Alligator (Safari Ltd - Wildlife Wonders)

[brontodocus]

Walk-around of the Safari Ltd Wildlife Wonders (American) Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis (Daudin, 1802); item No. 113389. Total length (measured as if the animal was fully stretched out) is 289 mm, snout-vent length 148 mm, and head length is 45 mm. The scale is approx. 1:9 - 1:15 for a mature individual and up to 1:20 for world record size. This is currently my favourite alligator figure and highly accurate - down to the nuchal osteoderms which are arranged in the correct pattern (a rare exception in crocodilian toy figures!) so it is even possible to identify this one to species level. Surprisingly, Safari Ltd only identified it to genus level but this is obviously not representing A. sinensis. So, finally Bernie, Safari Ltd's brand mascot, received a figure that really does it justice! While only a few decades ago the American Alligator population was threatened by hunting and habitat loss the species has recovered since and it is considered "Least Concern" by IUCN. _{By the way, this is my first walk-around using postimage.org, let's see if these image last longer than a year or two...}

















Bonus image - size comparison with some other toy figures representing Alligator mississippiensis; Schleich Wild Life, CollectA Wild Life, and the huge Safari Ltd Incredible Creatures figure:

[BlueKrono]

Wow, that one is truly superior in every aspect of anatomical accuracy.

[sbell]

It makes sense, that Safari could finally get the alligator right--they are probably in their backyard! Seriously, alligators are all over the place in Florida!

[brontodocus]

Thanks, BlueKrono and Sean! Yes, since they are located in Florida and have "Bernie" as their mascot they could have probably made an excellent alligator model like this even a few years earlier. But hey, finally we have one. Oh, and I forgot to mention: This is also the first Wildlife Wonders figure not representing a mammal.

[postsaurischian]

  Wonderful walk around! I love this figure.

I'd like to mention that it was sculpted by Doug Watson, who also did most of Safari's 2017 Dinosaurs.
He indeed calls it an American Alligator:

Doug, may i know the extant animals you sculpted? tia

also curious, were you the sculptor of the 2007 lioness with cub?

It's a big list 165 pieces not counting prehistoric animals since 2003. You are not the first to ask, I am not sure how to do it, if I should do a thread here or on the ATF, Dr. Admin any ideas? I am not on the ATF as much. That is a lot of images to post
I didn't do the 2007 lioness with cub but this year I did do the WW American Alligator, WW Whitetail Buck, IC Collared Lizard, WS Howler Monkey.

[brontodocus]

Thanks for the info, Helge! I thought Doug Watson is the only one who made sculpts for the Wildlife Wonders series? Because, he didn't mention the Arctic Fox.