Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
The Batoidea are a diverse group of fish classified within the class Chondricthyes, like their shark cousins, although nowhere near as popular, which is a shame as there are many charismatic species of rays including the butterfly ray, banjo ray, giant guitarfish, and the torpedo rays/numbfish.
“Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,
In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Can frame thy fearful symmetry?” The Tyger, William Blake, 1794
This poem, used in the Songs of Experience by William Blake, was a counterpoint of the Songs of Innocence poem, The Lamb, and you can see why.
Today I am continuing my review of the 2020 Papo invertebrates with their grasshopper figure. First, we should discuss the possible identity of the species. Given the shape (especially head shape), color, and that France-based Papo likes to focus on its local fauna, I am identifying the figure as the common green grasshopper, Omocestus viridulus.
Today I will be reviewing a collection of butterflies by Innovative Kids. It is from their Junior Groovies collection, which is a lot like the familiar Groovy Tube Books collection, but for a younger audience (ages 3-6, or, in this case, 48-year-olds who collect toy insects). First of all, I should thank STS forum member Saarlooswolfhound for alerting me to this on Amazon.
Giant animals exist throughout the world. This can be seen in insular gigantism, and the isle of Komodo has the mighty dragon, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). This ten foot lizard is the top predator in it’s environment, using it’s size, strength, speed and venom to outmatch any species in the area, no matter where they are.
Here’s something a little different, and not an actual toy, but worth taking a look at anyway. This is a ceramic sturgeon by Wade Ceramics, a pottery manufacturer operating out of Stoke-on-Trent, England. Wade Ceramics got its start in the 1950’s and produced ceramic figurines up until 2018. In 1967 Wade Ceramics entered a partnership with the American Rose Red Tea company who started including Wade figures in their boxes of tea.
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
The cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) is one of the largest raptorial birds of Europe, with wingspans reaching close to 3 metres. It is also known as the black vulture (despite not being black at all, but at least considerably darker than other vultures) and in my home country Germany it is usually called monk vulture, for its head appears like it wears a tonsure.
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
It is said Charles Darwin wrote in letters to his few friends, that he gets sick thinking about the flamboyant and useless plumage of the Indian peacock, it just would not fit into his view on the evolutionary process. Today, 160 years after the publication of The Origin of Species, we know that the ‘fittest’ may not necessarily need to be the biggest, strongest or fastest, sometimes you just need to be good with the chicks; sorry, but I guess you can see it’s just the point in this case.
The Japanese giant mantis (Tenodera aridifolia) is a large mantid distributed in Japan, Taiwan, and China. There has been some confusion on the taxonomic identity of this species, as the Chinese mantis (T. sinensis), which is more familiar to most casual observers and non-specialists, was originally described as a subspecies of T.
Continuing the “Winter Wonderland” series, we are going into the highest elevations of the world, as we look at a figure of one of the rarest cats in the world, the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). These beautiful cats are found across the mountainous regions of central and south Asia, hunting across the Tibetan Plateau and Siberia.
An adaptable, intelligent animal, the wild boar (Sus scrofa) was already a successful species long before it was domesticated and transplanted around the world by humans in the form of the domestic pig (S. scrofa domesticus). Naturally, they range across Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, where they thrive in a variety of habitats.
