Anurans - Frogs and Toads

[widukind]

Thanks, Nathan & Andreas!

Looks like a great figure. Makes me wish they make Prehistoric Dinosaur models like this. (Ones that are sold as Scientific models and are fully painted, not just Toys)

I am tempted to buy one of these type of models. But i don't have room in my bedroom or Curio

Yes, space is always a problem... Well, there are quite some companies in the U.S. specialising on such highly accurate models - but they are usually very expensive, too.

A beautieful figurine!!  I have a salamander with the same kind of base but without the stickers for the brand:)

So that's probably 3B Scientific, too? This one, perhaps? Hehe, by the way, they are located in Dresden!

Yes, exactly this:) Thank you for this information and the link. I found my salamander on a flea market. It is very interesting that they are located in Dresden. S if i find the time i will look there:)

[postsaurischian]

  I'm sorry to say that I find the model disappointing.
O.k., it's still a pretty figure and for a discount price at less than a quarter of the original retail price it's a good deal, but I'm expecting something very different from such a scientifical model.
Too many mistakes, too bad sculpting & paintjob. This model can't compete at all with the ones from SOMSO (It's sooo sad    that those are so expensive). It even isn't on par with some Kaiyodos.

So that's probably 3B Scientific, too? This one, perhaps? Hehe, by the way, they are located in Dresden!

thanks for the link...I just bought the Ixodes ricinus

I knew you would do that. It looks nice by the way.

[brontodocus]

Well then, congrats, Andreas - from the photos I've seen of it the Fire Salamander may be the most accurate (or at least the best looking) of the 3B Scientific amphibians & reptiles!

thanks for the link...I just bought the Ixodes ricinus

Oh, sorry, too late now - but I knew a source where you could have ordered it in the U.S.! Actually, I'll probably get one myself. too.

I'm sorry to say that I find the model disappointing.
O.k., it's still a pretty figure and for a discount price at less than a quarter of the original retail price it's a good deal, but I'm expecting something very different from such a scientifical model.
Too many mistakes, too bad sculpting & paintjob. This model can't compete at all with the ones from SOMSO (It's sooo sad    that those are so expensive). It even isn't on par with some Kaiyodos.

Thanks for the comments, Helge! No need to feel sorry for being critical. This is exactly the point - the model isn't quite as sophisticated as one would expect in this case.

[stemturtle]

Casque-headed frog or Sumaco horned treefrog, Hemiphractus proboscideus (Yujin)
Size 1.75 inches or 4.5 cm.

This is called a marsupial frog because the female carries the tadpoles upon her back, similar to the Surinam toad.
The belly is marked PV 2002. Yujin probably used the Play Visions mold.

The label is enlarged that came with this figure. There did not seem to be a scan on the Internet of the label for the Yujin 2002 set of 23 frogs. 
Now there is. Thanks to my wife for photoshopping the common names from the label's reverse side, shown below the images of the figures.

[brontodocus]

Brilliant figure! I had an eye on that casque-headed frog, too. And thanks for showing a scan of the label, too! While this is definitely a unique sculpt the photos of many other figures from the line look like alternate paint versions of the same sculpt - Ishikawa's Frog and the Chinese Fire-bellied Toad (and possibly the Pedostibes hosii, too) look as if they were the same, for example.

[stemturtle]

Brilliant figure! I had an eye on that casque-headed frog, too. And thanks for showing a scan of the label, too! While this is definitely a unique sculpt the photos of many other figures from the line look like alternate paint versions of the same sculpt - Ishikawa's Frog and the Chinese Fire-bellied Toad (and possibly the Pedostibes hosii, too) look as if they were the same, for example.

Brontodocus, I found your hypothesis intriguing about alternate paint jobs on the same casts. An example is the 1990 Safari poison dart frogs. If my Yujin collection ever grows to the extent of allowing comparisons, I will get back to you.

Kind of you not to ridicule my use of the word Internet instead of World Wide Web.  My B.A predates both.

