Safari Ltd.: New for 2018

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Of this batch, I was consulted on the Anzu, Amargasaurus and Malawisaurus. It was an honour, as always. I didn't have any input on the scale or colouration of the models. One of these days I might ask Safari Ltd for permission to write an illustrated blog post about the process, I've been meaning to do so ever since I helped Doug with the Liopleurodon, years ago.

BTW, to answer a question from earlier in this thread, the Anzu was intentionally posed so that it is supported by one of its wings.

Once again, a wonderful lineup from Safari Ltd. We are being spoiled!

DR Admin, can you tel me why the Malawisaurus looks less like the Skeletal by Scott Hartman?

Perhaps Hartman's reconstruction has ramped up the angle of the neck a bit too much.  I think that there is a very valid school of thought that the angle of the neck should pretty much be an extension of the spine - if you lower the angle of the neck in Hartman's skeletal to achieve that angle, I think you'll find its pretty close to the Safari figure ....

Yeah, the pose makes it look different.

I once messaged Hartman directly with a question like this, and he said he considers brachiosaurs to essentially be proto-titanosaurs, hence why he reconstructs titanosaurs with such a highly angled neck compared to other artists.

[Concavenator]

The Triceratops, Malawisaurus etc are already available from Safari's website.I cannot wait to see that Triceratops in better pics😋😋

[Halichoeres]

As far as I can tell all the claims about synapsid skin come from a single 1968 paper on Estemmenosuchus by a Soviet paleontologist named Chudinov. Again, to the best of my knowledge, nobody has examined the remains in question and published on them since. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) The earliest synapsids we have impressions for seem to show scales, more analogous to those on crocodiles than those on lizards (the latter are pretty highly derived). It's worth remembering that tetrapods, and probably also amniotes, are primitively scaly, so anything other than scales represents an innovation (even today's amphibians had scaly-ish ancestors).

As for Dimetrodon, it sits squarely between these primitive scaly synapsids and Estemmenosuchus. I'm not sure why everyone accepts Chudinov's interpretation uncritically when, in the same paper, he claims that it is related to Ichthyosaurus based on its skin impressions (NB: I too have been guilty of parroting it). The remains are, moreover, only from the head. After reading the paper, I think the description therein is definitely consistent with glandular skin, but it's hard to completely rule out other integuments. For Dimetrodon, I tend to agree that the most parsimonious interpretation is scales of some sort, until and unless A) the Estemmenosuchus material is re-examined in a phylogenetically explicit way or B) we find additional skin impressions of Permian stem-mammals.

My two cents, with the caveat that I'm no expert on synapsids.

Thanks for all this information. I guess I was wrong in a lot of places with my other post on this matter. I was not aware that there were synapsids found with skin impressions, and scales to boot. Is there anything I can read up on or check out these impressions found? I'm really curious now. In any case I suppose I'll accept the scaly Dimetrodon more then I did before.

Here is a link to a description of a trackway that consists of footprints similar to that of a sphenacodontid as well as traces that look like a scaled belly. These trackways are part of the evidence for a semi-upright stance in animals like Dimetrodon, and they show what sure as hell look like scales. I actually should modify my earlier claim to say that Dimetrodon is much, much closer, phylogenetically, to the probable maker of this trackway than to Estemmenosuchus.

Also of interest: varanopids had scutes that appear to be formed by an intramembranous ossification (scroll to section 5): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2288685/

[Concavenator]

Just checked,seems that only the Triceratops is available.Sorry 

[Faelrin]

Thanks for the links Halichoeres. Too bad the first one is behind a paywall though. Still interesting info nonetheless.

[Irritation]

does anyone have any idea how big the Macrauchenia would be? i hope it'd be as big (or almost the same size as the very nice Schleich classic figure of this mammal)

The page on Safari's website says that it's 5 inches long and 3 and a half inches tall.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Man, I can't get over how good that Malawisaurus looks! I love that color scheme. And 1:40 scale, too!!!

[Doug Watson]

Thanks for the links Halichoeres. Too bad the first one is behind a paywall though. Still interesting info nonetheless.

