Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

Species: Armadillidium vulgare (Latreille, 1804) (common pillbug)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Dango Mushi 01 and 05
Years of Release: 2018 (01) and 2019 (05)
Size/Scale: Unrolled, figure 14.0 cm for a scale of 7.5:1 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon (but becoming more common)
Miscellaneous Notes: There is no assembly, but obviously substantial articulation, to allow the figures to be unrolled and rolled back up again. In fact, these gashapon figures serve as their own 'capsules' in Japanese vending machines! The unrolled lighter figure is the original concept from the first Dango Mushi collection in 2018. The darker, rolled figure is a variant that was released in 2019. Bandai has used this same sculpt to represent other species of pillbugs and other varieties of A. vulgare.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Nearly cosmopolitan
Habitat: Forests, fields, gardens, and disturbed areas, usually in soil, leaf litter, or under rocks and logs
Diet: Decaying vegetation
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Armadillidium vulgare is native to Europe but has been introduced to much of the world by human activity.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan, 1805) (green grocer cicada)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Series: Yowies Series 3
Year of Release: 1999
Size/Scale: Figure length 5.0 cm. Body length 4.0 cm, for a scale roughly 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Like all of original Australian Yowies, the figure is somewhat stylized and assembly is required. Still, the original Yowies are a great way to get unique figures of Australian species!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Coastal southeastern Australia
Habitat: Forests and disturbed areas
Diet: Developing nymphs feed on plant roots; adults suck tree sap, including Eucalyptus.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Nymphs of C. australasiae remain underground for seven years.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Dynastes neptunus (Quensel, 1817) (Neptune beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: B.I.G. Beetles
Year of Release: 2017
Size/Scale: Body length 13.0 cm, within scale 1:1 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: Takara has used this sculpt multiple times, often with slight variations in color or texture. It has also been marketed by Subarudo. Assembly is required and the points of attachment are loose, allowing for some articulation.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood within treeholes of living trees, including Alchornea, Ocotea, and Urera; adults attracted to overripe fruit and sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Larvae typically develop in tree hollows that run anywhere from near the soil to up near the canopy. Adults fly at night, often before dawn.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Pleuractis granulosa (Klunzinger, 1879) (mushroom coral)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Corals in Colour
Year of Release: 2005
Size/Scale: Diameter of animal 2.5 cm, for a scale of 1:5.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was marketed as Fungia granulosa. The Yujin corals are small and made out of a limestone-calcium carbonate sandstone, rather than the usual PVC. They make great accessories for other marine wildlife.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indian and South Pacific Oceans and associated inlets
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical reefs
Diet: Small marine animals that drift within reach
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Pleuractis granulosa is not attached to a substrate and is capable of benthic locomotion.

[Halichoeres]

I looked up every single genus and species in that Yujin coral set to see if any of them could be plausibly included in my prehistoric displays, but they're all quite modern. Really cool set.

[bmathison1972]

I looked up every single genus and species in that Yujin coral set to see if any of them could be plausibly included in my prehistoric displays, but they're all quite modern. Really cool set.

Yes, I was happy to find a complete set on eBay when I started building my Synoptic Collection. I have reviewed the entire set on the ATB.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Asaphus kowalewskii Lawrow, 1856

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Paleocasts
Series: Trilobite Cast Collection
Year of Release: 2017
Size/Scale: Body length 7.0 cm, within the scale of 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Paleocasts is a line of prehistoric animals, mainly invertebrates, produced by artist Patrick May and sold on Etsy in the U.S. The figures can usually be purchased finished (as shown here) or unfinished.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Middle Ordovician of present day Russia, especially in the Wolchow River region near Saint Petersburg
Habitat: Benthic
Diet: Presumably scavenger or predator on other invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: This species is known for its distinctive eye stalks, which are less pronounced in this figure than they are some actual specimens.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Prosopocoilus dissimilis elegans (Inahara, 1958)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Japanese Stag Beetles
Year of Release: 2013
Size/Scale: Body + mandible length 6.0 cm, within the scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: Some assembly required and the mandibles are articulated. There were two figures of this sculpt in this collection, representing two different color forms (a common practice with Kaiyodo's beetles, as seen in the first post in this thread which also represents two figures from the same collection as today's!). There are several subspecies of P. dissimilis; this one was also made by Kaiyodo for their Choco Q Animatales series. This species is not as common in toy/figure form as its congeners P. inclinatus and P. giraffa.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Tokara, Japan
Habitat: Forests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting logs; adults are attracted to sap flows
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: This subspecies is endemic to Tokara Islands of Japan. Like other large, showy Japanese lucanids, it is popular with collectors and breeders.