[stemturtle]

Asian tree frog, Pedostibes hosii (Yujin), shown on a U.S. quarter dollar coin.

This is a true toad. Snout-vent is about 0.75 inches or 2 cm. The figure is less than 1/3 of life size. Adult males are about 7 cm, females about 10 cm.
The figure is marked # 4, same number as the forest green frog. It should be # 9. There is no PV mark or Yujin mark either.

Twelve of the images on the label show a star in the lower right corner. The Asian tree frog image is starred and is a miniature figure.
We can assume that the star denotes a miniature.  This was true for the Yujin series 2 set of 24 turtles.

Therefore, Brontodocus, I do not plan on collecting more of these starry starry frogs. 
Given the small size, it is a good bet that there was some repeat use of casts painted as different species.

[stargatedalek]

sadly many of these molds look familiar to me...
the reason that's sad is because I'm certain that they are all bootlegs which got turned into generic frogs and sold at dollar stores throughout my childhood
curse you dollarama, you knock off everything T_T

[brontodocus]

Something that's really quite puzzling for me is this - since we already talked about that that the PV frogs were also released by Yujin with a different paint scheme I would expect that a given species that was released by both PV and Yujin would just be two paint versions of the same figure. But since you brought up the tree toad Pedostibes hosii, I have a PV figure stamped "Dyeing Poison Frog" which has no resemblance with any dendrobatid but instead is a true toad (parotid glands!). Since its colour is very gaudy but has round, yellowish dots on a (well, at least somewhat) greenish body I found it's most similar to Pedostibes hosii, that's why I always interpreted the figure as one:

[stemturtle]

Stargatedalek:
I share your caution about the generic frog knock-offs.
It wasn't until this year, when David Attenborough released the video, Fabulous Frogs, that I took an interest in collecting frogs.

Brontodocus:
The PV Asian tree toad, Pedostibes hosii, was mislabeled as the dyeing poison frog, Dendrobates histrionica.
Both a green and a blue version were released. I recall reading about this figure, but unfortunately, I did not save the source.
Good luck with painting the mudpuppy. Avoid any paints or varnishes that are not acrylic to avoid reactions with the plastic that will not dry completely.

[Jetoar]

Awesome sculpture and details  .

[stemturtle]

Colorata Tropical Rain Forest Frogs

This 2005 set features 16 frogs.  Each replica is marked with the common name and a figure number.
The figure numbers are identified in a booklet titled The Practical Guide of Frogs, which gives the scientific names and distribution maps.
"Syn." for synonym indicates a  previously used name that has been displaced.


South and Central America
1.   Strawberry poison dart frog, Oophaga (syn. Dendrobates) pumilio
2.   Green and black poison dart frog, Dendrobates auratus
3.   Blue poison dart frog, Dendrobates tinctorius (syn. azureus) "azureus"
4.   Darwin's frog, Rhinoderma darwinii



5.   Clown tree frog, Dendropsophus (syn. Hyla) leucophyllata
6.   Red-eyed tree frog, Agalychnis callidryas
7.   Amazon milk frog, Trachycephalus (syn. Phrynohyas) resinifictrix
8.   Chacoan horned frog, Ceratophrys canwelli, ID by brontodocus (mislabeled Argentine or ornate horned frog, C. ornata)


Africa and Madagascar
9.    Boror reed frog, Hyperolius argus
10.   Rutenberg's reed frog, Heterixalus rutenbergi
11.   Painted reed frog, Hyperolius marmoratus
12.   Baron's mantella, Mantella baroni, ID by brontodocus (mislabeled painted mantella, M. madagascariensis)



13,   Ankafana bright-eyed frog or tawny tree frog, Boophis luteus
14.   Sambava or false tomato frog, Dyscophus guineti
Southeast Asia
15.   Green flying frog, Rhacophorus reinwardtii
16.   Malayan horned frog, Megophrys nasuta

[bmathison1972]

Brontodocus:
The PV Asian tree toad, Pedostibes hosii, was mislabeled as the dyeing poison frog, Dendrobates histrionica.
Both a green and a blue version were released. I recall reading about this figure, but unfortunately, I did not save the source.

