Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

Species: Perodictus potto (Müller, 1766) (potto)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Play Visions
Series: Lemurs & Prosimians
Year of Release: 1999
Size/Scale: Head-and-body length 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:6.6-1:8.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is probably one of the most sought-after figures in the one of the most sought-after sets by Play Visions. I got mine fairly recently in a large eBay lot.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Equatorial West Africa
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Primarily fruit, also tree gums and insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: Perodictus potto has few natural predators due to its nocturnal and arboreal habits. They are often hidden in dense vegetation and have the ability to remain motionless for long periods of time. They occasionally eaten by African palm civets, and less commonly by chimpanzees. They are also hunted by humans for bushmeat.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Atrax robustus Cambridge, 1877 (Sydney funnelweb spider)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Series: Yowies Series 2; Yowies UK Series 2
Year of Release: 1997
Size/Scale: Australian figure has a body length of 3.7 cm, at the large end of 1:1 scale for a female. UK figure has a base of 4.0 cm; body length 3.0 cm, within scale 1:1 for a female.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure on the left is from the the original Australian release; assembly is required. The figure on the right is from the UK release which came out in the same year; it is a solid piece of PVC. Yowies tend to be rather stylized (especially the vertebrates) and the UK counterpart, while simple, is often more realistic.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Sydney Region, New South Wales, Australia
Habitat: Moist microhabitats, such as in soil and under rocks and logs in gullies, forests, gardens, compost heaps
Diet: Invertebrates; occasionally small vertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Atrax robustus is often regarded as the most venomous spider in the world. The venom contains delta atracotoxin, which makes the venom particularly lethal to primates, more so than to other mammals. Interestingly, unlike widows in the genus Latrodectus where the females are the more venomous sex, it is the males of A. robustus that are more venomous. Most figures of A. robustus, including the two we are looking at today, appear to be based on females.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Megasoma elephas (Fabricius, 1775) (elephant beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Maruka
Series: The Strongest Beetle Legend
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (including cephalic horn) 4.5 cm. Body length (excluding cephalic horn) 3.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.3-1:2.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: One of the most common species made by Japanese manufacturers, I am surprised it took so long for us to see M. elephas in the Museum. I don't know much about this set; I stumbled upon it on the Japanese Yahoo! auctions one day. The figures in the set are cheaper in quality and not nearly as detailed as we have come to expect from companies such as Kaiyodo, Yujin, F-toys, Sega, and others.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central American and northern South America
Habitat: Rainforests, plantations
Diet: Larvae feed on detritus in rotting logs and tree stumps, under bark, and in tree holes; adults feed on sap and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other large scarabaeoids that develop in rotting logs and similar substrates, M. elephas has a long developmental cycle. It takes roughly three years from egg to emergence of the adult.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Todiramphus cinnamominus miyakoensis (Kuroda, 1919) (Ryukyu kingfisher)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Animatales Series 8
Year of Release: 2004
Size/Scale: Figure height 4.5 cm. Body length 7.5 cm for a scale of 1:2.6-1:3.2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Kaiyodo released two versions of this figure, this one and one representing the nominate T. cinnamominus (Guam kingfisher). If one chooses not to recognize T. c. miyakoensis as a valid taxon (see below), this figure could represent the nominate form as well. Being one of the original Choco Q figures, assembly is required.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Miyako-jima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan
Habitat: Forests, mangrove swamps
Diet: Reptiles, insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Extinct
Miscellaneous Notes: Todiramphus cinnamominus miyakoensis is a potentially dubius taxon of kingfisher. It is known from a single male specimen collected on Miyako-jima in the Ryukyu Islands in 1887. Some authorities believe it is mislabeled specimen from Guam where the nominate T. cinnamominus (Guam kingfisher) lived, or possibly a vagrant. If it is indeed a valid taxon from the Ryukyu islands, it is probably extinct. The nominate Guam kingfisher is currently classified in Extinct in the Wild.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758 (brown bear; grizzly bear)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Papo
Series: Wild Animals
Year of Release: 2013
Size/Scale: Height 12.7 cm for a scale of approximately 1:20
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: A commonly-made species, there are a lot of options to choose from. Just in standard-sized standing bears as seen here, there are three good options: this one, and the figures by Safari Ltd. (2016) and Schleich (2013). I bounced back-and-forth between this one and the Safari figure, but finally settled with Papo.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northern Eurasia, northwestern North America
Habitat: Highly variable, including montane forests, tundra, alpine meadows, ice fields
Diet: Nondiscrimanant omnivore, with specific diet varying by seasonal availability.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern (globally)
Miscellaneous Notes: While bears are known for their hibernation, U. arctos does not truly hibernate. They do have a period of inactivity that starts between October and December and ends around March to May, depending on the location, weather, and overall health of the animal. The bears will go into a deep sleep, but it is not considered true hibernation as their body temperature only drops by a couple of degrees and they can be easily awakened if disturbed.

