Ornithocheirus (CollectA)

3.5 (15 votes)

Ornithocheirus shot to fame in 1999 when it starred in an episode of the fabulous BBC series Walking With Dinosaurs. Since then, however, scientists have determined that the pterosaur featured was in fact a species of Tropeognathus. The best-known Ornithocheirus species, O. simus, had a respectable wingspan of around five metres, but that was nowhere near the size of giants like Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx.

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For a long time, pterosaur toys were always depicted in flying poses with their wings spread wide. In more recent years, CollectA has taken to putting its pterosaurs in walking poses with their wings folded up, the better to display them. The Ornithocheirus is in neither pose. Rather, it is standing on its hind feet with its wings spread wide in what can be best described as a Batman pose. While it is improbable that any pterosaur could stand on just its hind limbs, it does make for an impressive display. Despite its tiny feet, this toy stands rather well.

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The Ornithocheirus stands slightly over 8 cm tall and has a wingspan of 21 cm. It is almost entirely black in colour save for light orange on the neck and head and faint patches of lavender on the back. The eyes are sky blue, the teeth are yellowish, and the bulging bill is pale pink. Pink is also used for the inside of the mouth.

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The body of the Ornithocheirus is covered in fine sculpted pycnofibres and the brachiopatagia (main wing membranes) has a wrinkled texture. The hands and feet are also wrinkled with short claws. The brachiopatagia stretches all the way down to the ankles, which is an ongoing point of contention among paleontologists. However, it is possible that there was wide variation among pterosaur wing designs, so the Ornithocheirus may be considered accurate at least for now.

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The CollectA Ornithocheirus has fine detailing, a nice colour scheme, and displays nicely. In short, a very cool pterosaur figure, even with the inaccurate pose.

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Available from Amazon.com here and Amazon.co.uk here.

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Comments 4

  • What annoys him from my point of view is so dark color that looks like something out for pterosaurs by a B movie

    On the other magnificent commentary of the article by Suspsy, he is a great figure.

  • Evidence suggests that pterosaurs didn’t take off in this fashion but rather by pushing off the ground with their front limbs. So unfortunately this model is inaccurate in this pose regardless of how you interpret it. Still, a good early model from CollectA. At least they got the fibers on there, and the pteroid bone too.

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