Leyster's Collection (updated 29/03/24)

[Leyster]

@Halichoeres it's a very interesting read, sans from some nitpickings I have, but still a very interesting popular book on extinct sharks. It has a lot of good skeletals, too, and it's illustrated by Beneteau, a great artist. If you understand French (I do a little cause I studied it in middle school, but it's not too different from italian and I studied latin at high school, so more or less I understand what's written, many thechnical terms are the same anyway).

Yeah the Dinotales are so great, I'm kinda sad they started doing the same species all over again instead of the diverse line they had at the begining




And now for something completely different, another birthday gift


Binomial name: Tyrannosaurus rex Osborn 1905
Classification: Dinosauria->Theropoda->Neotheropoda->Averostra->Tetanurae->Coelurosauria->Tyrannoraptora->Tyrannosauroidea->Tyrannosauridae->Tyrannosaurinae
Time: Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous)
Formation: Hell Creek Formation, Lance Formation, Frenchman Formation (present day USA and Canada)
Manifacturer and date of release: PNSO, 2020
Sculptor: somebody in the atelier of Zhao Chuang
Scale: 1:32 for AMNH 5027


Yes, yes, I know, another model of that incredibly overrated Laramidian theropod nobody cares bout. But AMNH 5027 is one of my favorite specimens (along with the holotype and Tufts-Love). I also like its crouched pose and somewhat stupid expression, I don't like when Tyrannosaurus had to appear rearing and angry all the time... after all, a lot of dangerous animals we live with (bears, ie) have a totally not scary look (to the point that incredibly stupid accidents happen because people underestimate the danger they represent). I have a few issues with it, the exposed teeth (I'm not convinced at all by PNSO's arguments) and its oversized scales (I get the idea "let's show Tyrannosaurus' scales real size on a 1:32 model to show how they were shaped, but I would've preferred it to be smooth: Tyrannosaurus scales, if they're even scales to begin with, are incredibly small and basically invisible at that size...). Still, a very, very nice Tyrannosaurus.

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for the recommendation! I had a little French but I suspect that to the extent I can understand it it will be because of similarities with Spanish.

[Leyster]

@Halichoeres oh yes, if you already know a Neo-Latin language you should be able to read it without too much trouble.

[Shonisaurus]

The PNSO tyrannosaurus is a nice figure but in my case I like Rebor's scientific model better. Regarding the PNSO tyrannosaurus rex, I like the sculpture and its color patterns, what I would like from the PNSO 2022 tyrannosaurus to have upper lips, I think it is one of the few flaws that this PNSO figure has. Thank you for the additional documentation that you have accustomed us to.

[Leyster]

@Shonisaurus I personally don't like the Rebor version. I admit it's a step forward compared to their previous works, but it has an exagerate scalation (which is not justified, unlike the PNSO) and is "ripped" like all Rebor models: diapsids' skin is different from mammals and their muscolature don't bulge as much under scales and such. Basically only archosaurs with bulging muscolature are birds, but where (or when, since there are fetaherless chicken breeds) the skin is naked, not covered in scales. Also the muscolature itself looks a bit exagerated and different from the diagrams from i.e. Matt Dempsey... kinda feel like they directly based it on Jurassic Park instead of looking how actual Tyrannosaurus muscolature should've worked. Having lips is sadly not enough to compensate these issues imho.



Binomial name: Lystrosaurus cf. georgi? Kalandadze 1975
Classification: Anomodontia->Chainosauria->Dicynodontia->Pristerodontia->Dicynodontoidea->Lystrosauridae
Time: Induan (Early Triassic). As whole, the genus span from Late Permian to Early Triassic
Formation: Vokhmian Formation (present-day Russia)
Manifacturer and date of release: Kaiyodo, 2002
Sculptor: Seiji Yamamoto
Scale: 1:12 for PIN 3447/ 1 (Lystrosaurus georgi). Other species were bigger.

Everybody should keep a Lystrosaurus picture in their family album

[Halichoeres]

I like this Lystrosaurus, but I have always felt its stance is a bit too sprawled. It's like a dicynodont crossed with a chuckwalla.

[Shonisaurus]

Thanks for sharing. I don't understand why the listrosaurus is one of the prehistoric animal species so little treated by the dinosaur companies. It is a reasonably well-known species even by those who are fond of the prehistoric world without being experts like me. Nice Kaiyodo figure.

Regarding the tyrannosaurus, it is my appreciation and reasoning, although Rebor's is not as scientific as compared to PNSO's, I honestly like the figure of the tyrannosaurus rex more from an aesthetic point of view

[Leyster]

@Halichoeres yes, I always interpreted the pose as a somewhat sitting one.

@Shonisaurus well, I respect your aesthetic view.


I normally don't collect soft toys, but there are always exceptions

Binomial name: Liopleurodon ferox Sauvage, 1873
Classification: Sauropterygia->Eosauropterygia->Pistosauria->Plesiosauria->Pliosauridae->Thalassophonea
Time: Callovian to Kimmeridgian (Middle-Late Jurassic)
Formation: Oxford Clay Formation (present-day UK and France)
Manifacturer and date of release: Recur, 2020
Sculptor: ?
Scale: 1:19 for NHMUK R3536. Yes, it's never too late to repeat that the 25 meters Liopleurodon never existed.

And here is my review!

[Leyster]

Binomial name: Opabinia regalis Walcott, 1912
Classification: Arthropoda->Dinocaridida?*
Time: Wuliuan (middle Cambian)
Formation: Burgess Shale (present-day Canada)
Manifacturer and date of release: Kaiyodo, 2001
Sculptor: Katsuo Takuma
Scale: 1:1

*this group might be paraphiletic

Another very important to paleontology animal I'm very happy to have in my collection. I wanted an Opabinia since reading Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Gould.

