When we think of sharks it is usually species like the great white, tiger, or bull sharks that immediately come to mind. If not those particular species there is at least the generic idea of what a shark looks like and indeed, many species fit that mold. But sharks are an incredibly diverse group of animals that come in all shapes and sizes in order to fit into whatever niche they’re a part of.
Type: Baby Animal
Opossum, with babies (Wild Safari North American Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
4.8 (6 votes)
A cute and unique figure (and one of my favourites from the series) is the North American Wildlife collection figure, the Virginia opossum with babies, Didelphis virginiana Gray, 1821. With a total length of 139 mm and a snout-vent length of 96 mm the scale would be approx. 1:4 – 1:5.
Life Cycle of a Praying Mantis (Insect Lore)
3.7 (3 votes)
Insect Lore is a company that primarily makes products for the observation and study of living insects (nets, rearing containers, magnifying glasses, ant farms, etc.). In the 2000s, they made life cycle sets of select insects. These were really nice sets that featured original sculpts, including a couple rarely-made species (mealworm beetle, American painted lady).
Asian Elephant, cow and calf 2017 (Wild Life by Schleich)
5 (9 votes)
Review and photographs by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The magnificent Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is the second biggest of the three extant species of pachyderm, the second biggest land animal in the world, and the biggest land animal in all of Asia. It can be distinguished from its two African cousins largely by its domed cranium, smaller ears, and rounded back.
Warthog, piglet (Wild Life by Schleich)
4.8 (4 votes)
The warthog, Phacochoerus africanus, or the common warthog to use its full vernacular name, is a wild member of the Suidae or pig family. There are four subspecies in the genus, each occupying a slightly different range within in central Africa. Schleich have made several figures of this animal, two boars (an early release and a later version), one sow, and a piglet, but I’m not looking at the whole family today – just the warthog piglet.
Reindeer, adult and calf (Wildlife by Mojö Fun)
4.3 (7 votes)
Review and photos by Saarlooswolfhound; edited by bmathison1972
The Mojo Fun reindeer adult and calf, numbers #387186 and #387188 respectively, were released as new products in 2019. They are included in Mojo Fun’s Wildlife range of models. The adult measures at about L-13 W-7 H-13 cm and the calf is L-9 W-2 H-6 cm.
American Alligator, with babies (Incredible Creatures by Safari Ltd.)
4.9 (8 votes)
This walk-around covers the Incredible Creatures (American) Alligator with Babies, Alligator mississippiensis (Daudin, 1802). A huge figure, stretched out it would be approx. 481 mm total length and 242 mm snout-vent length. Considering normal adult lengths between 2.5 and 4.4 m (although larger specimens are known) the scale would be between 1:5 and 1:9.
Life Cycle of a Mosquito (Safariology by Safari Ltd.)
4 (4 votes)
Mosquitoes! They have been referred to as the most medically and economically destructive group of insects, due to their role in the transmission of disease-causing agents. They are responsible for the transmission of the agents of malaria, lymphatic filariasis, dirofilariasis, yellow fever, Chikingunya, dengue, West Nile, and many many others. Yet, they also play a very important role in freshwater ecosystems, as they are an important food source for freshwater invertebrates, fish, and birds.
Shark Ray (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
5 (5 votes)
It’s a shark! No, wait, it’s a ray! It’s a shark-ray! Although all ray in the front and all shark in the back the shark ray (Rhina ancylostoma) really is a species of ray, but in appearance it looks like some kind of transitional form, making it easy to see the close relationship between sharks and rays.