You can access it here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233780818_A_Supposed_Eupelycosaur_Body_Impression_from_the_Early_Permian_of_the_Intra-Sudetic_Basin_Poland

I actually referred to this paper in my correspondence with Dr. Robert Reisz on Dimetrodon.

[Bokisaurus]

The latest batch from Safari Sorry fino fans, mostly mammals this time. Hopefully the beautiful Regaliceratops will make up for the lack of dinosaurs tis round. It is truly a beautiful figure, well all of them are!


The new kids joins the first batch

You can check out the comparison thread for more pics with other figures, Cheers!

[Loon]

That brototherium is gorgeous, so much more naturalistic than the mojo figure.

[Faelrin]

Thanks for the links Halichoeres. Too bad the first one is behind a paywall though. Still interesting info nonetheless.

You can access it here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233780818_A_Supposed_Eupelycosaur_Body_Impression_from_the_Early_Permian_of_the_Intra-Sudetic_Basin_Poland

I actually referred to this paper in my correspondence with Dr. Robert Reisz on Dimetrodon.

Thank you. That is actually some interesting stuff there. I have to wonder when the scales became what us mammals have now. In any case this means that your new Dimetrodon having scales is not a fault then. You certainly did your research, where as I was just going off what I heard and thought was correct. It's obvious now I was wrong in that regard.

Also thanks Bokisaurus for those wonderful pictures. That Regaliceratops is really beautiful. I can't wait to see it alongside the new Triceratops as well (or even better, have them both in hand). The various mammals look much better in your pics then in Safari's official ones. I do like that Sumatran rhino more then I thought I would. It's nice to see a figure of that animal considering it might have ties to the prehistoric Woolly Rhino, and in turn it might make for a good placeholder for a Woolly Rhino until Safari LTD has one (the Papo one is okay, but it could be better still).

[ceratopsian]

I think that Safari should employ Bokisaurus for their official shots!  Seriously, the Regaliceratops looks particularly imposing in the front head shot.  I'm looking forward to the new beasts making it across the Atlantic.

[Faelrin]

So going off a comment on the Safari LTD facebook page, the most recent batch of figures revealed on the website are the last of the 2018 releases. I think this is a pretty good followup from the 2017 releases. I guess this means the Anzu is the only theropod for this year, but 2017's lineup was pretty theropod heavy, and honestly it would be pretty hard to top that Feathered Tyrannosaurus and Giganotosaurus so soon. It is nice to see so many mammals again, and herbivores in the spotlight for once. Hopefully we'll get to see a new Allosaurus and Stegosaurus in 2019's lineup, among others, since most of the iconic Cretaceous crew have been made or remade now.

[suspsy]

I'm not sure if Doug would be up for this, given his clearly stated preference for animals known from ample fossil remains, but I'd sure love to see him do a Gigantopithecus.

[Shonisaurus]

I would like the gigantophitecus.

Although I am not very fascinated by human evolution, if any company risks making figures of ancestors of the human being, I would like them to be realistic and without puritanisms, in the end, humans are animals and figures should be naked figures or with clothing realistic according to the latest discoveries.

I am not amused by figures of ancestors of the human being or prehistoric man based on series B films that are somewhat prudish.

On the other hand, changing the subject, the Sumatran rhinoceros is a beauty, it is a figure that is in my buying expectations next to the babirusa.

[Dromaenychus]

Anyone still thinking Triceratops is as big as the other ceratopsians, check this out
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbmdOuYBgQO/

[Jose S.M.]

Oh that's great! It will be perfect against the Tyrannosaurus.

[Nanuqsaurus]

Anyone still thinking Triceratops is as big as the other ceratopsians, check this out
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbmdOuYBgQO/

Ah that's good, it'll be the centerpiece of my ceratopsian collection!

[Faelrin]

That pic is so cool. I love how much more massive that Triceratops is. It pretty much was the king of ceratopsians after all.

[suspsy]

The undisputed leader of the Safari ceratopsians has finally arrived.

That is, unless Doug decides to do an Eotriceratops next year!