[bmathison1972]

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

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kabaya
Series: Insect Directory
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (including horn) 4.0 cm, for a scale of 1:2-1:1. Base 5.5 cm long.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is one of the two the most represented species in my collection, with 41 specimens to-date, so it was bound come up sooner or later using a random method of selection. This figure has a habitat-style base (as do all the figures in the Insect Directory collection) from which it can be removed.

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: Allomyrina dichotoma is very popular in Japanese culture, and appears in cartoons, commercials, card games, and is bred in terraria. This accounts for it being one of the most commonly-made animal species by Japanese companies.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius, 1775) (southern black widow)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Venomous Spiders
Year of Release: 2010
Size/Scale: Display 4.0 cm long. Diameter of abdomen 1.2 cm for a scale of 1:1 for a gravid female
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure is removable from its leaf base. It also comes with a flat black circular base (not shown here) that has the Latin name, Japanese name, and degree of toxicity.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eastern and southeastern USA and the West Indies; introduced to Hawaii.
Habitat: Forests, fields, rodent burrows, disturbed areas, houses, gardens, garages, sheds.
Diet: Small insects and other arthropods
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Females of Latrodectus mactans are very venomous, and their bite is neurotoxic. However, the dose of toxin delivered in a bite is usually too small to cause severe illness or death in humans.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Telmessus cheiragonus (Tilesius, 1815) (helmet crab)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Play Visions
Series: Habitat Earth: Crabs
Year of Release: 1996
Size/Scale: Legspan 6.5 cm. Carapace width 2.0 cm for a scale of 1:5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: One of the many interesting and unique species made by Play Visions in the mid-late 1990s. As with other such figures, it can be difficult to find these days. I do not believe the PEC crab collection, which consists mainly of Play Visions knockoffs, contains this species (others can correct me if I am wrong).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North Pacific coasts, including Siberia, Russia, and Korea in Asia, and from the Bering Sea to Monterey Bay, California in America
Habitat: Intertidal and subtidal zones, often in eelgrass and kelp forests
Diet: Eelgrass, algae, worms, mollusks
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: The helmet crab's camouflaging colors make it difficult to detect among eelgrass and kelp and in sediment.

[bmathison1972]

The arthropods have had a good run over the last week or so, but time for something different:

Species: †Coelophysis bauri (Cope, 1887)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Year of Release: 2017
Size/Scale: Figure length 17.5 cm. Measured along spine 22.7 cm for a scale of 1:13
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure is sculpted with a texture suggesting down or protofeathers. This feature is still speculative, as Coelophysis fossils have yet to be found with skin impressions. However, the paleoecology suggests that Coelophysis lived in an environment that could get cold seasonally, and feathers would be an advantage to a theropod living in such habitats.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Triassic (Middle Norian) of present day Arizona and New Mexico
Habitat: Floodplains
Diet: Predaceous on smaller animals
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Coelophysis was a small, agile predaceous dinosaur. Morphological features of the eye sockets suggest it was a diurnal hunter. Large congregations of fossils suggest Coelophysis may have been a pack hunter, but there is no direct evidence of such behavior. Such large fossil deposits could have been due to other phenomena, such mass killings during flooding, for example.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Dynastes hercules (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hercules beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wing Mau
Series: Flying Beetles
Year of Release: unknown (Wing Mau's website states 'until 2006' so released in 2006 or earlier)
Size/Scale: Body length (including horns) 6.2 cm, for a scale of 1:1.3-1:3. Wingspan 10.5 cm.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the other species I have more than 40 figures of (at the time of this writing, I have 65-70 figures of Dynastes representing five species). Today's figure came from a set of eight representing flying scarabaeoid beetles. Unlike similar figures by Sega, the Wing Mau figures do not have bases (the base shown here was temporarily borrowed from a Colorata figure for photography purposes only).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Bolivia
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed on rotting wood; adults are attracted to fresh and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like most rhinoceros beetles, D. hercules exhibits extreme sexual dimorphism. The long cephalic and pronotal horns are only present on males (although exclusive of the horns, females have a larger body size). The males use their horns to fight over a potential mate and possibly to help secure ideal breeding sites.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias (Cope, 1871) (greenback cutthroat trout)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Replica Toy Fish
Series: 3 Inch Collection
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length 7.5 cm, for a scale of 1:2.6-1:5.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Replica Toy Fish released two subspecies of cutthroat trout in 2015, this one and Colorado River cutthroat trout (O. c. pleuriticus), which I have and will be reviewed at a later date.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Upper tributaries of the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado
Habitat: Cold, clear mountain and foothill waters
Diet: Invertebrates, especially terrestrial invertebrates that fall into the water
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated; however, it has an ESA status of Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: Natural populations of greenback cutthroat have decreased dramatically since the 19th century due to toxic pollutants entering the water from mining operations, water diversion for agriculture, overfishing, and the introduction of non-native salmonids, including brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), brown trout (Salmo trutta), and rainbow trout (O. mykiss).

