This model is reconstructed with ample attention to detail for this alien-looking wonder from the Cambrian.
I’ve had a soft spot for the weirdos in nature since my early childhood, so Opabinia has always been a favorite of mine. This 3 inch long stem arthropod was a denizen of the ocean floors during the middle of the Cambrian Period, about 505 million years ago.
Insular dwarfism is an interesting evolutionary phenomenon where a population of animal that find themselves marooned, separated from main landmass, start evolving progressively into smaller forms or size than what is seen on their ancestors in the mainland to adapt to their newfound restricted reality.This adaptation ensures that these population of animals did not outstrip the limited available food and territory renounces.
Review and photos by Charles Peckham, edited by Suspsy
Sea turtles. Seeing them majestically soar through the water with their stoic yet playful expression can inspire awe in any observer. Who doesn’t love them? Well, I suppose jellyfish don’t. And some crustaceans. And seagrass.
With the recent release (and review) of Rebor’s Charles R. Knight inspired Mesozoic Rhapsody I thought it would be a fitting time to look at the very first Charles Knight inspired Tyrannosaurus toy, and one of the first Tyrannosaurus toys ever produced.
Fans of prehistoric creatures have made some remarkable things over the years, including the members of this forum. In recent times, forum member Oammararak showed a kickstarter for their own game LIFE: evolution of life in earth, the series, to which many of us backed, given the vast number of intriguing species that have never been made by any company.
It has been a good year for Carchorodontosaurus, as I mentioned in my review of the figure by PNSO. The PNSO figure, along with the one by GR toys, gave sophisticated collectors a fantastic, updated pair of “shark toothed lizards” to display and admire whilst sipping brandy by the fireside.
A long waiting time ended, but eventually another King joined the collection.
According to Rebor, Tyrannosaurus rex figures are the bread and butter for any dinosaur toy producing company. Basically every company has this species in their portfolio (well, with the exception of Eofauna as of yet), ofttimes with multiple figures.
They grow up so fast! It was just over 13 months ago when I reviewed the bouncing baby Bumpy for the DTB and now here I am again with another Bumpy review. Only this time, Bumpy isn’t a baby anymore. When I reviewed that baby Bumpy, the animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous hadn’t even premiered yet, but I knew I had to have Bumpy in my collection because she was just so stinkin’ adorable.
Review and photos by Charles Peckham, edited by Suspsy
How does Kaiyodo find new animals to make toys of? Much of their Dinotales series consists of strange and obscure animals that even a seasoned paleontologist might not have come across before. Case in point: Pleurocystites, an echinoderm from the Late Ordovician.
The Jurassic period is often called the time of the titans for good reasons; this is the time when dinosaurs really took off and grew to enormous sizes. This is also the time when some of the most famous dinosaurs roamed the planet.
For collectors of prehistoric fishes 2021 has been a banner year, it saw the release of several toy fishes and two of them weren’t an O. megalodon or Dunkleosteus. Astonishing! Of course, we got those too. Papo tackled the meg.
Thanks to its appearance in Jurassic Park, Dilophosaurus is, in the words of one paleontologist, “pretty much the best, worst-known dinosaur.” Even if you’re well aware that it wasn’t small and didn’t spit venom and didn’t have a frill around its neck, you probably grew up reading about how fragile its twin crests were and how relatively weak its bite was.