[Isidro]

I'm wondering about if bears developed bipedal position as a form of Batesian mimicry of humans, evolving to look like an human from a distance and hence have more chances of being not hunted by wolf packs or human themselves?

[bmathison1972]

Species: Forcipiger flavissimus Jordan et McGregor, 1898 (yellow longnose butterflyfish; forceps butterflyfish)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Saltwater Fish Pictorial Book 1
Year of Release: 2004
Size/Scale: Body length 4.8 cm for a scale of 1:4.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure is removable from its habitat-style base

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific, from eastern Africa to Hawaii; Eastern Pacific, from Baja California, the Revillagigedo Islands, and the Galapagos Islands
Habitat: Coral reefs, at depths of 2-145 meters
Diet: Marine invertebrates, fish eggs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Forcipiger flavissimus is known for its territorial behavior. Typically, a monogamous couple will patrol their territory on a reef, keeping away would-be competitors. It is a popular species in aquaria, and despite it territoriality, it is compatible with other non-aggressive fish; however, it will nip at invertebrates.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Prosopocoilus inclinatus (Motschulsky, 1857)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: unknown
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Total body length (including mandibles) 3.0 cm for a scale of 1:2.5 for a major male
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: Today is our fifth look at this commonly-made species in the Museum, the first species to reach this milestone! This figure comes from an unknown set of miniatures produced by Sega. It was gifted to me by forum member Beetle guy, and I have no idea when it came out or what the set consisted of. I have a couple species in a similar size that are presumably from the same collection.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan, Taiwan, Korean Peninsula
Habitat: Oak forests
Diet: Larvae breed in rotting logs of Quercus (oak); adults are attracted to sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: There are roughly seven subspecies of P. inclinatus: the nominate P. i. inclinatus occurs in Japan, Taiwan, and the Korean Peninsula; P. i. kuchinoerabuensis occurs on Kuchinoerabujima Island, Japan; P. i. koreanus occurs in North Korea; P. i. kuroshimaensis occurs on Kuroshima Island, Japan; P. i. mikuraensis occurs on Mikura Island, Japan; P. i. yakushimaensis occurs on Yakushima Island, Japan; P. i. mishimaiouensis occurs on Mishima Island, Japan.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Pulex irritans Linnaeus, 1758 (human flea)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Sanitary Insect Pest Exhibition
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length 4.2 cm for a scale of 21:1-12:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: No assembly required. The figure comes with an acrylic base to which it attached with a thin, acrylic rod; the figure is removeable from its base, but will not stand without it.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Cosmopolitan
Habitat: Larvae live in the environment, usually in close proximity to the host; adults are obligate ectoparasites on the skin of the host.
Diet: Larvae feed on organic material, including feces of adult fleas and host animal; adults take blood from mammals and birds
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Pulex irritans is believed to have originated in Central or South America; its original hosts may have been cavimorph rodents. Despite its common name 'human' flea, it feeds on a variety of warm-blooded animals. It is not an efficient vector for bloodborne diseases but can transmit some tapeworms, notably Dipylidium caninum and Hymenolepis spp., if ingested.