[Leyster]

Binomial name: Acrocanthosaurus atokensis Stovall & Langston 1950
Classification: Dinosauria->Theropoda->Neotheropoda->Averostra->Tetanurae->Carnosauria->Allosauroidea->Allosauria->Carcharodontosauria->Carcharodontosauridae
Time: Aptian-Albian (Early Cretaceous)
Formation: Twin Mountains Formation, Antlers Formation, Cloverly Formation (present day USA)
Manifacturer and date of release: Papo, 2018 (2017 for the sculpture)
Sculptor: Seo Jung-woon
Scale: you'll get different results for each bone measured, the skull is 1:27

Ok, I guess this requires a bit of an explanation. I own it since long time (in fact, it's a first release), but hestated at including it in my collection hoping that somebody would've produced a better Acrocanthosaurus (proportions have great issues, also not a fan of the pose). But, after seeing the new PNSO Acrocanthosaurus (which I'm probably gone getting anyway), I found myself liking the look of this one more, in spite of its inaccuracies. For sure, it has a great pattern and I appreciate some choices, such as the keratinization of the skull.

[Halichoeres]

I also have this Acro. It does have a very attractive paint job. Should I take your comments to mean you prefer this version to PNSO's?

[Concavenator]

The Papo Acrocanthosaurus has a very nice color scheme, yeah. I'd say that's its strongest point.

If you get the PNSO one, will it replace the Papo, or will you keep both? Also, in case you didn't know, GR Toys is also planning to release an Acrocanthosaurus, presumably this year as well.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

I've never seen that Liopleurodon before, it looks interesting.

I had that Papo Acrocanthosaurus when it came out, but never really liked it. In fact I've never really liked any Acrocanthosaurus figures before the PNSO apart from the little Kaiyodo.

[Halichoeres]

I like the Safari Acro but it is a bit smaller than I would prefer.

[Leyster]

@Halichoeres I'll wait to have the model in hand before judging accuracy (it will be probably better anyway, the Papo one is really disproportionate), but by pure aesthetic I think this one looks nicer, I'm not a fan of some aesthetical choices of the PNSO.

@Concavenator I'll keep both. I know of the GR Toys, but it's too early to judge since we only saw a very early WIP, the sculptor even asked for tips on Tieba Baidu

@Gothmog the Baryonyx inability of standing aside, I find the Battat to be nice too



Binomial name: Acanthostega gunnari Jarvik, 1952
Classification: Tetrapodomorpha->Tetrapoda
Time: Fammenian (Late Devonian)
Formation: Britta Dal Formation (present day Denemark)
Manifacturer and date of release: Kaiyodo, 2001
Sculptor: Seiji Yamamoto
Scale: 1:7

The Yujin probably reflects better the actual animal, but this Kaiyodo is still nice and easier to find. Another animal whose photo we should all keep in our family album (well, unless it's part of a radiation of early tetrapods which are not ou direct ancestors)

[Leyster]

Binomial name: Tylosaurus nepaeolicus Cope, 1874
Classification: Squamata->Mosasauroidea->Mosasauridae->Russellosaurina?*->Tylosaurinae
Time: Coniacian/Santonian (Late Cretaceous)
Formation: Niobrara Formation (present day USA)
Manifacturer and date of release: PNSO, 2021
Sculptor: somebody in the atelier of Zhao Chuang
Scale: 1:13 for AMNH 1565, 1:18 for FHSM VP2209 (largest specimen)

*Maybe. Mosasaur taxonomy is a complex matter, Tylosaurus may even belong to a group which developed acquatic adaptation indipendently  to Mosasaurus

There are a number of traits in this model which suggest it to be based on Tylosaurus nepaeolicus and they will be the subject of a future Paleo-Nerd video or review, but if you want to consider it T.proriger (it's still possible, they're chronospecies), then it's 1:32 for KUVP 5033 ("Bunker", largest specimen).

[Concavenator]

That Tylosaurus looks nice. I had considered getting it, but I don't know if I can get past the toothless rostrum (which is a well known trait of Tylosaurus). It also could use a darker coloration, according to this 2014 paper: Lindgren, J., Sjövall, P., Carney, R. M., Uvdal, P., Gren, J. A., Dyke, G., ... Polcyn, M. J. (2014). Skin pigmentation provides evidence of convergent melanism in extinct marine reptiles. Nature, 506(7489), 484–488. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12899 It's paywalled, but there's the abstract.

I think I'll be waiting for a truly definitive mosasaurid to come out.

[Leyster]

@Concavenator: about the rostrum: not all Tylosaurus show a rostrum as pronunced as it appears in some restorations. ie Tylosaurus kansasensis (=T.nepaeolicus).
(for some reasons the image won't show up, so here the link: http://oceansofkansas.com/Tylo-new/Update08/figure1.jpg)
If this detail bothers you that much, anyway, you only have to do a little touch up with paint, covering the first two teeth.

About the colour, Wikipedia referred to that article comparing it to leatherback turtles, which do not seem that much darker, anyway.

imho the PNSO Tylosaurus is very close to a definitive mosasaurid.

[Concavenator]

I searched for more Tylosaurus skulls and I see what you mean. I said that because I had only paid attention to the "Bunker" T.proriger and the "Bruce" T.pembinensis specimens. Myself, I was not too bothered by this detail, but some people more knowledgeable on marine reptiles than me were, and that was the main thing holding me back from it.

I still wish the colors were darker, but I get your point about the leatherback turtle comparison.

Thank you for the explanation, it made me reconsider it. In fact, I would say it's the best mass-produced mosasaurid figure at the moment.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

I like that Tylosaurus too, it wasn't high on my list but I got around to it.