Ornate Horned Frog (Safari Ltd - unknown!)

[sbell]

Here is the Wild Safari Ornate Horned Frog, labelled from 1997. The item number is stamped on the bottom, 2599-29. The figure is about 5 inches in diameter, quite large. It's nice, but clearly from the earlier Safari days. The paint is a little rougher, and the eyes lack the spark that you can see in their more current figures. If it were a current figure it would be part of the Incredible Creatures line, but in 1997 the line didn't exist (by that name). Still a nice figure.

Not sure what species it is meant to be. It was pointed out earlier that it's difficult to determine the species--the name would suggest Ceratophrys ornata, but it looks like it has the horns of Ceratophrys cranwelli. Either way, it's close to 1:1 scale (closer in size to a full grown cranwelli). Both species hail from Argentina, although the genus can be found in much of South America. They are often kept as pets (the friend who gave me the figure has 2 live ones as pets as well) and can be voracious, eating anything small enough to fit into their enormous mouths. This giant mouth has led to their other common name of Pacman frogs. In the wild this can mean small reptiles, invertebrates, birds and small mammals. In captivity...well, it's about the same, really, depending on what the keeper has available. Most of them have a highly mottled appearance which can be quite striking to our eyes, but of course serves an advantage to them in the rain forests where they disappear into the leaf litter and wait for prey.

Pictures!















And one with an unwitting Arthur...

[Jetoar]

Really nice figure, congrats for this rare acquisition. I believe that it is one of the best replicas of this specie, I like it.

[brontodocus]

Congrats, Sean, what a wonderful horned frog figure!
I agree that it's difficult to say if this should represent C. ornata or C. cranwelli. The horns would indeed suggest cranwelli since they'd be poorly developed in ornata. C. ornata would normally have a small dark spot at the rear end of the upper eyelid which is absent in cranwelli. The rest of the colouration seems to be very variable in both species but ornata has often more red. Hmm, I wonder if this is a simplified cast from a real specimen or if the figure has been sculpted.

[sbell]

Congrats, Sean, what a wonderful horned frog figure!
I agree that it's difficult to say if this should represent C. ornata or C. cranwelli. The horns would indeed suggest cranwelli since they'd be poorly developed in ornata. C. ornata would normally have a small dark spot at the rear end of the upper eyelid which is absent in cranwelli. The rest of the colouration seems to be very variable in both species but ornata has often more red. Hmm, I wonder if this is a simplified cast from a real specimen or if the figure has been sculpted.

Given the age, it's still really hard to tell. In 1997 I think that Safari still produced a mix of sculpted and cast reptiles.

If it comes down to colour versus morphology, I would probably go with morphology, so C. cranwelli . As I said about the eyes the painting isn't really up to the standard that we expect now, so missed or questionable colours are plausible. On the other hand it is labelled 'ornate horned frog', but that (and the colour) might just be because the ornate is the most readily available as a pet or as an image to work from.

[brontodocus]

I'd favour regarding this one as a C. cranwelli, too. They are frequently mixed up with each other in the pet trade, too. But, you know, the downside is... ornata may have been much cooler for you, since it's also known as Bell's Horned Frog...
Well, there's still Yujin's The Frogs in Colour version and that's a proper ornata. But this one here is life size which really adds to its awesomeness!

[sbell]

I'd favour regarding this one as a C. cranwelli, too. They are frequently mixed up with each other in the pet trade, too. But, you know, the downside is... ornata may have been much cooler for you, since it's also known as Bell's Horned Frog...
Well, there's still Yujin's The Frogs in Colour version and that's a proper ornata. But this one here is life size which really adds to its awesomeness!

There's also one in the Colorata Tropical Frogs box


But yeah, I thought of that 

[brontodocus]

The Colorata figure also doesn't have the typical dark spots at the rear of the upper eyelid like C. ornata has and the head, especially viewed from above, is more reminiscent of cranwelli. There is another possible C. ornata as part of Kaiyodo's Sunshine Aquarium series, but I haven't seen it from top to be sure it's not yet another cranwelli. The Furuta pet one is definitely cranwelli and all those albino and peppermint versions should be, too, I've never heard about such colour breeds within ornata. The problem is that both are quite similar in size, popular in the pet trade, and so variable in colour that green or green/reddish specimens must be checked for that dark spot on the eyelid and head shape - ornata has a generally more rounded, shorter mouth, in cranwelli (only adults) the mouth is more protruding, giving it almost a parabola shape (the Colorata figure is an especially good example of that shape, that's one reason why I like the figure so much).

[sbell]

The Colorata figure also doesn't have the typical dark spots at the rear of the upper eyelid like C. ornata has and the head, especially viewed from above, is more reminiscent of cranwelli. There is another possible C. ornata as part of Kaiyodo's Sunshine Aquarium series, but I haven't seen it from top to be sure it's not yet another cranwelli. The Furuta pet one is definitely cranwelli and all those albino and peppermint versions should be, too, I've never heard about such colour breeds within ornata. The problem is that both are quite similar in size, popular in the pet trade, and so variable in colour that green or green/reddish specimens must be checked for that dark spot on the eyelid and head shape - ornata has a generally more rounded, shorter mouth, in cranwelli (only adults) the mouth is more protruding, giving it almost a parabola shape (the Colorata figure is an especially good example of that shape, that's one reason why I like the figure so much).

