Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

Species: Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758 (giant anteater)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Wildlife
Year of Release: 2005
Size/Scale: Total figure length 14.0 cm. Body length (excluding tail) 9.5 cm for a scale of approximately 1:10.5-1:12.5; the head is 3.0 cm long, which calculates to about 1:10-1:15 scale.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: There have been several examples of M. tridactyla made over the years, but until Schleich released one in late 2020, it seems like it has been a while since a standard-sized figure has been readily available. This Safari figure was retired in 2011, but in my opinion is one of the best, as long as one doesn't mind the extruded tongue or the baby riding on the back.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and South America
Habitat: Grasslands, forests, rainforests, swamps
Diet: Ants, termites, and other insects living in ant and termite nests
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Giant anteaters do not have teeth! Their long tongues can extent about 60 cm outside of the long, slender snout and is armed with spine-like protrusions for picking up its soft-bodied invertebrate prey.

[Isidro]

Hmmm, it's quite bigger than the Papo one, is it?

[bmathison1972]

Hmmm, it's quite bigger than the Papo one, is it?

I don't have the Papo model, so I can't compare.

[Halichoeres]

Just popping in to say I continue to enjoy this tour through your museum.

[bmathison1972]

Just popping in to say I continue to enjoy this tour through your museum.

Glad you are enjoying it Halichoeres!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Turdus celaenops Stejneger, 1887 (Izu thrush)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Animatales Series 7
Year of Release: 2003
Size/Scale: Figure stands 4.0 cm tall. Body length 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:3.8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Capsule Q figures, some assembly is required.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Izu, Tokara, Danjo, and Yakushima Islands, Japan
Habitat: Natural and secondary forests, disturbed areas, gardens
Diet: Invertebrates, fruits, berries
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: There are two main theories on the origin of the island endemic T. celaenops. One, is that it is a relatively new species descended from brown thrushes (T. chrysolaus-complex). The other is that they are a relict species related to black-breasted thrush (T. dissimilis) from mainland China.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Dynastes grantii Horn, 1870 (western Hercules beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King
Year of Release: 2003
Size/Scale: Base 4.5 cm long. Body length (including horns) 5.1 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is another species that has become somewhat of a staple among Japanese manufacturers. It seems interesting that a species from southwestern North America would have caught the eye of companies in Asia. It is probably because D. grantii is a hardy species that is very easy and popular to breed in terraria. Figures in the Mushi King collection shown here are affixed to a base simulating wood; the figures can swivel on the base but cannot be removed from it (at least not safely or easily, from what I can tell).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southwestern United States, northern Mexico
Habitat: Subtropical woodlands, particularly in the pine-oak transition zones, and often in riparian areas.
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood of several trees; adults feed on tree sap, primarily of Fraxinus velutina (Arizona ash).
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Growing up a beetle collector in Arizona, this species is particularly special to me. I was in high school when I first collected it, a large female in Sedona, Arizona over Labor Day weekend! Adults are commonly attracted to light at night and are a favorite of collectors who flock to southern Arizona during the monsoon season in search of interesting beetles.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Opisthopora, gen. sp. (earthworm, life cycle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Safariology - Life Cycle of an Earthworm
