Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

Good thought, @NSD Bashe - a little farther up the evolutionary tree, however ;-)

Species: Chrysiptera cyanea (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)
Common name(s): blue devil; blue damselfish; blue demoiselle, cornflower sergeant-major; sapphire devil; several others

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yowie Group
Series/Collection: Colors of the Animal Kingdom
Year of Production: 2019
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:1.4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: I originally had the Yujin blue damselfish, but ended up replacing it with the Yowie version. Among other things, the Yujin figure is merely a repaint of their whitetail dascyllus (Dascyllus aruanus) despite being from a different genus! Because of the way this Yowie is sculpted, it was hard to get it to sit right for imaging (its large anal fin causes it to sit with its head downwards).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-West Pacific; introduced to the Mediterranean Sea
Habitat: Coral reefs, lagoons; at depths of 0-10 meters
Diet: Marine invertebrates, algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Chrysiptera cyanea is a very aggressive species! A mating pair will often attack any fish of a similar size entering its breeding territory!



Clue for tomorrow's species:
This cute, crested columbid is a seed specialist in the arid Outback.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Geophaps plumifera Gould, 1842
Common name(s): spinifex pigeon; plumed-pigeon; gannaway pigeon

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Series/Collection: Yowies Series 4
Year of Production: 1999
Size/Scale: Scale difficult to measure because of 1:3.3-1:4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Australian Yowies, assembly is required. Like a lot of the early Yowies, a bit stylized but still a pretty decent representation of a unique species!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Australia
Habitat: Arid grassland, spinifex grassland, savanna woodland, rocky hillsides, gorges, gibber plains
Diet: Primarily seeds; also green leaves, insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: While F. plumifera lives in arid environments, it tends to stay in and around habitats with reliable source of water. The bird is gregarious and sedentary, and typically only moves locally to seek out waterholes during times of drought. The spinifex pigeon is a seed specialist, especially of spinifex grasses, and feeds exclusively on the ground. It will occasionally eat insects and green leaves, especially during the breeding season.



Clue for tomorrow's species:
Clusters of parasitic organisms on these gentle giants are used for individual recognition, much like fingerprints.

[Isidro]

Right whale... the old Safari or the new CollectA?

[Gwangi]

Right whale... the old Safari or the new CollectA?

Pretty sure it's Safari's, based on comments he has made in the past.

[bmathison1972]

It is the Safari right whale that I have, but it was already showcased in this thread a while back :-)

[JimoAi]

Welp it's the collectA Grey whale

[bmathison1972]

Correct @JimoAi

Species: Eschrichtius robustus Lilljeborg, 1861
Common name(s): gray whale; grey whale

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series/Collection: Sealife
Year of Production: 2018
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 20.8 cm for a scale of 1:53.4-1:73.1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: In 2023, CollectA produced a miniature version of this figure in their third Sealife tube collection.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North Pacific
Habitat: Pelagic; usually in shallow coastal waters with muddy or sandy bottoms at depths of 0-60 meters
Diet: Benthic invertebrates and fish eggs filtered from sediment on the sea floor
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other baleen whales, E. robustus is a filter feeder, but unlike other baleens, it doesn't filter its prey in the water column. Instead, gray whales dive to the shallow ocean floor and fill their mouths with a large volume of sediment. They filter the sediment through their baleen plates, trapping crustaceans, polychaete worms, and other invertebrates in the mud or sand, as well as fish eggs.



Clue for tomorrow's species:
This large, delicate beauty is poisonous; it acquires toxins from Parsonsia plants fed on by its larvae.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Idea leuconoe Erichson, 1834
Common name(s): paper kite; large tree nymph; rice paper butterfly

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: K&M International
Series/Collection: Wild Republic - Butterflies Nature Tube
Year of Production: 2004
Size/Scale: Wingspan approx. 5.7 cm for a scale of 1:2.1-1:2.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is our fifth look at I. leuconoe in the Museum. Figures in this collection were not identified at the species level, and the identifications are all mine or by other members of the ATF and STS fora. In this case, the justification of I. leuconoe is because it is essentially the same sculpt and paint as the Safari Ltd. 2001 Collectors Case figure, which was specifically marketed as I. leuconoe (sharing sculpts was not uncommon in that era; or at the very least, using the same manufacturer). Also, like Safari's figure, today's K&M paper kite came incorrectly sculpted with tails (see inset). I normally don't like to alter figures, but removing them was a very simple correction.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Taiwan, southern Japan (Ryukyu Islands), northern Australia
Habitat: Lowland tropical and subtropical forests, mangrove swamps
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the genera Parsonsia, Tylophora, and Cynanchum; adults take nectar from flowers.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Because it is large and showy and easy to rear, I. leuconoe is popular in butterfly gardens and other live butterfly displays in zoos, aquariums, and museums.



Clue for tomorrow's species:
These striped beauties 'hover' over rocky areas in shallow waters, rather than digging burrows in sandy areas, in the seas around Japan.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Pterogobius elapoides (Günther, 1872)
Common name(s): serpentine goby

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series/Collection: Choco Q Animatales Series 7
Year of Production: 2003
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 5.8 cm for a scale of 1:1.4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Presumably unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The fish is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North Pacific; central to southern Honshu, Japan to Korean Peninsula and Taiwan
Habitat: Demersal; usually in rocky areas and seaweed beds
Diet: Small marine crustaceans, especially copepods and amphipods
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: I had difficult researching information on this species. Apparently it forms a species complex with P. zonoleucus, P. virgo, and P. zacalles in the waters around Japan. Pterogobius elapoides is probably the sister species of P. zonoleucus and the two can be morphologically separated by the number of vertical black bands on the body, six on P. elapoides and seven on P. zonoleucus.