When PV uses the same mold for different species, the name sometimes carries over and errors are created. This can be seen with the spiders; the red widow and black widow are painted differently from the same mold, so both are stamped 'red widow'.

[brontodocus]

They're brilliant, aren't they? Some obscure ones like Boophis luteus, the hyperoliids, and last but not least the famous little frog Rhinoderma darwinii (which despite of it being such a famous frog I don't know about any other figure representing it). Many thanks for your wonderful overview, stemturtle! The box is a bit more expensive than some of the others but you get sixteen extra nice frog figures. A must have for frog figure collectors for sure.
The Mantella frog is intended to represent M. madagascariensis but since it has no horseshoe-shaped mark on the throat I have always interpreted it as representing the (otherwise very similar) M. baroni but this is of course just an alternative suggestion and it's probably a bit nitpicking taking throat colouration into account, too... But for the horned frog I have an alternative that fits better than the species Colorata suggests since the horned frog has actually more similarities with a Chacoan Horned Frog, Ceratophrys cranwelli - it has a relatively long snout, more or less parabolic in dorsal view instead of the shorter snout of C. ornata that is more semi-circular when viewed from above. The "horns" are also huge for C. ornata but cranwelli has somewhat more pronounced upper eyelids. Both species come in a great variety of colours but ornata would usually have a dark spot at the rear of the upper eyelid. Both are also frequently mixed up in the pet trade and even in zoos most "ornatas" I've seen were actually cranwellis.

[stemturtle]

Thanks for your comments, brontodocus. I modified the ID of the ornate horned frog to Ceratophrys canwelli.

[brontodocus]

Walk-around of the 3B Scientific VN708/2 female Common or European Toad, Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758). Snout-vent length is 72.5 mm which makes it life size (like all 3B Scientific amphibians and reptiles replicas) although occasionally old females can grow to nearly twice this size (the Mediterranean Toad which was long considered a subspecies of the Common Toad gets even larger but is now usually regarded as a separate species, B. spinosus). It is one of the most common and widely distributed amphibians in Europe, Northern Africa, and Russia, ranging from Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula in the South West to Finland in the North (up to 68°N) and Irkutsk near Lake Baikal (Russia) in the East. Despite being locally threatened it is still a common species in most parts throughout its range and IUCN lists it as "Least Concern". One of the main threats for these toads is actually roadkill in early spring when males and females migrate to their breeding grounds. While 3B Scientific doesn't seem to be capable to correctly reproduce the colour patterns of some other amphibians and reptiles, e.g. the Common Midwife Toad, Alytes obstetricans, the rather simple and dull colouration of the Common Toad seems to be well-represented here. I've been nit-picking on 3B Scientific before and I will continue to do so because since it's a company specialising in scientific and educational supply we can assume they do their homework and should exceed toy companies in quality. A (supposedly slightly smaller) male specimen is also available as item No. VN708/1. The female usually retails for around €60-65 or $85-90 but I was lucky to get this for a much lower discount price.
















For comparison here is a shot of a large female I photographed in spring 2012 in nature reserve "NSG Mastberg und Weissenstein", Hagen, Germany (I have a permission to catch and release animals there during field trips from our university, usually it's not allowed to disturb any animals in a German nature reserve).


Edit 2017-02-05: Fixed broken image urls.

