March 2019 Dinotoy Recap

During the last month, March, I only got three new figures, all of which I will show you them in this post.

Figure 1: CollectA Kosmoceratops

The first figure of March this year. Mine has some wear from one of the horns.

This is the CollectA Kosmoceratops, which was released in 2012. I got this figure at the beginning of March, and it came with the Xenoceratops. Kosmoceratops means “ornamented horned face” and lived in the
Campanian stage of the Cretaceous period. Its full scientific name is Kosmoceratops richardsoni‭. The species name
honors Scott Richardson, the volunteer who discovered two skulls of this animal in 2007, three years before it got its official scientific name in 2010. It was unearthed in southern Utah along with a similar ceratopsian, Utahceratops. Its estimated that Kosmoceratops was about 4.5m long (about 15 ft). The most interesting thing about Kosmoceratops is the fact that it has 15 horns; ten on the top of its frill, one on each cheek, and three horn on its face. The CollectA figure has the right amount of horns for its head.

This figure was produced in 2012 along with the Utahceratops, and those two have many similarities. My figurine has been worn down on one of its horns.

This is a life reconstruction of Kosmoceratops. It is scientifically accurate with all of them in the right place.

Figure 2: PNSO Odontochelys

This is the PNSO Odontochelys. This is one of the PNSO’s bet figures in the second line-up of their minifigures.

PNSO introduced 24 new minifigures for their second wave on minifigures, along with repainted version of the original 24 minis. Their Odontochelys is part of their second wave, released in late 2018. What is very unique is that this is a one-of-a-kind figure of a prehistoric testudine. Odontochelys means “toothed turtle.” It full name, Odontochelys semitestacea translates to ‬”toothed turtle with a half-shell.” The name refers to the fact that it doesn’t have a fully-developed shell on its back. This reptile was about forty centimeters long (15.7 inches) and lived in what is now the Guizhou Province of China. Odontochelys was scientifically described in 2008. The most interesting feature of Odontochelys was that prior to the discovery of the ancient stem turtles Pappochelys in 2015 and Eorhynchochelys in 2018, it was the oldest known testudine to science. It is considered the “missing link” in between Pappochelys and Proganochelys.

This is the spectacular poster the figure comes with.

The figure is in around 1.3 scale, and is already lovely. It helps out the design with both size and detail. I really like it, but there is one more figure that is more perfect in my opinion.

Here is a lifelike reconstruction of Odontochelys, the “missing link” of turtle evolution in between Pappochelys and Proganochelys.

Figure 3: PNSO Tianyulong

My favorite of the three, I like the choice of species and the addition to the quills.

The final March figure is the PNSO Tianyulong. This is also my favorite of the batch. Tianyulong’s full name is Tianyulong confuciusi‭. Its name means “Tianyu dragon of Confucius”, with its genus name referring to the Tianyu Museum of Nature, and its species name honoring the Chinese philosopher Confucius. This animals would been about 70 cm (27.6 in) long, and lived in the ‬Tiaojishan‭ ‬Formation of Liaoning Province in China. Tianyulong was described in 2009, and at the time, was assigned to the Early Cretaceous. Since then, it was reclassified to the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic. What is interesting about this animal is that it had a row of large filament structures, believed to have been protofeathers that ran along the neck and back. This animal is a heterodontosaurid, meaning that it is very closely related to Heterodontosaurus.

Here is the poster for the Tianyulong. I like the inclusion of protofeathers, but it also has its downsides.

This figure, although my favorite, also has downsides. First, its arms are pronated, and should face inward. I can, however, excuse that. The other downside is with the poster. It incorrectly mentions that Tianyulong lived during the Cretaceous, whereas it really lived during the Jurassic. This can be excused however, as this animal was once thought to the Cretaceous before it was relocated to the Jurassic period. But everything else seems to be correct.

This is a reconstruction of Tianyulong. It correctly has the protofeathers on its body, which just make it awesome.

Sorry for the wait, I will be doing more frequent posts on here.

February 2019 Dinotoy Recap

I promised that I would do a review on this but since I was busy, I couldn’t do a page in time. So, this post is delayed.

So, this is my overhaul of February 2019. I had got a total of five figures, twelve if you count the Cambrian Life Toob figures all as separate pieces.

Figure 1: CollectA Koreaceratops Family

This is the first prehistoric figure I got, in February 8th, 2019 (approx.). This figure is small, especially the four individuals, however the base is big.

This is the first figure I got from February of 2019. This was part of an order along with the Safari ltd Nigersaurus, which I received near the end of January 2019. For those who don’t know about Koreaceratops, here some facts: The scientific name of Koreaceratops is Koreaceratops hwaseongensis, which means “Korea horned face (the genus) from Hwaesong (the species, refers to the city where the remains were found).” It was discovered in the Tando Basin of South Korea in 2008 and officially named in 2011. It lived during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch. Due to incomplete remains, it actual size is uncertain, but it would have been around 1.5-1.8 m (5-6 feet) long and about 45 cm (about 1.5 feet tall). Koreaceratops may have been semi-aquatic, based upon the observation of tall neural spines of its tail vertebrae. Therefore, this trait would have independently evolved, probably as a swimming adaptation.

Aside, I was happy to receive it as I wanted it as soon as possible. This figure features four individuals, two with blue quills and two with red quills. This is the only figure I know of Koreaceratops, so I’d recommend it for anyone interested.

