The Rio Grande cooter (Pseudemys gorzugi) is an enigmatic emydid turtle endemic to the Rio Grange drainage of northern Mexico and adjacent Texas and New Mexico. The species was only described in 1984 as a subspecies of the river cooter (P. concinna). The turtle lives in slow-moving and still bodies of water, including the slow-moving portions of rivers, oxbows, lakes, and ponds, usually in well-vegetated areas with a soft bottom.
Brand: Bandai/Bandai Spirits
Mini Insects Vol. 1 (Diversity of Life on Earth by Bandai)
3.7 (3 votes)
In 2022, Bandai started a series of miniatures in their Diversity of Life of Earth line. The first set is the one we will be looking at today, Mini Insects Volume 1. It would be followed by Volumes 2 (which has already been reviewed by Fembrogon) and 3 (which I plan to tackle later), both released in 2023.
Longnose Lancetfish (Mini Collection Deep Sea Fish by Bandai)
4.3 (6 votes)
We’re back with another small figure from Bandai in their mini capsule series. I failed to recognize before that all of these models are part of what is now called the “Diversity of Life on Earth” series, which covers not only these capsule animals but a number of other figure types.
King of Wasps (Diversity of Life on Earth: Advanced Wasps Vol. 2 by Bandai)
4.3 (8 votes)
Megalara garuda, commonly called the King of Wasps or Garuda wasp, was only formally described in 2012. It was named after the Hindu deity Garuda, the bird-like mount of the Hindu god Vishnu. This crabronid wasp is endemic to the Mekongga Mountains of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Alligator Gar (Mini Ancient Fish Series 1 by Bandai)
5 (6 votes)
Back with another Bandai ‘Mini Ancient Fish’ model, but this time from series 1. As it is, it’s the only figure I have from this particular set, but it went without saying that I would add another alligator gar Atractosteus spatula to the collection! Like the more recent Series 2 (of which I have the whole set and have already discussed) the hallmarks of the series were there in the first series.
Mini Crustaceans (Diversity of Life on Earth by Bandai)
5 (3 votes)
In early 2024, Bandai announced a set of seven miniature crustaceans in their ever-growing Diversity of Life on Earth line. I was must admit, I had mixed emotions for this set. Two of the figures I really wanted! For one of them, I go either way. And for the remaining four, I didn’t need or really want any of them.
Chinese Sturgeon (Mini Ancient Fish Series 2 by Bandai)
4.8 (4 votes)
This figure represents the fifth and final model in the Mini Ancient Fish series 2 from Bandai. In this case, it a fish well-known as ‘ancient’, a Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis. Sturgeons are well known as primitive fish, with the order Acipenseriformes represented in the Jurassic, and the earliest member of the sturgeon family Acipenseridae being known from the late Cretaceous, included in the same genus Acipenser (although it is believed that this genus is paraphyletic–so the taxonomy could change).
Xingu River Ray (Mini Ancient Fish Series 2 by Bandai)
5 (5 votes)
I’m back with a fourth figure in the Mini Ancient Fish series 2 from Bandai. It seems to be, like the first series, the obligatory chondrichthyan in the set of fish representing notable species that have a presumably ‘ancient’ heritage from an evolutionary point of view. Does the figure today represent that?
Arapaima (Mini Ancient Fish Series 2 by Bandai)
5 (5 votes)
This figure is a another in the Mini Ancient Fish series 2 from Bandai, the arapaima or pirarucu Arapaima gigas. This fish is famous as one of the largest strictly-freshwater fish in the world, naturally located in much of the Amazon river basin. Or at least the genus is…recent studies indicate that many discrete populations are actually unique species; this figure is listed as A.
Silver Arowana (Mini Ancient Fish Series 2 by Bandai)
4.4 (5 votes)
The silver arowana Osteoglossum bicirrhosum is a bonytongue fish found in black and whitewater habitats in many waterway basins of South America (except most of the Rio Negro). It is one of two species in the genus, both found in South America and occasionally overlapping in range. The species name comes from the two narrow barbels or cirrhi protruding from its lower jaw.
Saddled Bichir (Mini Ancient Fish Series 2 by Bandai) + bonus Elephant-snout fish
5 (4 votes)
More fish! And this time, another of my favorite type of fish! Yes, it’s another bichir, and another saddled bichir Polypterus endlicheri, a species that I discussed quite some time ago (the Colorata figure). Which I suppose means I won’t need to go into too many details about the species, so I’ll be able to discuss the figure more at length–and then discuss the surprise little extra with the figure (spoiled in the title I suppose).
Mini Insects Vol. 2 (Diversity of Life on Earth by Bandai)
5 (8 votes)
Praying mantises are cool – I think that’s an opinion I can safely say is shared between many animal enthusiasts. Out of all the hundreds of thousands of insects known to science, probably no group is equal parts so peculiar and charismatic as Order Mantodea, the mantises. It’s only natural, then, that a number of toy and collectible animal brands have tackled mantises and continue to do so.