Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) is a small crested penguin that inhabits small sub-Antarctic islands as well as the lower tip of South America. Some experts consider there to be three species: eastern, northern, and southern. Others, however, argue that these are just varieties of the same species.
This post will look at another of the figures released in April of 2015, the striped bass Morone saxatillis. After the initial twelve figures, this is the only species released that would be best thought of as marine, or at least less ‘freshwater’ than any other figure in the series (although many are catadromous or anadromous, or may range back and forth).
It’s about time that I get the other half of this baby set from Toymany up on the blog! My portion of this set covers the animals from Asia and North America and will reflect the other half of the figures from Africa that have been covered by my fellow reviewer, bmathison1972.
Today we’re looking at the North African hedgehog (Atelerix algirus) by Yowie Group, part of their Baby Animals set. Although the figure is meant to be a baby (or hoglet) there’s nothing about it that indicates it’s a baby and it can be used to represent an adult hedgehog.
The genus Bucephala contains three species of small diving ducks collectively referred to as goldeneyes. I am lucky that all three species can be found in my area in the winter. The Common Goldeneye (B. clangula) occurs in the boreal Holarctic, wintering throughout North America, Southeast Asia, and Japan.
It’s about time that I get the other half of this baby set from Toymany up on the blog! My portion of this set covers the animals from Asia and North America and will reflect the other half of the figures from Africa that have been covered by my fellow reviewer, bmathison1972.
Review and images by Sam; edited by bmathison1972
Three-banded armadillos (Tolypeutes sp.) are truly remarkable creatures. They are known for its ability to roll into a complete ball when threatened, and are the only armadillo species that are capable of this, contrary to popular belief. They are closely related to sloths and anteaters in the superorder Xenarthra.
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
One of Australia’s most famous and recognizable birds is the laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae). A member of the kingfisher family, its native range covers all of the eastern side of Australia, but it has also been introduced to the lower western tip of the continent and to the island of Tasmania.
Now that I’ve reviewed all twelve of the original 3″ Replica Toy Fish figures (here, here, here, and here) I will start taking the opportunity to go into the figures that were released later. There was no specific release schedule, or indeed, any announced waves of releases. From what I could work out based on purchasing records, there were a number of figures released in 2015, the first assortment coming out for April.
The howler monkeys of the genus Alouatta are among the largest and most widespread of new world monkeys and are famed for their loud vocalizations, among the loudest of all terrestrial animals. With the aid of an enlarged hyoid bone the guttural howls of these monkeys can be heard up to 3 miles (4.8 km) away.
My gratitude goes to Happy Hen Toys for providing this review sample, as well as for their patience in my completing this review. Be sure to check out their website after reading to fetch some prize models of your own.
On June 24th, 2012, a treasured celebrity left the world – not an actor or artist, and not exactly a political figure, but an icon of conservation and national wildlife awareness.
Despite sharing the common name ‘teal’, the Blue-winged Teal (BWTE, Spatula discors) is not in the same genus (Anas) as the Green-winged Teal (GWTE) from my earlier review, although it was for a period. The genus Spatula, originally described in 1822 and eventually placed in synonymy with Anas, was resurrected in 2009 after a molecular phylogeny looking at two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2) determined Anas to be non-monophyletic.