I have a friend who has two very different colours of ornatus as live specimens, and one is either albino or leucistic or some other light-colour-only morph--they are quite common. And yes, there are the Kaiyodo Sunshine ones, but like most of that series they command very high prices that I don't personally think are warranted.

[BlueKrono]

Strange. On the Safari website item #259929 pulls up a Queen Triggerfish.

[sbell]

Strange. On the Safari website item #259929 pulls up a Queen Triggerfish.

I got the number from here http://toyanimal.info//index.php?title=Safari_259929_Ornate_Horned_Frog

It's the only other image online of the figure, and apparently was only available in 1998.

[AnimalToyForum]

Same or different species to the Papo one?

[sbell]

Same or different species to the Papo one?

I've never seen the Papo up close, but from a quick look, they both appear to be ornate horned frogs.

[AnimalToyForum]

To be fair, they're difficult to tell apart.

[AnimalToyForum]

Strange. On the Safari website item #259929 pulls up a Queen Triggerfish.

I got the number from here http://toyanimal.info//index.php?title=Safari_259929_Ornate_Horned_Frog

It's the only other image online of the figure, and apparently was only available in 1998.

toyanimal.info lists this as Incredible Creatures, not Wild Safari. Is that right?

[bmathison1972]

Strange. On the Safari website item #259929 pulls up a Queen Triggerfish.

I got the number from here http://toyanimal.info//index.php?title=Safari_259929_Ornate_Horned_Frog

It's the only other image online of the figure, and apparently was only available in 1998.

toyanimal.info lists this as Incredible Creatures, not Wild Safari. Is that right?

I think this figure predates the Incredible Creatures formal designations, but that's where it would go if released today.

[AnimalToyForum]

Strange. On the Safari website item #259929 pulls up a Queen Triggerfish.

I got the number from here http://toyanimal.info//index.php?title=Safari_259929_Ornate_Horned_Frog

It's the only other image online of the figure, and apparently was only available in 1998.

toyanimal.info lists this as Incredible Creatures, not Wild Safari. Is that right?

I think this figure predates the Incredible Creatures formal designations, but that's where it would go if released today.

Hmm. I wonder how @widukind came to classify it at Incredible Creatures. Does it also predate Wild Safari? If so, would you classify it as "Safari Ltd [no specific line]" or move it to the Incredible Creatures section anyway?

[sbell]

Strange. On the Safari website item #259929 pulls up a Queen Triggerfish.

I got the number from here http://toyanimal.info//index.php?title=Safari_259929_Ornate_Horned_Frog

It's the only other image online of the figure, and apparently was only available in 1998.

toyanimal.info lists this as Incredible Creatures, not Wild Safari. Is that right?

I think this figure predates the Incredible Creatures formal designations, but that's where it would go if released today.

Hmm. I wonder how @widukind came to classify it at Incredible Creatures. Does it also predate Wild Safari? If so, would you classify it as "Safari Ltd [no specific line]" or move it to the Incredible Creatures section anyway?

I think it is kind of stuck into the Incredible Creatures line in the Toy animal wiki, but the line didn't exist in 1999.

It does, however, work there--and if it were re-released today that's where it would be (like the glow in the dark mudpuppy and salamander, which were re-released Tennessee models).

Eventually I'll figure out what that line was called--the only thing I'm sure of is that it wasn't Hidden Kingdom (or the prior, amazing, Smithsonian line of arthropods!)

[AnimalToyForum]

Strange. On the Safari website item #259929 pulls up a Queen Triggerfish.

I got the number from here http://toyanimal.info//index.php?title=Safari_259929_Ornate_Horned_Frog

It's the only other image online of the figure, and apparently was only available in 1998.

toyanimal.info lists this as Incredible Creatures, not Wild Safari. Is that right?

I think this figure predates the Incredible Creatures formal designations, but that's where it would go if released today.

Hmm. I wonder how @widukind came to classify it at Incredible Creatures. Does it also predate Wild Safari? If so, would you classify it as "Safari Ltd [no specific line]" or move it to the Incredible Creatures section anyway?

I think it is kind of stuck into the Incredible Creatures line in the Toy animal wiki, but the line didn't exist in 1999.

It does, however, work there--and if it were re-released today that's where it would be (like the glow in the dark mudpuppy and salamander, which were re-released Tennessee models).

Eventually I'll figure out what that line was called--the only thing I'm sure of is that it wasn't Hidden Kingdom (or the prior, amazing, Smithsonian line of arthropods!)

I don't want to categorise it in a line it wasn't really part of. This is the correct category for it. Since we are also certain it isn't Wild Safari, though, I will modify the title. Hopefully we do find out one day!

[AnimalToyForum]

Title updated!