[brontodocus]

Another 3B Scientific amphibian replica, here is the VN704/2 female Edible Frog, Pelophylax kl. esculentus (Linnaeus, 1758); formerly Rana kl. esculenta (the genus Rana is now restricted to the Old World brown frogs: the type species Rana temporaria and its relatives). The vernacular name "Edible Frog" is because this "species" was commonly caught for food but now it is protected like all native reptiles and amphibians within the European Community. Snout-vent length is 84 mm which is about average for an adult female. The "kl." is an abbreviation for "klepton" which means instead of being a proper species it is a natural hybrid (in the case of the Edible Frog it's a hybrid between the smaller Pool Frog, P. lessonae, and the larger Marsh Frog, P. ridibundus). The resulting hybrids would usually be infertile when crossed with each other but would produce offspring when mating with one of their parent species. But of all those three the hybrid is actually the most common in large parts of Central Europe. This is possible because a part of the population is triploid instead of diploid so they still retain two chromosome sets from one of the two parent species and one from the other. The term "klepton" is implying that an additional set was "stolen" from one of the parent species which makes successful reproduction without any further participation of individuals of the parent species possible. The Edible Frog's appearance can be an intermediate between the two parent species but often the individuals are very close to one of them so throughout its range it's usually not possible to identify a pond frog with certainty to species level in the field. Females are generally larger than males and often have more dark markings, e.g. at the sides of the head. However, the dark colour is never as extensive as in the brown frogs from the genus Rana where almost the entire temporal region is covered by a dark patch that reaches from nostril to beyond the tympanum. But this model has extensive black markings at the sides of the head that resemble those of a typical brown frog. Still common in most parts throughout its range, IUCN considers the Edible Frog as "Least Concern". A more greenish and very likely slightly smaller male specimen is also available as item No. VN704/1. The female Edible Frog usually retails for around €60-65 or $90 but I was lucky to get this for much less just like the Common Toad, Bufo bufo, and the Common Midwife Toad, Alytes obstetricans.













And as a bonus here I have a photo of a living specimen I took in August 2011 at Grugapark Essen, Germany:


Edit 2017-02-05: Fixed broken image urls.

[stemturtle]

Brontodocus:
The PV Asian tree toad, Pedostibes hosii, was mislabeled as the dyeing poison frog, Dendrobates histrionica.
Both a green and a blue version were released. I recall reading about this figure, but unfortunately, I did not save the source.

When PV uses the same mold for different species, the name sometimes carries over and errors are created. This can be seen with the spiders; the red widow and black widow are painted differently from the same mold, so both are stamped 'red widow'.

Thanks for your reply, bmathison1972. I need to clarify. The blue version of Pedostibes hosii was released by PV in 1996 mislabeled Dendrobates tinctorius and in 1998 mislabeled Dyeing Poisioned Frog. The green version was released in 2002 as a miniature by Yujin. My confusion stemmed from thinking that the green Oriental fire-bellied toad was a recast of the blue Asian tree toad. It was cast from a different mold.


Photo by dinocat62: http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?
topic=267.msg3080#msg3080

Edit: Here is a link to STS with a list of the Poisoned Dart Frogs:
http://sts-forum.forumieren.de/t7112-playvisions-listing-of-sets-animals-and-scientific-names
Quote: There have indeed been TWO editions of PD frogs, the first 1996 with latin names on their bellies, the second one 1998 with english names on their bellies, but some of them wrong. The latin names in brackets are those printed on the 1996 edition. The italic latin names are the up-to-date scientific ones.
- Boulenger's Asian Tree Toad (mislabelled: Dyeing Poison Frog/1996: Dendrobates a. histrionica) - Pedostibes hosii.

[stemturtle]

Brontodocus, you are on a roll with 3B Scientific: first the midwife toad, then the common toad, now the edible frog.  Congratulations!
I have a case of Anuran envy. 

[brontodocus]

Brontodocus, you are on a roll with 3B Scientific: first the midwife toad, then the common toad, now the edible frog.  Congratulations!
I have a case of Anuran envy. 

Thanks, stemturtle! Well, yes, I had to get those while they were offered for around a quarter of the regular retail price, sadly those discounts never lasted long (amazon.com) and prices now seem to have raised again. I'm quite happy since they all represent species occuring near my home (well, I wouldn't find midwife toads in Bochum but not too far away). Those Edible Frogs are ubiquitous in virtually every larger pond around here (but they're shy and most people won't see them). Some specimens  in our university's botanical garden have the appearance of a marsh frog and can grow really huge, around 15 cm, almost bullfrog-sized.