Safari Ltd - New for 2021

[Shonisaurus]

@Doug Watson Doug, did you make the three figures? I'm referring to the baryonyx, spinosaurus, and daspletosaurus.

[Doug Watson]

@Doug Watson Doug, did you make the three figures? I'm referring to the baryonyx, spinosaurus, and daspletosaurus.

Just the Baryonyx and Daspletosaurus

[suspsy]

Doug also sculpted the new zebra and the leopard. They look exquisite as well.

[Flaffy]

Strange how there aren't any reviews of the new Baryonyx. Was looking forward to see how much the actual figured differed from the promo shots.

[Bread]

Would really like one of the reviewers to compare the Spinosaurus to Safari's 2015 Carcharodontosaurus. Definitely a worthy comparison due to both therapods sharing an environment. Hopefully the figures are close in size.

[Doug Watson]

Not sure how I feel about the position of Baryonyx's left nostril either, can Mr. Watson comment on this?

Did Doug sculpt this Spinosaurus?

@Flaffy  A little more detail would of helped but if you mean it is too far forward ever since this paper came out I have placed the nostril opening forward of the actual bony opening as Witmer found in 45 extant species that he examined. I have noticed a lot of companies still put the opening to the rear of the skull nasal opening which is wrong. If you observe the fossil material of Baryonyx you can actually see a depression in the skull anterior to the nasal opening.

Nostril Position in Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates and Its Significance for Nasal Function
Lawrence M. Witmer 2001

No I did not sculpt the Spinosaurus

[bmathison1972]

Doug also sculpted the new zebra and the leopard. They look exquisite as well.

I love the leopard, and am planning on getting it and the Baryonyx (that's all for what's been revealed to date).

[Mattyonyx]

Not sure how I feel about the position of Baryonyx's left nostril either, can Mr. Watson comment on this?

Did Doug sculpt this Spinosaurus?

@Flaffy  A little more detail would of helped but if you mean it is too far forward ever since this paper came out I have placed the nostril opening forward of the actual bony opening as Witmer found in 45 extant species that he examined. I have noticed a lot of companies still put the opening to the rear of the skull nasal opening which is wrong. If you observe the fossil material of Baryonyx you can actually see a depression in the skull anterior to the nasal opening.

Nostril Position in Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates and Its Significance for Nasal Function
Lawrence M. Witmer 2001

No I did not sculpt the Spinosaurus

Great explanation, Master Watson, thank you as always!

[TethysaurusUK]

I'm buzzin' for the spino figure

[Sim]

@Doug Watson what species is the Daspletosaurus?

Daspletosaurus torosus

Thanks @Doug Watson!

[Dromaenychus]

I have always loved Baryonyx, but none of the figures released looked quite right to me until now. The Invicta one was the first, but it had a fish attached to it. The Collecta one released recently looks good, but the tall back makes it look like a suchomimus. This Safari ltd one looks perfect to me.
Daspletosaurus is also a must get, now if only we can geat a Centrosaurus next year to go along with it...

[GojiraGuy1954]

I don't know if I have said this here but I would love to see more sculpts from this new sculptor for Safari Ltd. (ie, the new Spinosaurus)
It feels like a blend of the bright colors of Forrest Rogers and the fantastic scale details from Doug Watson.

please no

[CityRaptor]

I think I see why the two Armored Dinosaurs are like this. They are armored to fight each other.  T.rex is specifically armored at the belly and legs since Triceratops is most likely to attack there. Triceratops has armor on its back since T.rex is most likely to bite there.  At least that is how it works in theory. In reality it leaves both of them with the equivalent of Bikini Armor.

[Doug Watson]

I have always loved Baryonyx, but none of the figures released looked quite right to me until now. The Invicta one was the first, but it had a fish attached to it. The Collecta one released recently looks good, but the tall back makes it look like a suchomimus. This Safari ltd one looks perfect to me.

That reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the porridge, etc 

[stargatedalek]

Baryonyx and Daspletosaurus look stellar, though I really don't like this new Spinosaurus. The fourth toe is not large enough, the tail structure feels strange (as if it should be uniform in height), the skull is very shrink-wrapped (indents look very visible and I just find them quite off-putting), the back structure is shrink-wrapped (though it almost always is) and I don't think it extends far enough backwards over the hips but I'm not sure at a glance.