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: The four stages are not in scale with each other. The adult figure is 8.5 cm across its widest points, but measured along the midline it comes to 20.8 cm, which puts it in the scale of 1:1 for some species [scale species-dependent]
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare [earthworms, generally]
Miscellaneous Notes: Earthworms are rarely made, and when they are it is usually for the purpose of novelty toys. Few major companies have tackled them. In addition to this figure, I also have one each by Bullyland and Kaiyodo, and only Kaiyodo marketed theirs at the species level.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Worldwide [individual species more restricted]
Habitat: Leaf litter, soil, compost
Diet: Decaying organic material
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [species-dependent]
Miscellaneous Notes: Earthworms are hermaphroditic, and two worms fertilize each other. Copulation and reproduction are several processes, however, and an individual earthworm regulates the mixing of sperm and egg and can become the genetic mother of some of its offspring and genetic father of others. Some earthworms are parthenogenetic, meaning adults can produce viable eggs without reproduction.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Dynastes grantii Horn, 1870 (western Hercules beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Epoch
Series: Flying Beetles
Year of Release: 2004
Size/Scale: Body length (including horns) 6.5 cm, within scale 1:1. Wingspan 11.7 cm.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: Wow, the same species coming up twice in a three-day period! That's the thing about randomness, it could happen! There is some assembly required for this figure. It attaches to a habitat-style base with a black plastic rod, from which it is removable.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southwestern United States, northern Mexico
Habitat: Subtropical woodlands, particularly in the pine-oak transition zones, and often in riparian areas.
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood of several trees; adults feed on tree sap, primarily of Fraxinus velutina (Arizona ash).
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: While D. grantii has not been formally evaluated by the IUCN, it is considered a 'Species of Greatest Conservation Need' (SGCN) in New Mexico and may be at high risk of endangerment due to the effects of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), an Asian buprestid that has become a forestry pest in North America.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Argiope amoena Koch, 1878 (garden spider; kogane-gumo)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Figure Pictorial Book of Gakken Insect
Year of Release: 2003
Size/Scale: Web base 6.2 cm long. Body length 2.0 cm, within scale 1:1. Carapace width 0.6 cm, which also calculates to 1:1 scale
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: For the longest time this figure was unique, until late 2020 when Kaiyodo produced A. amoena in their Kumucolle! collection within the Capsule Q Museum line. This Bandai figure sits upon a web-style base; it does not appear to be safely removable the base (but I dare not try too hard for fear of breakage). A small hymenopteran prey is painted on the underside of the web! The Kaiyodo figure, having been recently released at the time of this writing, is more readily available and is much more realistic.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia, Japan; invasive in Hawaii
Habitat: Forests, fields and clearings with patches of dense vegetation, rice paddies, gardens
Diet: Flying insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Many orb-weavers spin zig-zag patterns into their webs, called stabilimenta. The purpose of the stabilimenta is not fully understood, but theories include 1) stability of the web, 2) attracting insect prey, 3) discourage birds from flying through them, or 4) enhance detection of vibrations when potential prey becomes stuck in the web. The true function is probably visual, since only diurnal araneids produce stabilimenta.