Clue for tomorrow's species:
This diner on the dead is the largest of its kind.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Aegypius monachus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): cinereous vulture; Eurasian black vulture; monk vulture

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Signatustudio
Series/Collection: 1:20 Mediterranean Collection
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Body length approx. 7.0 cm for a scale of 1:14.6-1:16
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Among more traditional toy brands, Bullyland produced this species form 2007-2014.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southern Palearctic; North Africa, Mediterranean Europe, Middle East, Central and Eastern Asia
Habitat: Open woodlands and shrubland, montane forest, mountain plateaus, forested sloped, steppes, semi-deserts, deserts, alpine meadows, savanna, grassland
Diet: Carrion; rarely predaceous on small, living mammals
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Aegypius monachus is the largest Old World vulture and the largest member of the Accipitridae. As such, it feeds on carrion of any size, from the largest mammals to fish and reptiles. However, on occasion, it will take living prey. The cinereous vulture has been observed taking neonates of ungulates, such as those of antelope, yaks, cattle, pigs, and labs. Other prey include puppies, fledgling pheasants and waterfowl, rodents, amphibians, and reptiles. The vulture has also been observed catching live tortoises and dropping them in flight over rocks to crack their shells!



Clue for tomorrow's species:
This four-horned frond-forager shared its environment with a 'diabolical' relative.

[Isidro]

I don't know if nilgai have some "diabolical" legend around it, but seems plausible. Is the closest relative of four-horned antelope and both can live together, but I'm not aware of any four-horned antelope figurine besides my homemade one...
I guess is a very different kind of animal instead, like a scarab beetle?

[sbell]

Could be something contemporary with Diabloceratops... can't think of a four horned genus though

[Gwangi]

Based on a recent thread in the other forum, I know what this is.

[sbell]

Based on a recent thread in the other forum, I know what this is.

Hadn't seen that. Yup.

[bmathison1972]

Yup, I kinda gave it away, didn't I? Oh well, it was more important for me to make sure I calculated the scale correctly.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Machairoceratops cronusi Lund et al., 2016

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: PNSO
Series/Collection: Prehistoric Animal Models
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Figure approx. 17.0 cm long. Using frill height (exclusive of horns) as a metric (n=2.2 cm) scale comes to 1:22.3 based on the holotype specimen.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Not much to say about a recent figure of a relatively recently described taxon for which there are no other figures to compare.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Late Campanian) of present-day western North America (Laramidia)
Habitat: Open woodlands, riparian areas, seasonal floodplains
Diet: Plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Known only from a single specimen, M. cronusi is closely related to the morphologically-similar Diabloceratops eatoni, with which it shared its habitat. Diabloceratops itself is known only two specimens, one of which (UMNH VP 16704) may actually be Machairoceratops. With so little material known between the two taxa, they could also represent intraspecific variation of the same species!



Clue for tomorrow's species:
Although popular in French cuisine, this calcium-carbonate constructed critter is difficult to cultivate and is rarely farmed commercially.

[sbell]

My guess? Edible snail. Probably Papo because that's the logical company. But I'm not going to look! I'm a rebel!

[bmathison1972]

Correct @sbell - both species and brand. However, I do have the Bullyland version of this species, too, and it has still to come up!

Species: Helix pomatia Linnaeus, 1758
Common name(s): edible snail; Roman snail; Burgundy snail

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Papo
Series/Collection: Wild Animals/Garden Animals
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Figure 6.0 cm across its widest points. The shell width is approx. 2.5 cm and height approx. 1.7 cm, within scale 1:1 for a young individual or 1:1.8-1:2.6 for a mature individual.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: In 2022, Papo reused this sculpt for a grove snail (Cepaea nemoralis). Also in 2022, Papo produced a variation of this edible snail, slightly larger and with its head cocked slightly to the right instead of left; it was never seen on the usual seller sites and may have been only released in Europe or released for a specific museum, zoo, or event (I don't have it, but I want it). In 2023, Papo moved several figures (including today's snail) from their Wild Animals collection to a new collection, Garden Animals.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Europe; introduced to eastern North America
Habitat: Woodlands, shrubland, grasslands, fields, wetlands, suburban parks and gardens
Diet: Vegetation, with a preference for calcium-rich plants for shell growth
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: When H. pomatia forages, it leaves behind a slime trail. The slimes assist the snail in moving over both smooth and rough surfaces. The snail also use the slime trail for navigation; they follow the trail back home, and then to return to the food source the next day.



Clue for tomorrow's species:
This colorful croaker is well-adapted to human environments, and in some cases may prefer them to its native habitats.

[JimoAi]

Some sort of striped marsh frog?

[bmathison1972]

Some sort of striped marsh frog?

Your in the right broad group (Anura) but not a marsh frog. I admit, I had a hard time coming up with a good clue for this one.