, he also made larger environment bases similar to the Favorite Georamas.  Maybe as the BotM line progresses, David will make these.  I hope so!

Are you displaying anything on your Favorite Georama?

Yeah, I really like it. The Jurassic Forest Georama has one interesting fan-like fern, but the trees are all just dead stumps. That's an ex-forest, not a forest. This is the only one I'm remotely willing to shell out $200 to get. The Jurassic Sea one does look nice, but it doesn't add any life (a small perched pterosaur? some fish in the water?), and I agree with Sean above that forcing the marine animals to surf is not ideal. It does work for pterosaurs, but not much else. I think a good marine diorama would have had the water line up top, if it had to have it at all, and featured sessile organisms like clams, corals, sponges, etc.

I'm looking forward to the environment packs from the BotM line, also. What sort of environment would you want a large version of?

My Georama has the figures in the photo on it for now. A pan-Mesozoic hodgepodge of sauropods, hadrosaurs, and theropods that are too small for my 1:40 shelf.

Hehe, yes, the Jurassic Forest Georama looks more like an ex-forest than a forest.


As for Beasts of the Mesozoic environment bases...

I think a larger desert environment could be nice.  It could maybe have part of a sand dune (with the rest of the dune being cut off by the edge of the base) which figures can be put on.  It could also have some interesting desert plants like maybe:
- the plant type with the many very long and thin green parts on the left in this Mononykus picture : https://jasonbrougham.com/species-reconstructions/mononykus-final-copywtmk/
- some other not very large plants like those seen in the "Djadochta Formation hadrosaur" picture here: http://csotonyi.com/galleries/mesozoic-era/cretaceous-period-4/
I'm interested in knowing what the plant I described from the first picture is.  It seems to be in the second picture too although reduced and drier, in the foreground on the right.  It looks like it could be a species of Ephedra.  The closest I've been able to find is Ephedra viridis.  If anyone can give any more info on what that plant in the first image could be, I'd appreciate it!

Another larger environment that I think could be very nice is a forest.  I think it would be good if it had at least two (living) trees positioned to give the impression this environment is among trees.  It could also be nice if at least one of the trees had at least one branch that figures can perch on.  Like how in the BotM Forest accessory pack, the Microraptor can perch on the log.

One other type of environment I think could be good as a larger BotM base is a shrubland.  It could have an interesting variety of plants.  Shrubland is also the fifth type of accessory pack environment that I mentioned I would've liked in my previous post.  I think this type of environment would work very well on an accessory pack base like the four existing ones.

[Halichoeres]

Now don't tell me that isn't weird.

You'll get no argument from me

It's nice to see photos of a Favorite Georama!  I really like the idea of the Favorite Georamas.  The Cretaceous forest and the Jurassic Sea Georamas look very good from the little I've seen of them.  I can't say I'm a fan of the other two Georamas though.

I'm reminded of the Beasts of the Mesozic accessory packs.  I'm getting three of them, and one reason I'm looking forward to them is because they have environments designed for prehistoric animal figures to use, even though the environment bases don't look very big.  There was another type of environment I would've liked in an accessory pack for the raptor series.  I also think it could have been really great if in addition to the accessory packs David made, he also made larger environment bases similar to the Favorite Georamas.  Maybe as the BotM line progresses, David will make these.  I hope so!

Are you displaying anything on your Favorite Georama?

Yeah, I really like it. The Jurassic Forest Georama has one interesting fan-like fern, but the trees are all just dead stumps. That's an ex-forest, not a forest. This is the only one I'm remotely willing to shell out $200 to get. The Jurassic Sea one does look nice, but it doesn't add any life (a small perched pterosaur? some fish in the water?), and I agree with Sean above that forcing the marine animals to surf is not ideal. It does work for pterosaurs, but not much else. I think a good marine diorama would have had the water line up top, if it had to have it at all, and featured sessile organisms like clams, corals, sponges, etc.

I'm looking forward to the environment packs from the BotM line, also. What sort of environment would you want a large version of?

My Georama has the figures in the photo on it for now. A pan-Mesozoic hodgepodge of sauropods, hadrosaurs, and theropods that are too small for my 1:40 shelf.

Hehe, yes, the Jurassic Forest Georama looks more like an ex-forest than a forest.


As for Beasts of the Mesozoic environment bases...

I think a larger desert environment could be nice.  It could maybe have part of a sand dune (with the rest of the dune being cut off by the edge of the base) which figures can be put on.  It could also have some interesting desert plants like maybe:
- the plant type with the many very long and thin green parts on the left in this Mononykus picture : https://jasonbrougham.com/species-reconstructions/mononykus-final-copywtmk/
- some other not very large plants like those seen in the "Djadochta Formation hadrosaur" picture here: http://csotonyi.com/galleries/mesozoic-era/cretaceous-period-4/
I'm interested in knowing what the plant I described from the first picture is.  It seems to be in the second picture too although reduced and drier, in the foreground on the right.  It looks like it could be a species of Ephedra.  The closest I've been able to find is Ephedra viridis.  If anyone can give any more info on what that plant in the first image could be, I'd appreciate it!

Another larger environment that I think could be very nice is a forest.  I think it would be good if it had at least two (living) trees positioned to give the impression this environment is among trees.  It could also be nice if at least one of the trees had at least one branch that figures can perch on.  Like how in the BotM Forest accessory pack, the Microraptor can perch on the log.

One other type of environment I think could be good as a larger BotM base is a shrubland.  It could have an interesting variety of plants.  Shrubland is also the fifth type of accessory pack environment that I mentioned I would've liked in my previous post.  I think this type of environment would work very well on an accessory pack base like the four existing ones.