This is a restoration of Koreaceratops. Notice how it is portrayed near a body of water. This is based off of the theory that Koreaceratops may have been semi-aquatic.

Figure 2: CollectA Xenoceratops

This is the second figure I got in February. I got this along with CollectA’s Kosmoceratops, although I didn’t receive the Kosmoceratops until the first day of March. I specifically like the paint scheme, which I think is cool to see. I also like the quills.

This is the second figure I got in February of 2019. My favorite things about it are the color scheme and the fact that it has sculpted quills. For those who don’t know about Xenoceratops, here are some facts: The scientific name of Xenoceratops is Xenoceratops foremostensis, which means “alien horned face (the genus) form Foremost (the species, which refers to a village near where the type remains were discovered).” It was discovered in the Foremost Formation in the Canadian province of Alberta, and got its official name in 2012. It lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch. The approximate size was about 6 m (about 20 ft long) and would have weighed about 3 tons. Some writers label Xenoceratops as the ancestor of Triceratops, but wouldn’t be possible since it is considered as a member of the Centrosaurinae subfamily. Triceratops was a member of the Chasmosaurinae subfamily, the other subfamily of the family Ceratopsidae.

The figure has black as its main color scheme with some white on the frill, a white ring around each of its forelegs, and on the quills. It has a red nose horn and a beak similar to a parrot’s beak. There is another Xenoceratops figure in the market, a mini from PNSO, and we will be getting one more for 2020 by Creative Beast Studio. Until the release of the Creative Beast BotM figure, I would recommend this to any collector.

Here is a restoration of what Xenoceratops would have looked like.

Figure 3: Bullyland Procynosuchus

This is the third figure of February 2019. It is also one of only two from the Paleozoic era that I got during that month.

This figure is the Bullyland Procynosuchus, which was created exclusively for the Korbach Museum located in Hessen, Germany. This makes sense, since this animal lived in Germany although not exclusively confined to Germany. It lived about 256 million years ago. Here are some facts about it: The scientific name of Procynosuchus is Procynosuchus delharpeae, and there is a second species named P. rubidgei. The name means “Before dog crocodile” however, it was a cynodont, a type of synapsid, specifically a therapsid. Procynosuchus was named in 1931, but it was referred to as “Cyrbraisodon.” It wasn’t until about 1937-1938 that it got its proper name of Procynosuchus. It was known from both Africa and Germany, and since several specimens were found, it is safe to say that the average length was about 60 cm (about 2 ft) long. Procynosuchus is usually depicted as having a lifestyle like an otter because many features suggest it would be much better suited for swimming rather than exclusively terrestrial locomotion.

This figure seems to be made out of a rubber-like material as it has bendy limbs. It has mostly a brownish color for its body and on its belly, you can see the genus name. Since it is the only figure of Procynosuchus I know of, I would recommend it for those who don’t mind any Paleozoic critters in their collection.

Here is a restoration of what Procynosuchus delaharpae would have looked like.

Figure 4: Safari ltd (Wild Safari) Edmontosaurus

This is the fourth figure I got from February 2019. I got it alongside the Cambrian Life Toob during my time at the Florida Museum of Natural history, located in Gainesville, Florida.

This figure is the Safari ltd Edmontosaurus, specifically the species E. regalis. I received this along with the now-discontinued Cambrian Life Toob. Here are some facts about Edmontosaurus: There are two species of Edmontosaurus, E. regalis and E. annectens (previously known as Anatosaurus). Edmontosaurus means “lizard of Edmonton” and was named way back in 1917. It was known from both Canada and the United States. In 2013, a specimen of Edmontosaurus was preserved with a small crest made of small tissue. The main predators of this hadrosaur were the tyrannosaurs Daspletosaurus, Albertosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus.

This figure seems to be the best known version of this particular genus, despite lacking the crest. However, I can excuse that because at the time it was released, this feature wasn’t known. Any dino enthusiast would be interested in this figure.

This is an accurate representation of Edmontosaurus, which is now known to have a crest above its head.

Figure 5: Cambrian Life Toob

This is the fifth and final collection of February 2019; the now discontinued Cambrian Life Toob. From nearest to farthest: Tricrepicephalus (the trilobite), Ottoia (left from the trilobite), Sanctacaris (right from the trilobite), Sidneyia, Charniodiscus (purple sea pen-like animal), Naraoia (pink animal), Anomalocaris, and Vauxia (blue coral-like animal behind the Anomalocaris).

These are the eight figure that come with the tube itself. I like the choice of creatures being used, as it is a great variety of primitive animals. However, keep in mind that Charniodiscus was from the Precambrian era. Everything else I am sure is from the Cambrian period, the first period of the Paleozoic era. My favorite of the bunch is the Sidneyia. It is really cool to see it with the golden color given to it. Everything is is splendid in my opinion.

Here is an identity guide to the animals in the set.

So, that is my haul of February 2019. I hope you liked it as much as I did. I’ll see you next time.

The Journey Begins – The Introduction

Welcome to the realm of prehistoric figurines! I will be joining you on this expedition. I have been collecting figurines of prehistoric animals for several years and I’m just obsessed with them. With my collection, and my dream job of becoming a paleontologist, you can easily say that I am a fan of prehistoric animals.

At the end of every month, I will be going through my collection haul from that month. You’ll never know what I got for each month.

If you want to know what I got each month, stay tuned onto this website by viewing it every month.