Dinosaur Expo 2017 Troodon figure

[postsaurischian]

The Dinosaur Expo 2017 is being held at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum in Japan and it will last until October, 15th.
                           The title is "Mystery Kept In The Hatching Of Dinosaurs" and it's mainly about Dinosaur eggs.

                             

                              There is one figure being sold only at the exhibition: A nestling Troodon by Kazunari Araki



                               It looks like a Favorite production. If you're able to read Japanese, see Araki's home page:
                                               http://dinomodel.cocolog-nifty.com/dinosaurs/2017/07/post-af54.html

                               I already tried to get it via mail, but the museum won't ship to anywhere, not even in Japan.
                          If someone is going there coincidentally, I would be very thankful if she or he could get one for me.

[Flaffy]

I always wonder why Japan companies just refuse to add primary feathers to their dromaeosaurids and troodontids.
Still a pretty figure, definitely worth getting.

[stargatedalek]

I always wonder why Japan companies just refuse to add primary feathers to their dromaeosaurids and troodontids.
Still a pretty figure, definitely worth getting.

I think it's moreso to do with them adding feathers in general before most Western or Chinese companies started adding them, so many of them are actually fairly old.

In this case however, that's just Kazunari Araki being his usual conservative self. His sculpting skills are top-notch, but his designs are frankly short of amazing.

[Patrx]

Augh! It's beautiful; precisely the sort of dinosaur model I'm always hoping to see more of ... but the lack of appropriate wing feathers kills it totally. 

[ceratopsian]

I saw some photos of it earlier, via Brett.  I loved it - until I saw its arms, which make it look like it's wearing a feather garment!  Such a shame, as I'm particularly fond of egg/hatchling scenes.

[Shonisaurus]

Unfortunately it is polyresin I prefer PVC

[Sim]

In addition to the incomplete wings, there is another common error in both the 2D artwork and the figure.  The little horns/crests in front of the eyes.  The small areas of laterally raised bone on that part of the skull didn't support horns/crests, they supported a fleshy brow that was present above the eye from the lacrimal to the postorbital, just like in extant birds.  It's shown and explained here: https://osmatar.deviantart.com/art/How-I-think-deinonychosaur-eye-sockets-work-488294744

This brow is known as the supraorbital membrane.  The artist that made the image linked to above says in the description, "This structure is found in most sauropsids, but for some reason has been widely ignored in modern dinosaur restorations."

I have to say, the troodontid 2D artwork and figure are still beautiful though.

[Patrx]

I never knew about that, Sim, thanks for pointing it out!

[Takama]

Too bad the species it represents has been renderd dubious.

[The Atroxious]

In addition to the incomplete wings, there is another common error in both the 2D artwork and the figure.  The little horns/crests in front of the eyes.  The small areas of laterally raised bone on that part of the skull didn't support horns/crests, they supported a fleshy brow that was present above the eye from the lacrimal to the postorbital, just like in extant birds.  It's shown and explained here: https://osmatar.deviantart.com/art/How-I-think-deinonychosaur-eye-sockets-work-488294744

This brow is known as the supraorbital membrane.  The artist that made the image linked to above says in the description, "This structure is found in most sauropsids, but for some reason has been widely ignored in modern dinosaur restorations."

I have to say, the troodontid 2D artwork and figure are still beautiful though.

This is something that has long bothered me about theropod reconstructions. If you compare their skulls to extant birds, it becomes obvious that the little protuberance is the supraorbital ridge, and should almost certainly be reconstructed like a little eyebrow. Restoring them as horn nubs just looks bizarre.

[Sim]

Here's a link to a WitmerLab video, which has a comment below it that briefly talks about the presence of the supraorbital membrane; the video also shows this feature on a theropod that had horns as well - Allosaurus: https://www.facebook.com/witmerlab/posts/10151553348318280  In Allosaurus, the little bone protuberance on the lacrimal that supports the fleshy brow is below and distinct from the horn.

Jamie Headden (Qilong) also confirmed that the lack of dorsal extension and texturing on this kind of protuberances supports them not being horns (er... strong language warning): https://comments.deviantart.com/1/488294744/3632327850

I agree with The Atroxious that reconstructing the brow-supporting protuberances as horns instead looks bizarre.  And that what these protuberances actually are becomes obvious when comparing the theropod skull to extant bird skulls, e.g. comparing the skull of Velociraptor to the skull of a bald eagle.  Additionally, in Austroraptor an even longer lateral lacrimal protuberance is preserved as can be seen in the image below.  The supraorbital bone structure with the longer protuberance on Austroraptor reminds me of what is seen on golden eagle skulls.

  (image source)

[Faelrin]

Am I correct in thinking this means that dromaeosaurids and troodontids should have "angry eyebrows" like eagles then? Not sure I'm quite understanding this.

I too am disappointed with the lack of primary feathers however, although I do like the nesting pose with nest. It's not a pose used for dinosaur models too often.

[ZoPteryx]

Pretty figure, despite its inaccuracies.

Am I correct in thinking this means that dromaeosaurids and troodontids should have "angry eyebrows" like eagles then? Not sure I'm quite understanding this.

Not necessarily, it depends on their size an placement.  For example, gulls have the same structures but lack "angry eyebrows".




The more important thing to remember is that these structures weren't horns.