[bmathison1972]

Species: Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) (great white shark)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Sealife
Year of Release: 2016
Size/Scale: Body length 15.0 cm, for a scale of 1:30-1:33
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure has one of the best body sculpts for the great white. However, if the blunt teeth bother you, the 2013 and 2018 offerings by Schleich are also very nice.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Coastal and subcoastal waters of North America, Mediterranean, southern South America, South Africa, Australia, East Asia, and Japan
Habitat: Epipelagic
Diet: Other animals, particularly pinnipeds, cetaceans, fish, sea turtles, and sea otters
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Despite their depiction in literature and film as 'man-eaters', humans are not a preferred food of the great white, and that many attacks on humans may be 'test biting' (to see if is suitable prey) or in waters where visibility is low or the shark's senses are otherwise impaired.

[JimoAi]

I'm currently customizing my collectA 2015 great white to be the 'perfect great white's. Interestingly, great whites used to be my favourite sharks until it got deranked by the whale shark

[bmathison1972]

I'm currently customizing my collectA 2015 great white to be the 'perfect great white's. Interestingly, great whites used to be my favourite sharks until it got deranked by the whale shark

my favorite sharks are the smaller species that are often on the ocean floor or reefs (bamboo sharks, woobegongs, etc.).

[bmathison1972]

Species: Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778 (European hare; brown hare)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Papo
Series: Wild Animals
Year of Release: 2016
Size/Scale: Figure 6.0 cm in height. Head + body length 8.3 cm for a scale of 1:7.2-1:9.0
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon to common
Miscellaneous Notes: For such an iconic European animal, this species has not been made commonly, or frequently, by major modern manufacturers. Still, figures of this species are usually readily available. This offering by Papo is one of the more recent, and best, available.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Native to continental Europe and parts of Central Asia; introduced to Great Britain, northeastern North America, southern South America, Australia, New Zealand, Faukland Islands.
Habitat: Fields, pastures, farms, gardens; usually areas with sparse cover
Diet: Plants, especially grasses, soy, clover, and corn poppy; in the winter twigs, bark, and buds.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Mating frenzies in the spring, and fighting between males for the rights to a female, are often referred to as 'March Madness', a term that in the U.S. applies to the spring college basketball championships! This phenomenon was also hinted at in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with Alice speculating the March Hare: '...will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won't be raving mad – at least not so mad as it was in March'.

[Halichoeres]

Cool to see a beetle in flight! Not the most common presentation for figures.

[bmathison1972]

Species: soldier termite, gen. sp.

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wicked Cool Toys
Series: Wild Kratts Creature Power Pack - Crawlers Set
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Figure length 3.5 cm (scale species-dependent)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: For the most part, figures in the thread will represent animals identifiable at least to the genus level. I have made some exceptions for arthropods that represent groups that are very rare in toy form, such as termites. Today's figure is a bit stylized, but it is hard for an entomologist to resist a termite!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: N/A (species dependent)
Habitat: N/A (species dependent)
Diet: Detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A
Miscellaneous Notes: Phylogenetic studies have revealed that termites are highly-modified, social cockroaches. The composition of social castes can vary with the species, but generally a colony will have a queen, a king, soldiers, and workers. The figure shown today is a soldier; its sole purpose is to defend the colony.