Maiasaura (Haolonggood)

The North American hadrosaurid Maiasaura is famous for being the “good mother lizard,” the first dinosaur for which there is fossil evidence of parental behaviour in the form of nests containing babies that were clearly being fed and cared for by adults. It is thus reasonable to conclude that other hadrosaurs like Brachylophosaurus, Hypacrosaurus, Prosaurolophus, Saurolophus, and the like also engaged in this behaviour. It is also fitting that Haolonggood chose to make not just a single adult Maiasaura, but a juvenile to accompany it.

The adult is sculpted in what appears to be a fast-paced quadrupedal walking pose. The front limb and the hind limb on its left side are extended forward and back respectively while the limbs on its right side are coming together. The head is facing forward and the tail is swaying slightly to the right. This individual is clearly in a hurry, but not quite a desperate hurry just yet. It has a length of slightly over 23 cm and a height of about 7.5 cm at the hips.

This toy is the “Hua Di” version as opposed to the “Chun Hui” one. Its base colour is a dull greyish-green with a light brown underbelly and very dark brown applied to the feet and hands. The claws are black. Dark and medium brown stripe patterns run down the head, neck, and back, and on the arms and legs. The head features blue eyes, dark orange crests and nostrils, and a dark and medium brown bill. Topping it off is a flat shade of dark purple of all colours on the tail. I love that last part. I want more dinosaur toys to have purple or pink on them.

The Maiasaura’s sculpting detail is, as one would expect of any Haolonggood product, nothing short of top notch. Its skin has the standard fine pebbled scale texture all over. A great many folds and wrinkles enhance its realistic appearance further. A row of flattened osteoderms with rounded tips begins at the back of the head and runs all the way down until the last four centimetres of the tail. There are also rows of flat, round osteoderms protecting the back of the neck. The neck, limbs, and tail are bulging with powerful muscles and the bulbous, downturned snout with its grooved bill gives this animal a decidedly stern appearance.

Maiasaura is known from a great many specimens ranging in age from hatchlings to mature adults of 9 metres in length. As such, we have a very good understanding of its anatomy. And one of its most distinguishing characteristics was a small and solid wave-like crest between its eyes. Its purpose may have for intraspecific conflict between males. This toy, however, does not really feature such a crest. Instead, there is a tiny hornlet above each eye, which adult Maiasaura are also known to have possessed. Aside from that, however, the head looks quite good from all angles. The neck is appropriately thick (again, I’m glad that most companies no longer make hadrosaurs with shrink-wrapped necks), the hands are fused into “mittens,” the hind feet are correctly shaped, and the overall body proportions appear correct as well.

Now we move on to the juvenile. This youngster is almost 10.5 cm long and a little over 3 cm tall. Maiasaura babies are thought to have spent the first year or so in the safety of the nest, where they were fed and protected by the parents. Sexual maturity occurred in the third year and full size was finally attained in the eighth year. I would therefore surmise that this individual is around two years of age, as it is clearly too big to be a hatchling, but not nearly big enough to be considered mature. It is sculpted in a full-on running pose with its left arm extended forward and both feet extended back. Hurrying to keep up with its parent, or perhaps fleeing from potential danger. The mortality rate for Maiasaura is calculated to be 89.9% during the first year of life, then 12.7% after the second year, so it would seem that this one here has beaten the odds.

The main colours are flesh tone pink and beige with dull brown stripes, very dark brown on the feet, hands, and bill, black claws, and bright blue eyes. Not nearly as colourful as the adult, but that makes perfect sense when one looks at many extant baby animals.

This little Maiasaura‘s sculpting detail is nearly as intricate and impressive as the adult’s. It has a pebbled and wrinkled hide, a small row of osteoderms running down its spine, tiny hornlets on its brow ridges, a grooved bill, and dainty little hands and feet.

And there’s certainly no mistaking this toy for anything other than a juvenile hadrosaur. Compared to the adult, its eyes are larger, its snout is shorter, its head is bigger in proportion to its body, and its limbs and tail are shorter. It looks decidedly cute, which again makes sense from a natural perspective. The cuter a baby looks, the more it triggers a nurturing response from adults, thus helping to ensure its survival. Maiasaura is known to have coexisted with fellow hadrosaurs Corythosaurus and Parasaurolophus, ceratopsians like Albertaceratops and Chasmosaurus, the ornithomimosaur Struthiomimus, and most ominously, the dromaeosaurs Dromaeosaurus and Saurornitholestes and the tyrannosaur Daspletosaurus. Those last three would certainly have enjoyed young Maiasaura as part of their regular diet.

Other than the lack of a proper crest on the adult, these two Maiasaura toys are really fantastic. Definitely well worth the purchase. And let’s be frank here: they’re really the only available option for the species at the present time. Battat and Safari Ltd.’s toys have been out of production for many years now and none of the other major prehistoric companies have tackled Maiasaura just yet. I’ll also note that I’d love for Haolonggood to make more juvenile dinosaurs to accompany their adult ones. Theropods, ceratopsians, thyreophorans, or sauropods, any and all would be welcome.