Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

I'm sure I can scrape up a few things. Might also mean I have to make a few purchases, any excuse to add to the collection and expand the blog. 

[bmathison1972]

Species: Rhaetulus didieri De Lisle, 1970

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: F-Toys
Series: Insect Hunter Beetle and Stag Beetle
Year of Production: 2014
Size/Scale: Body length (including mandibles) 7.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second species of Rhaetulus we've seen in the Museum. Other figures of this species include a small version by Sega and a large articulated model by Bandai.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Malaysia
Habitat: Tropical broadleaf forests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood; adults presumably feed on tree sap
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had difficulty researching biological information about this species. Adults apparently are found among recently felled or uprooted trees (presumably where oviposition takes place) in dense montane forests above 750 meters.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): monarch; milkweed butterfly

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Innovative Kids
Series: Junior Groovies - Butterflies
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Wingspan 7.3 cm for an scale of 1:1.2-1:1.4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the seventh time we have seen D. plexippus in the Museum.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, the Azores, Canary Islands, North Africa, Australia, Philippines, and South Pacific islands; rare stray to the United Kingdom
Habitat: Fields, forests, parks, gardens, disturbed areas
Diet: Larvae feed on milkweeds in the family Apocynaceae, most commonly members of the genus Asclepias; adults take nectar from a variety of flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Danaus plexippus exhibits Müllerian mimicry with the viceroy, Limenitis archippus, whereby both species are distasteful to would-be predators; the latter can be distinguished by a black bar that runs along the lower portion of the hind wings.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Periphylla periphylla (Péron & Lesueur, 1810)
Common name(s): helmet jellyfish; merchant-cap

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Aquarium Figure Collection - Deep Sea Creatures 2
Year of Production: 2014
Size/Scale: Base 4.3 x 3.5 cm. Body (central dome) 1.9 cm in diameter for a scale of 1:18
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: No assembly is required and the jellyfish is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Circumglobal
Habitat: Pelagic; at depths of 0-2,900 meters (usually 0-300 meters)
Diet: Zooplankton, small fish, other medusae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Periphylla periphylla is bioluminescent at all stages of its life, exhibiting a blue fluorescence.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Anomalocaris canadensis Whiteaves, 1892

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Great Leap Forward
Year of Production: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length (exclusive of appendages) 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen A. canadensis in the Museum. The animal is removable from its base. This figure is structurally accurate for the time it was made, hence it lacks the frontal head sclerite and is missing the three smaller lateral flaps up near the 'neck' region. The number of larger flaps (13) appears to be correct, although as the flaps get smaller towards the tail, it becomes difficult to know how many there were in life.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Early to mid-Cambrian of present-day Canada
Habitat: Marine, demersal
Diet: Presumably marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Anomalocaris canadensis belongs to a group of animals (Dinocaridida) whose phylogenetic placement is often fluctuating. They have always been aligned with the arthropods to some extent, whether within Arthropoda, proper, or outside of Arthropoda but within a larger Panarthropoda alongside groups like the tardigrades and onychophorans. The dinocarididans are currently placed within Arthropoda, but considered a stem-group and possible sister group to Euarthropoda, which contains more familiar animals such as insects, spiders, crustaceans, and myriapods.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Hapalochlaena lunulata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832)
Common name(s): greater blue-ringed octopus

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bullyland
Series: Water World
Year of Production: 2021
Size/Scale: Maximum width 12.5 cm. Mantle length 5.5 cm, within scale 1:1 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon to rare
Miscellaneous Notes: A recent treat from Bullyland, this may be the best H. lunulata figure ever produced. It complements well the figure of the related blue-lined octopus (H. fasciata) produced by Kaiyodo in 2014.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-West Pacific
Habitat: Benthic, at depths of 0-20 meters; often in areas with a mix of soft sand and rubble and in coral reefs and tide pools
Diet: Marine invertebrates, small fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Hapalochlaena lunulata is one of the most venomous animals in the world. Blue-ringed octopuses have two kinds of poison glands. One produces an immobilizing toxin which is mainly responsible for subduing prey, such as other benthic invertebrates. The second, a tetrodotoxin, is a defensive toxin and is the toxin that has proven fatal to humans. The bite is painless, but effects of the poison can be felt anywhere from 15 minutes after being bit to up to 4 hours. Symptoms include paresthesia, tingling and numbness in the face, lips, tongue, and extremities, excessive sweating, headaches, dizziness, speech impairment, hypersalivation, emesis, weakness, cyanosis, and petechial hemorrhages, followed shortly after by hypotension and spastic muscle paralysis. Death usually occurs between 20 minutes and 24 hours after the onset of symptoms and is usually caused by respiratory paralysis. There is no antivenom for H. lunulata.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Dimetrodon grandis (Case, 1907)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2018
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 18.0 cm for a scale of 1:17-1:25
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: There is no shortage of Dimetrodon figures to chose from; other relatively recent good standard-sized renditions include those by Favorite (2015) and Papo (2013). Doug Watson, who sculpted today's Safari figure, indicated that it was based on D. grandis; perhaps one of the aforementioned figures by Papo or Favorite represents a different species? If so, it could be an opportunity for a 'synoptic species collector' to have more than one nice model of this genus :-).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Early Permian of present-day central North America
Habitat: Open woodlands, scrubland, wetlands, river deltas
Diet: Apex predator of other animals, including sharks, amphibians, and other synapsids
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: One of the most famous 'non-dinosaur dinosaurs', Dimetrodon has always been known for its elongated neural spines that formed a sail running down the animal's back. There have been several theories over the years on the function of these spines, including 1) camouflage among semi-aquatic plants, 2) stability to aid in movement, 3) thermoregulation, 4) territorial display, and 5) sexual selection.