[Isidro]

I'm very surprised that a so well known species only have a single rendition in figure form. I also was totally unaware about the South American origin of the insect, I always believed that it was native in Europe!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) (red-tailed hawk)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wings of the World
Year of Release: 2017
Size/Scale: Wingspan 14.3 cm for a scale of 1:7-1:10
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure appears to be painted after a light juvenile specimen of the western subspecies, B. j. calurus.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North and Central America
Habitat: Forests, rainforests, scrub desert, plains, montane grasslands, agricultural fields, parks, residential areas; often in open areas with suitable high perches
Diet: Small mammals, birds, reptiles
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Buteo jamaicensis is monogamous and paired couples will stay together for many years. Nests are usually built 4-21 meters off the ground, in trees, cliff edges, and artificial structures. Females lay 1-5 eggs in the spring. Both parents will incubate the eggs, but generally the female spends more time incubating while the male collects food for the female, and eventually the chicks. Chicks spend about 42-46 days in the nest and the fledgling period lasts about 10 weeks, while they learn to fly and hunt.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Thylacinus cyanocephalus (Harris, 1808) (thylacine; Tasmanian tiger)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Southlands Replicas
Series: Australian Animals
Year of Release: 2016
Size/Scale: Figure 11.5 cm long. Height at shoulder 4.2 cm for a scale of 1:8.3-1:14
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: I almost went with the Mojö Fun figure, since it is one of the few figures of this species that doesn't have the mouth gaping open so wide. In the end, however, I went with the Southlands Replicas figure since, with few exceptions, I go with their representative of a given species.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Australia, Papua New Guinea, Tasmania
Habitat: Woodlands, dry Eucalyptus forests, wetlands, grasslands, coastal heath
Diet: Other animals, primarily marsupials and birds
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Extinct
Miscellaneous Notes: The last known thylacine in the wild was killed in 1930; the last captive specimen died in 1936. There have been over 200 reported sightings of T. cyanocephalus since 1936, although none have been substantiated. It has also been suggested that T. cyanocephalus survived until the 1980s and that the window of extinction, assuming it really is extinct, was in the late 1990s and 2000s.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Hypolimnas misippus (Linnaeus, 1764) (danaid eggfly; mimic; diadem)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Land & Sea Collectibles
Series: Nature Series
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Wingspan 3.7 cm for a scale of 1:1.5-1:2.4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Land & Sea Collectibles are resin (or some other non-PVC material) figurines that are designed primarily as accessories in the fairy garden hobby. The butterflies are not identified to the species level, and the identification here is my own. The figures I have seen to date all appear to be painted after actual species, although the ventral side is not realistic, and merely painted the same as the dorsal side.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Africa, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Caribbean, with strays reaching Central and South America and Southeastern USA; its presence in the Americas may be due to human introduction.
Habitat: Rainforests, Acacia scrub, deserts, vegetated beaches, disturbed areas, gardens
Diet: Larvae have a broad host range, including several plants in the families Portulacaceae, Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Convolvoluceae, and Malvaceae; adults take nectar from flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Hypolimnas misippus is sexually dimorphic. Dorsally, males (as shown here) are brown-black with white maculae. The females however are mimics of the danaine Danaus chrysippus (plain tiger, African monarch) where their distributions overlap.

[Isidro]

Whit these robust body, big thorax with small abdomen, elongated forewings not-so-radial venation it looks like a skipper! Maybe they pretended to do the sculpt af a skipper but later they painted it as an Eggfly

[bmathison1972]

Whit these robust body, big thorax with small abdomen, elongated forewings not-so-radial venation it looks like a skipper! Maybe they pretended to do the sculpt af a skipper but later they painted it as an Eggfly

I think it's only robust to prevent breakage

[Isidro]

Quite probably. Also, there are some skippers that resemble this paintjob - such as Dalla dimidiatus - but don't match perfectly, and it's quite unprobable that the manufacturer went with such obscure species instead the very well known eggfly.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Triarthrus sp.