Those are great ideas. I especially like the idea of having a spot to perch on the trees. And having at least two trees to convey the impression of the environment is also good--I've thought about buying a whole bunch of CollectA's plants, but the trouble is they would be obviously identical, and for the most part plants don't grow that way (though sure, some boreal forests in the right stage of succession look pretty monotonous). Maybe it's time for a playset revival. I mean, Schleich makes some, but I would like some that are a) chronologically coherent and b) reflect a habitat things actually lived in, rather than the last few seconds before a currently erupting volcano entombs everything. In particular, I'd want them to come with lots of age-plausible plants and maybe small animals that would otherwise be difficult to market on their own (on that score, I am in fact grateful to Schleich for my tiny Triassic flying fish).

I think you're right that that plant is some kind of Ephedra. There aren't any macrofossils known from the Mesozoic, but there are pollen grains assignable to probable relatives in the Permian, and diagnosable seeds in the Cretaceous (http://www.pnas.org/content/101/47/16571.long, open access for this country at least). I didn't know any of that before today, mind you. Out West where I grew up we call Ephedra "Mormon tea," so I'm dimly familiar with the plant, but I don't know enough to identify which species is in that Mononykus picture.

[stargatedalek]

I hope the offer isn't overstepping, but I've been wanting to work on some diorama bases similar to the Favorite Georama ones, and my main concern is having enough space to keep them afterwards.

If you have ideas for what you'd want feel free to PM me.

[Halichoeres]

I hope the offer isn't overstepping, but I've been wanting to work on some diorama bases similar to the Favorite Georama ones, and my main concern is having enough space to keep them afterwards.

If you have ideas for what you'd want feel free to PM me.

Sure, I'll get in touch.

[Sim]

Those are great ideas. I especially like the idea of having a spot to perch on the trees. And having at least two trees to convey the impression of the environment is also good--I've thought about buying a whole bunch of CollectA's plants, but the trouble is they would be obviously identical, and for the most part plants don't grow that way (though sure, some boreal forests in the right stage of succession look pretty monotonous). Maybe it's time for a playset revival. I mean, Schleich makes some, but I would like some that are a) chronologically coherent and b) reflect a habitat things actually lived in, rather than the last few seconds before a currently erupting volcano entombs everything. In particular, I'd want them to come with lots of age-plausible plants and maybe small animals that would otherwise be difficult to market on their own (on that score, I am in fact grateful to Schleich for my tiny Triassic flying fish).

I think you're right that that plant is some kind of Ephedra. There aren't any macrofossils known from the Mesozoic, but there are pollen grains assignable to probable relatives in the Permian, and diagnosable seeds in the Cretaceous (http://www.pnas.org/content/101/47/16571.long, open access for this country at least). I didn't know any of that before today, mind you. Out West where I grew up we call Ephedra "Mormon tea," so I'm dimly familiar with the plant, but I don't know enough to identify which species is in that Mononykus picture.

I'm glad you like the ideas!  And thanks for your thoughts regarding Ephedra and for the paper!  That paper was very helpful.  I had been wondering what was known, if anything, about Ephedra existing in prehistoric times.  I didn't know anything about Ephedra until I tried to find out what that plant in the Mononykus picture was, while making my previous post in this thread.  It took me quite a bit of searching to find a type of plant that looked like it, which was the Ephedra.

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Hey, Halichoeres,
First off, great collection!
But where do you get all the Deagostoni figures? I'm looking everywhere for the Hadrosaurus. Also, is the Klein Schleich Saichania really 1:40? How long is it? Thanks!

[Halichoeres]

Hey, Halichoeres,
First off, great collection!
But where do you get all the Deagostoni figures? I'm looking everywhere for the Hadrosaurus. Also, is the Klein Schleich Saichania really 1:40? How long is it? Thanks!

Why, thanks!

The small Saichania is about 1:45 if you go by overall length (it's 14.8 cm long measured along the spine), but because the tail is too short the rest of the body is more like 1:40. It's also the first Schleich Saichania that looks remotely like Saichania.

The older DeAgostini figures all came from trades with collectors in Argentina. I don't think I've never seen any of them on eBay. The newer, more cartoony ones show up now and again and are usually not too expensive.

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Thanks for the info, do you think there's a way to purchase it without the Giggy?
PS I also collect with similar parameter, purchasing the best of each genus, updating it through time.

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for the info, do you think there's a way to purchase it without the Giggy?
PS I also collect with similar parameter, purchasing the best of each genus, updating it through time.

It's how I keep myself from accumulating more figures than I can afford...

As for the Saichania, I bought it in the twin pack from Amazon, but I need not have done, as it turns out that Dejankins has them available individually:

http://www.dejankins.com/schleich-world-of-history/

It's item 41426-S

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Thanks for the info, do you think there's a way to purchase it without the Giggy?
PS I also collect with similar parameter, purchasing the best of each genus, updating it through time.

It's how I keep myself from accumulating more figures than I can afford...

As for the Saichania, I bought it in the twin pack from Amazon, but I need not have done, as it turns out that Dejankins has them available individually:

http://www.dejankins.com/schleich-world-of-history/

It's item 41426-S

Gee, thanks for all your help!

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for the info, do you think there's a way to purchase it without the Giggy?
PS I also collect with similar parameter, purchasing the best of each genus, updating it through time.

It's how I keep myself from accumulating more figures than I can afford...

As for the Saichania, I bought it in the twin pack from Amazon, but I need not have done, as it turns out that Dejankins has them available individually:

http://www.dejankins.com/schleich-world-of-history/

It's item 41426-S

Gee, thanks for all your help!

No problem at all!