For Daspletosaurus we will just have to disagree on integument, as things stand either for or against is plenty defensible. One point of note about Baryonyx though is that the contemporary Spinosaur tracks show the fourth toe touching the ground.

[Doug Watson]

One point of note about Baryonyx though is that the contemporary Spinosaur tracks show the fourth toe touching the ground.

With the foot structure of Spinosaurus as I have reconstructed it I could totally see the forth toe touching if it was walking and even though Baryonyx foot structure is different it would also touch in deep mud. The shots of my Baryonyx that have been released don't show the halux on the left foot very well when you see it in person it is almost touching and would leave an impression in mud.  Walking in harder soil it would just touch but in mud it would be even more noticeable just like a deer track I recently saw in mud where both dew claws and hooves were present. Normally they wouldn't show but do to the angle of the hoof and depth of the mud they were very clear.

[stargatedalek]

One point of note about Baryonyx though is that the contemporary Spinosaur tracks show the fourth toe touching the ground.

With the foot structure of Spinosaurus as I have reconstructed it I could totally see the forth toe touching if it was walking but Baryonyx and Suchomimus had totally different foot structure. Also one of the things I like to do when I hike is look for and identify animal tracks. Lately I have seen hundreds of Whitetail Deer tracks, of those hundreds of tracks I found one in mud where the two dew claws also made an impression so if whitetail deer and all other deer were extinct and we found that track fossilized on that evidence I guess we would have to reconstruct a Whitetail with the hooves and dew claws all touching rather than considering the depth of the mud and how much of the mud had eroded or angle of the foot and speed that the animal was moving at. As I said I could easily see the forth toe on my Spinosaurus touching but sometimes there are other factors.

We don't have any feet preserved from Baryonyx or Suchomimus. And I'm fairly certain Spinosaurus itself is the only spinosaur period to have the feet preserved. With Spinosaurus we know it walks on all four simply because of their size, it would have to actively clenching its toe up off the ground to not be walking on them all.

Sadly I don't remember the name of the ichnotaxon the footprints would be known by. But it's a decent size trackway with multiple prints all showing it.

[Doug Watson]

One point of note about Baryonyx though is that the contemporary Spinosaur tracks show the fourth toe touching the ground.

With the foot structure of Spinosaurus as I have reconstructed it I could totally see the forth toe touching if it was walking but Baryonyx and Suchomimus had totally different foot structure. Also one of the things I like to do when I hike is look for and identify animal tracks. Lately I have seen hundreds of Whitetail Deer tracks, of those hundreds of tracks I found one in mud where the two dew claws also made an impression so if whitetail deer and all other deer were extinct and we found that track fossilized on that evidence I guess we would have to reconstruct a Whitetail with the hooves and dew claws all touching rather than considering the depth of the mud and how much of the mud had eroded or angle of the foot and speed that the animal was moving at. As I said I could easily see the forth toe on my Spinosaurus touching but sometimes there are other factors.

We don't have any feet preserved from Baryonyx or Suchomimus. And I'm fairly certain Spinosaurus itself is the only spinosaur period to have the feet preserved. With Spinosaurus we know it walks on all four simply because of their size, it would have to actively clenching its toe up off the ground to not be walking on them all.

Sadly I don't remember the name of the ichnotaxon the footprints would be known by. But it's a decent size trackway with multiple prints all showing it.

Actually I revised my response while you responded please see my correction. I think I was confusing the Daspletosaurus for a minute, I agree that it would show in mud and would just touch on harder surfaces and it is reflected in my Baryonyx. I think the paper you are referring to is Large Theropod Dinosaur Footprint Associations in Western Gondwana: Moreno et al 2012
Behavioural and Palaeogeographic Implications

[stargatedalek]

Aah thank you, I missed your edits.

And your Baryonyx definitely looks like it could reasonably walk in both positions, especially if it's clearer on the left foot which is lower to the ground.

Perhaps I'm thinking of something unpublished? I could have sworn they were from Europe.

[Doug Watson]

Aah thank you, I missed your edits.

And your Baryonyx definitely looks like it could reasonably walk in both positions, especially if it's clearer on the left foot which is lower to the ground.

Perhaps I'm thinking of something unpublished? I could have sworn they were from Europe.

The paper I referenced shows several trackways from one site with one large theropod and one small theropod showing consistent halux impressions. Other large theropod tracks show no halux prints. They propose that the possible candidates for the different large prints are spinosaurids and carcharodontosaurids