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Encyclopedia of the Paleozoic
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length 4.3 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (unique as a sculpt, see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: Minimal assembly required. The figure comes with a flat base on which it loosely sits; the base displays the animal's Japanese and Latin names. This figure is essentially a revamped version of the original Dinotales figure from 2002. Loyalists will say it is a brand new sculpt, but it is not. They may have refined some of the edges and of course the paint is different, but the Dinotales figure was the basis for this one.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Upper Ordovician of present-day eastern North America, China, and Scandinavia
Habitat: Benthic
Diet: Presumed soft-bodied invertebrates and/or scavengers or filter-feeder
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Specimens of T. eatoni in the Beecher's Trilobite Bed in New York are excellently preserved in iron pyrite. Specimens in iron pyrite have their gills, legs, antennae, and digestive systems well-preserved, which give paleontologists key insight into the anatomy and physiology of trilobites. These specimens also allow for a plausible reconstruction of its life history, as exuviae of immatures have also been discovered.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Lynx canadensis Kerr, 1792 (Canada lynx)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari North American Wildlife
Year of Release: 2016
Size/Scale: Figure length (including tail) 8.0 cm. Height at shoulder 4.7 cm for a scale of 1:10-1:12
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the one species from Safari's 2020 Great Lakes TOOB set I did not retain, as I prefer this standard-sized figure.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Alaska and Canada, with scattered localities in northern continental United States
Habitat: Mature forests, open forests, tundra
Diet: Primarily snowshoe hares, but also rodents, birds, fish, and (in the winter) deer
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Lynx canadensis relies heavily on snowshoe hares for a food source. Consequently, L. canadensis has developed a cyclic predator-prey relationship with the hares. As the populations of hares goes up, so do populations of the lynx; when hare populations drop drastically (usually every 8-11 years), the lynx move to areas with more hares and produce fewer offspring, also dropping their populations. These cycles are considered an examples of Lotka–Volterra equations.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Tyrannosaurus rex Osborn, 1905

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Year of Release: 2017
Size/Scale: Body length 34.0 cm for a scale of 1:37
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: Tyrannosaurus rex is the most commonly-made, and most scrutinized, species of dinosaur in the toy/figure world, quite possibly the most commonly made and debated animal in our hobby! Don't like tripod stances? Like feathers? Don't like feathers? Want lips? Don't care about lips? No matter what your take on T. rex is, there is something for everyone. I picked this figure for two reasons. One, I think it is a good compromise regarding the theory of a feathered T. rex while not being too gaudy. Secondly, when it comes to most of my dinosaurs, I am a Safari Ltd. loyalist, especially those sculpted by Doug Watson; his style is my favorite.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of present-day western North America
Habitat: Subtropical plains, coastal plains, semi-arid plains, bayou-like habitats
Diet: Primarily a predator on other dinosaurs, including hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, ankylosaurs, and sauropods; also an opportunistic scavenger
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Much of what we now know about T. rex anatomy comes from the famous skeleton designated 'Sue'. Sue is one of the most complete and best-preserved specimens of T. rex, with over 73% of the skeleton recovered (90% by bulk). Despite a long, nasty history of fighting over the legal ownership of Sue, she now resides at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, IL to be appreciated by all.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Nardoa rosea Clark, 1921 (rose sea star)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: unknown
Series: unknown
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Armspan 5.0 cm for a scale of 1:4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (unique as a sculpt, see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure comes from a set by an unknown company; the set uses the same sculpts from Play Visions' 1996 Starfish collection. Some of the figures are marked with an 'S.H.' which has led some collectors to speculate these figures were produced by Hong Kong-based Shing Hing. Another possibility is that they were produced by Wing Mau, who continues to release PV figures, or another unknown company collaborated with Wing Mau. Regardless, the quality of these unknown figures are just as good, in terms of plastic and paint application, as Play Visions figures. They do lack the common name present on the underside PV figures, however. If I ever have the opportunity to get the original PV figure, I might replace it, but for now this figure (and others like it) serve my needs just fine.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Coral reefs
Diet: Predator on marine invertebrates, algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had a challenge researching information on this species. Most of the information above is based on other members of the genus Nardoa or the family Ophidiasteridae.