Bullock’s nudibranch (Hypselodoris bullockii) is a colorful and familiar sea slug from the Indo-Pacific region. They are benthic in nature and are often associated with coral reefs. It turns out, many historical records of H. bullockii are incorrect, due to morphologic confusion with other species in the bullockii-complex.
Giant Squid (Adorables by Adore Plush)
4.5 (4 votes)
Review and images by Fembrogon; edited by bmathison1972
Hello, Animal Toy Bloggers! My name is Fembrogon, from the Dinosaur Toy Blog. Although the vast majority of my creature collecting has been devoted to extinct life, there are plenty of extant animals which have long been a source of fascination as well.
Goldendoodle (Farm World by Schleich)
4.5 (4 votes)
Review and images by Bonnie; edited by bmathison1972
As soon as I knew Schleich were releasing a crossbreed featuring a golden retriever I was very excited to see it in real life!
I think this is a really interesting model, as it is the first time Schleich have released a cross-breed dog officially named and in their main dog series!
Blue Whale (Scientific Art Sculptures by PNSO)
4.5 (15 votes)
74 years ago from this very day, Lt. Col. Waldon C. Winston witnessed and documented what he noted as the largest whale to have ever been weighed. Winston was aboard the Kyo Maru No.6. during the 1947/48 Antarctic whaling season as an observer to ensure the Japanese whalers complied with the International Whaling Regulations and directives issued by General Douglass MacArthur.
Salmon-crested Cockatoo (Webkinz by Ganz)
3.3 (3 votes)
Review and images by Birdsage; edited by bmathison1972
The Salmon-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis), also known as the Moluccan Cockatoo, is a species of parrot that is endemic to Seram and several other islands in Indonesia’s Maluku Archipelago. The species resides in lowland rainforests up to an altitude of 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
Bottlenose Dolphin, adult and calf (Monterey Bay Aquarium by Safari Ltd)
4 (4 votes)
A creature that needs no introduction, the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The common bottlenose dolphin is a very widely-distributed species, covering the temperate and tropical waters of the world. With the species-level taxonomy still in revision, the Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin (T. aduncus) was split from T.truncatus in 2000 and 3 subspecies are currently recognized: the common subspecies (T.t.truncatus) Lahille’s (T.t.gephyreus), Black sea bottlenose dolphins (T.t.ponticus).
Thylacine (Southlands Replicas)
4.8 (5 votes)
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Alas, less than five years after its promising debut, the animal toy company known as Southlands Replicas is no more. But while it did exist, it produced many superb renditions of Australian fauna, including the tragically extinct thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)..
Green Christmas Beetle (Yowies Series 1, UK and Australian releases by Cadbury)
4 (1 votes)
This week Christmas is celebrated throughout much of the world. In trying to keep with holiday themes, I have decided to review a pair of green Christmas beetles (Anoplognathus punctulatus) by Cadbury that were released in both the Australian and UK Yowies collections in 1997. Members the genus Anoplognathus are commonly called ‘Christmas beetles’ as they tend to be abundant during Christmas time in Australia.
Giant Clam (Shellfish with a Lid Mascot Vol. 3 by Toys Spirits)
5 (1 votes)
Right about the time I decided the review the Cadbury Yowie giant clam a couple weeks ago, Toy Spirits (a subsidiary of SO-TA, or vice versa) decided to produce one in the third volume of their Shellfish with a Lid Mascot series. The figure was not marketed at the species level, but I bought it hoping I could confidentially identify it as something different than the Cadbury figure which was specifically marketed as Tridacna maxima.
Flying Peacock Spider (Diversity of Life on Earth: Peacock Spiders by Bandai)
5 (2 votes)
The genus Maratus, commonly referred to as peacock spiders, consists of over 80 species, all endemic to Australia. One must wonder how a single genus of spiders could speciate to this magnitude on a single geographic land mass (although there are some on Tasmania). The answer lies in their courtship rituals.
Giant Clam (Yowies Series 4 by Cadbury)
5 (3 votes)
The genus Tridacna consists of large marine bivalves commonly known as giant clams. The largest, T. gigas, can be 120 cm across, weigh over 200 kg, and live for over 100 years. Today we will be looking at T. maxima, which is known as the maxima clam (although it also goes by the oxymoron ‘small giant clam’).
Dark Ghostshark (Alien Sharks by Discovery Science)
3.4 (5 votes)
So the call went out among us bloggers which, admittedly, I don’t get to on here very often. But the suggestion was made for a ‘Hallowe’en’ theme–spooky, scary animals that might fit in with the season. I don’t generally have a lot of ‘traditional’ animals that might fit the bill (rats, bats, black cats, gnats…I got carried away, sorry).