Compiling Prehistoric Animal Model Fact Sheets to Accompany New Models

After a busy weekend involved in dinosaur related activities, (joys of fossil hunting).  We are all back in the office today, in lots of meetings, on what may prove to be one of the hottest days of the year.  One item on our agenda is finalising the fact sheet for the new Papo Plesiosaurus model.

For us, the office thermometer is registering 26 degrees Celsius so it is a little warm for us to be all sat around the meeting room discussing the new range of Everything Dinosaur prehistoric animal fact sheets in preparation for the arrival of new models into the on-line shop.  There are twenty new fact sheets to go over, factual information must be checked and re-checked, scale drawings measured to ensure they give an appropriate and reasonably accurate illustration of the animal concerned.

Papo Plesiosaurus Model

The animals involved in this new batch of fact sheets are an eclectic group, we have a pterosaur (genus Rhamphorhynchus), plus three prehistoric mammals all heralding from the Cenozoic and at least one marine reptile, (Plesiosaurus).  The Plesiosaurus fact sheet is for the new Papo model of a plesiosaur, an addition to the Everything Dinosaur range that we are particularly pleased about, what with our connections at Lyme Regis and such like.

The New Plesiosaurus Model from Papo (France)

The Papo Plesiosaurus marine reptile model.

Picture credit: Papo

This model is expected to be in stock in a couple of weeks, to view our existing Papo range and other dinosaur toys: Papo Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Interestingly, this new Papo Plesiosaurus model is marketed by Papo under their “Dinosaures” range (French for Dinosaurs).  Such indiscretions are not permitted by Everything Dinosaur team members.  plesiosaurs were not Dinosaurs but marine reptiles.  Plesiosaurs and other marine reptiles were neodiapsids like the archosaurs but not closely related to the Dinosauria or Pterosauria.  We note also that Papo markets a model of Pteranodon (P. longiceps) under the brand “Dinosaures”.

One of the more unusual and challenging fact sheets is that of a Coelacanth.  This fact sheet is being produced in anticipation of the arrival of the new Coelacanth model from Safari Ltd of the United States.  Our team members are focusing on the story of the two surviving species of this ancient fish group, which are still around today.

The Coelacanth

It is a bit of a challenge having to research and write up an extant species whereas we normally focus very much on extinct forms of life.  The extant genera (Latimeria) are much larger than most of the genera of Coelacanth that have been preserved in the fossil record.  For example, females of the species found in the waters off the Comoros islands, L. chalumnae are believed to grow to a size in excess of 1.7 metres long and may weigh more than 90 kilogrammes.

The Everything Dinosaur Scale Model of a Coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae

Ancient fish model – Coelacanth.

Still, we must all keep plodding on, once the mammals, pterosaurs and fish are out of the way we can concentrate on checking the new dinosaur data sheets.

To view the Wild Safari Prehistoric Animal model range: Safari Ltd. Wild Safari Prehistoric World Models.