Cowabunga! Who’d have ever believed a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles product would show up here on the Dinosaur Toy Blog? Well, it’s really not that far-fetched considering that dinosaurs have been included in nearly every single incarnation of the franchise. Today I’ll be looking at one such toy, the “Dingy Dino.”
Dingy, who is clearly intended to be a Triceratops, was released alongside his master Cave-Turtle Leo way back in 1992 as part of the original TMNT line.
Growing up in the 90’s every dinosaur book I grew up reading liked to compare the Cretaceous dinosaur fauna of North America with that of Asia, highlighting just how similar they were. Both continents had representatives from the same major groups; dromaeosaurs, ornithomimosaurs, ankylosaurs etc.
The Middle Triassic began a mere five million years after the end-Permian extinction. On land, forests had finally staggered back from the destruction. Insects, mammal relatives, and sauropsids started to diversify into new–or sometimes rediscovered–morphologies. In the oceans, ray-finned fishes and coelacanths thrived, and some sauropsids returned to the sea.
Big or small, powerful or weak, smart or stupid, all things succumb to the ravages of time and battle. This goes for the mighty dinosaurs too, though this doesn’t often receive much attention in figure series. Enter CollectA to change this, as they have throughout the years.
Weighing up to more than two tons, Doedicurus clavicaudatus, sometimes known as the morning star-tailed glyptodon, was one of the last and largest members of its family. Like most other prehistoric jumbo armadillos, it featured a heavy domed carapace and an armoured tail, but in its case, the tail was extra long and terminated in a thick club that probably bore spikes.
The large female browses peacefully, unaware of the danger she is in. Her huge frill and horns block her vision, and the predator approaches from behind. Stealthily, the Tyrannosaurus moves into position. By the time the queen has realised her danger, it is too late, as the king sinks it’s huge teeth deep into her neck.
With each new discovery, the mystery of this predator’s appearance and behavior only deepens, and PNSO’s latest iteration is a figure so distinct from its predecessors that it’s almost as unrecognizable as the real creature.
Indeed, I’m almost starting to wonder if Spinosaurus is an elaborate prank being played out on us by the powers that be.
At the end of the Oligocene Climate change have made its presence known all across the globe. This change created chaos, turning once lush and fertile environment into dusty and windswept landscape. In this part of the world that would be known today as Mongolia, a mighty riven once meandered across the plains creating rich forest and lush savannah.
Ah, Yowie! It’s a great company, educating people on animals old and new, along with how their environments changed or can be saved. The prehistoric line really opens the eyes to many species most will never have heard of, learning something new. Many species, however, are based on very limited material, so can cause headaches when trying to assess them.
Greetings DinoWaurriors!! As mentioned before, Dinowaurs is great for what they were willing to try in their line. Pterosaurs, therapsids and marine reptiles all feature alongside dinosaurs. Here, we take a look at another mighty reptile that dominated the late Cretaceous seas, Mosasaurus.
One of the very first ornithopods I ever learned about as a small child was Camptosaurus, a mid-sized member of the iguanodontian clade hailing from Late Jurassic North America. Due to its utter lack of horns, spikes, and armour, it has long been depicted in books and museum displays as “stock fodder,” either fleeing from or being eaten alive by the merciless Allosaurus.