[Isidro]

Maybe this image helps you to identify other brands Dimetrodon figures to species:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Dimetrodon_species2DB15.jpg/800px-Dimetrodon_species2DB15.jpg

In this case the "very common" frequency in toy form is discussable, unless all Dimetrodon toys intend to be D. grandis...

[bmathison1972]

Species: Vespa ducalis Smith, 1852
Common name(s): black-tailed hornet

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Diversity of Life on Earth - Hornets Vol. 2
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 11.5 cm for a scale of 5:1-3.3:1 for a worker
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other figures in the Diversity of Life on Earth line, this wasp is large, requires assembly, is articulated, and may be expensive; it it a model for serious collectors and not a toy to be played with. There is an option to display this model on a swivel arm as if in flight (unfortunately, the arm for mine broke so I have to display it off its base).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East and Southeast Asia, Japan
Habitat: Woodlands, parks, gardens, suburban areas; nests usually occur underground or in crevices
Diet: Larvae are fed the larvae and pupae of paper wasps (Polistinae) provisioned by the adults; adults also feed on paper wasps
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Vespa ducalis is a specialist on polistine wasps. When a host nest is located, the hornets proceed to remove larvae and pupae, but usually leave the adults alone (unlike several other hornets that kill the host adults). Vespa ducalis has some of the smallest colonies among hornets, with usually only 50-60 (less than 100) individuals at the height of the season.

[Isidro]

Atonishing and intriguing behaviour. How do these hornets manage to survive to the adult paper wasp defence of their nest if they don't try to kill the adults?

[bmathison1972]

Atonishing and intriguing behaviour. How do these hornets manage to survive to the adult paper wasp defence of their nest if they don't try to kill the adults?

Apparently the adult paper wasps retreat, essentially go into hiding while the hornets raid their nest; at least that's what I was reading! It's almost a weird symbiosis where the paper wasps 'give' some of their progeny to the hornets? Very unusual behavior, indeed.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Gallinula chloropus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): common moorhen; waterhen; swamp chicken

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Chocoegg Animatales Series 5
Year of Production: 2001
Size/Scale: Figure 4.0 cm tall. Scale difficult to calculate, but measured along spine, body length approximately 7.0 cm for a scale of 1:4.3-1:5.4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Chocoegg Animatales figures, some assembly is required.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Widespread in the Old World: most of Europe to central Russia, southern Asia to the Philippines, Japan, Mediterranean Africa, southern Africa, and Madagascar; generally absent from arid environments
Habitat: Marshlands, lakes, rivers, canals, city parks
Diet: Aquatic and terrestrial plants, algae, cereals, fruits
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Historically, G. chloropus was considered to have a much wider distribution, including the New World, from the eastern and southern United States south to central South America. However, in 2011, the New World populations were reclassified as a separate specis, the common gallinule (Gallinula galeata), originally described by Lichenstein in 1818.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Panulirus japonicus (von Siebold, 1824)
Common name(s): Japanese spiny lobster