[Halichoeres]

I learned something about araneid webs today!

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Pteraspis rostrata (Agassiz, 1835)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Dinotales Series 2
Year of Release: 2001
Size/Scale: Body length (including rostrum) 9.0 cm for a scale of 1:2.22
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Dinotales figures, some assembly is required. The figure is removeable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Lower Devonian of modern-day Europe
Habitat: Pelagic
Diet: Marine invertebrates, small vertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Pteraspis rostrata did not have pectoral fins, but did have lateral growths that are believed to have functioned like hydrofoils for propulsion in water. The tail had a longer lower lobe, which would give the animal an upwards lift, suggesting a pelagic lifestyle rather than benthic.

[JimoAi]

Happy chinese new year blaine. I rmb being so fascinate switch prehistoric marie life when I was a kid and I wanted every single toy and figure of prehistoric sea life, including this, but I only got a handful

[bmathison1972]

Happy chinese new year blaine.

Thank you! And to you, too! 

[bmathison1972]

Species: Hyalessa maculaticollis (Motschulsky, 1866) (min-min cicada)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Insects of Japan Vol. 1
Year of Release: 2005
Size/Scale: Figure length (including wings) 5.7 cm. Body length (excluding wings) 3.2 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This species is usually marketed as Oncotympana maculaticollis. Some assembly is required. It is believed the Insects of Japan figures are cast from actual specimens, so they are all in the 1:1 scale.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: China, eastern Russia, Korean Peninsula, Japan
Habitat: Forests, gardens
Diet: Nymphs feed on subterranean plant roots; adults drink sap from trees
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Hyalessa maculaticollis spends on average three years underground as a nymph.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Allomyrina dichotoma (Linnaeus, 1771) (Japanese rhinoceros beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: B.I.G. Insects; B.I.G. Beetles
Year of Release: 2015, 2017
Size/Scale: Body length (including horn) 11.0 cm for a scale of 2.75:1-1.4:1 (on average, roughly twice natural size)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: Allomyrhina dichotoma is the most-represented species in my collection, and this is the second time we've seen it in the Museum. These two figures represent the same sculpt, produced multiple times by Takara. The figure on the right is the 2015 release in the B.I.G. Insects collection; the one on the left is the 2017 release in the B.I.G. Beetles collection. Takara prints the year under the left elytron so it's easy to tell which is which. Some assembly is required and the figures are loosely articulated.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia, including China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical hardwood forests
Diet: Larvae feed on organic detritus in soil; adults are attracted to sap flows
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Large scarabaeoid beetles spend most of their lives underground as larvae. The developmental cycle for A. dichotoma is roughly a year, from egg to adult. As adults, they live for only about four months and die after mating and oviposition.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Pantholops hodgsonii (Abel, 1826) (chiru; Tibetan antelope)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Wildlife
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Total height 9.5 cm. Height at shoulder 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:15
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (unique as a sculpt)
Miscellaneous Notes: As a sculpt, this figure is a unique species in the toy realm. However, it was also marketed by CBIOV (in conjunction with CollectA) for their Protected Animals of China collection.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Tibetan Plateau of China and northern India
Habitat: Alpine and cold steppes, usually is open terrain with sparse vegetation cover
Diet: Forbs, grasses, and sedges
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: It has been suggested that the Tibetan Plateau was the cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals. Pantholops hodgsonii has several adaptations for living at high elevation and in the cold. One is the position and size of the nostrils and structure of the nasal cavity, which are larger than its relatives that live at lower elevations. It also has a double coat, consisting of long, thick guard hairs and a silky undercoat of shorter fibers. Unfortunately, the undercoat, called a shahtoosh, is why the chiru was hunted to near extinction in 1980s and 1990s.

[Isidro]

I knew that it was in the brink of extiction for the pelt, so it's a very good new to read that is now so well recovered as for being downgraded to just Near Threatened, I didn't knew that.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Hypna clytemnestra (Cramer, 1777) (jazzy leafwing)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Butterflies TOOB
Year of Release: 2011
Size/Scale: Wingspan 5.0 cm, for a scale of 1.5:1-2.2:1 (on average, about half natural size)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was marketed as Anaea clytemnestra. The figures in Safari's Butterflies TOOB consist of four sculpts, with two paint styles each, for a total of eight species. The figures are also stamped with the Latin name on the underside of the wings. The underside of the wings of this figure are painted exactly like the upper side, which is not accurate for this species (see below). Also, like most nymphalid figures, this figure has an incorrect number (six) of walking legs.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and South America, from Mexico the Amazon Basin; one subspecies endemic to Cuba
Habitat: Rainforest lowlands and foothills, usually in the canopy
Diet: Larvae feed on Croton floribundus (croton); adults take juices from overripe fruit and sap flows
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: While the upper side of the wings of Hypna clytemnestra are brightly colored, the undersides are colored like dead leaves so the butterfly becomes inconspicuous when resting on foliage.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Amphiprion ocellaris Cuvier, 1830 (clown anemonefish; common clownfish)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Coral Reef Fish
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Figure 5.7 cm long across its widest points. Body length of fish 4.0 cm for a scale of 1:2.25-1:2.75.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: My Colorata Coral Reef Fish box set was released in 2015, but it is a re-release of an earlier set (I just haven't figured out the original year). The fish attach to the host anemone with a clear acrylic rod and are safely removable.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-West Pacific, from northern Australia to the Sea of Japan
Habitat: Coral reefs, usually at a depth of 1-15 meters
Diet: Plankton, algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Amphiprion ocellaris forms a symbiotic relationship with its host anemone. The fish and their nests benefit by receiving protection by the stinging tentacles of the anemone, and the anemone benefits by receiving protection from fish that might feed on its tentacles and removal of parasites or other debris. It has also been proposed that the bright color of the fish attracts potential prey for the anemone.