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Enoshima Aquarium 3D Atlas Anima Series 1
Year of Production: 2004
Size/Scale: Bottlecap base 3.5 cm in diameter. Maximum width across antennae 9.0 cm. Body length (excluding appendages) approximately 4.0 cm for a scale of 1:6.3-1:7.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: I have six species of Panulirus in my collection (this is the third we've seen in the Musum), but this is the only species with more than one figure. Some assembly is required. The animal is removable from it's rock base, which is removable from the bottlecap base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: West Pacific, from Japan and the Korean Peninsula to Taiwan and adjacent China
Habitat: Benthic, often in rocky areas and coral reefs; at depths of 1-15 meters
Diet: Benthic marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Data Deficient
Miscellaneous Notes: Panulirus japonicus is a major commercial animal in Japan, where it is eaten as steak, in sashimi, and even alive (as zankoku-yaki). The waters around Japan yield on average 8.5 metric tonnes of spiny lobsters annually (although those numbers account for other species, including P. longipes, P. homarus, P. ornatus, P. pencillarus, and P. versicolor).

[Isidro]

I'm rather surprised of how small is the scale. I would expect a spiny lobster to be bigger, about 40 cm of maximum lenght. Maybe is only this species and I'm used to larger Palinurus instead.

[bmathison1972]

I'm rather surprised of how small is the scale. I would expect a spiny lobster to be bigger, about 40 cm of maximum lenght. Maybe is only this species and I'm used to larger Palinurus instead.

I referred to multiple references that indicated a maximum length of 30 cm for P. japonicus; must be a smaller species.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Scolopendra hardwickei Newport, 1844
Common name(s): Indian tiger centipede

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Toxic and Dangerous Animals Vol. 2
Year of Production: 2021
Size/Scale: Body length (excluding appendages) 8.5 cm for a scale of 1:2 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Unlike the Scolopendra subspinipes figures in the first volume of the Toxic and Dangerous Animals collection, which are made of a softer rubber-like PVC, today's centipede is made of a firmer plastic. No assembly is required and it's not posable.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southern India, Nicobar and Andaman Islands, Sri Lanka, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java)
Habitat: Rainforest; usually among rotting logs and leaf litter on the forest floor
Diet: Other arthropods, small amphibians and reptiles
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like many members of its genus, S. hardwickei is venomous. Symptoms of its bite include localized swelling and drowsiness. I have been unable to find any reports of it causing fatalities with humans, however.

[Ikessauro]

Man, your pictures are awesome, I love how you make a cool environment for every shot. I've tried to do that, but your are awesome, way better than mine. I am inspired now 

[bmathison1972]

Man, your pictures are awesome, I love how you make a cool environment for every shot. I've tried to do that, but your are awesome, way better than mine. I am inspired now 

Thanks Ikessauro! THat's very nice to hear!

I use Dioramansion and Bakku Backgrounds dioramas for most of them.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Lynx rufus (Schreber, 1777)
Common name(s): bobcat; red lynx

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari North American Wildlife
Year of Production: 2010
Size/Scale: Height at shoulder approximately 4.3 cm for a scale of 1:13.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: I believe this is the only 'standard-sized' Lynx rufus made by a major manufacturer. Several smaller versions exist; among my favorites are those by Play Visions (1996), K&M International (1997), Colorata (2019), and Safari Ltd. for their Desert TOOB (2004). A wonderful sculpt, today's bobcat is frequently criticized for its often sloppily applied paint job. I have to admit, it looks much better in-hand than photos suggest. When it comes to wild cat species, Safari Ltd. is one of the leaders, alongside Papo.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North America, from southern Canada to central Mexico
Habitat: Highly variable and adaptable, including deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests, deserts, swamps, and suburban areas; usually in areas where they can have dens in hollow trees, thickets, or rocky crevices
Diet: Rodents, lagomorphs, small ungulates, birds, reptiles; sometimes pets, livestock, and poultry
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Like many wild cats, L. rufus is solitary, living in well-defined territories. The size of the territories can vary based on the sex of the cat and distribution of prey, and are typically well-marked with feces, urine, and scratches in prominent trees in the area. On occasion, territories overlap. Unlike many other wild cats, male bobcats seem more tolerant of overlap than females, which rarely wander into each other's ranges! When multiple territories overlap, a dominance hierarchy is established. To date, the bobcat is the only wild felid I have seen naturally in the wild; I saw one on the Bright Angel trail hiking out of the Grand Canyon when I was in college (although with mountain lions common where I live, even being spotted in my neighborhood, I suspect that statistic won't last long...).
 

[Gwangi]

Love bobcats, which means this figure is on my short list of figures to get. Bobcats are the only cat species I've seen in the wild too. Back in the late 90's I lived near a beaver pond and used to sit at the edge of it with my VHS camcorder, hoping to film wildlife. The bobcat was there, and then it was gone. Never got the chance to film it.