Dracorex Dinosaur Model Reviewed

A model of a dinosaur associated with wizards and magic has been added to the Wild Dinosaurs replica series manufactured by Safari Ltd.  This model is one of four new additions to this prehistoric animal figure range this year.  The other new dinosaurs featured are Ceratosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus (both predators) and the horned dinosaur Vagaceratops.  Everything Dinosaur team members review the Wild Dinos Dracorex model.

Wild Dinos Dracorex Model

Dracorex is a member of the pachycephalosaur family, a group of dinosaurs that are also known as “bone-heads”, as in some types of pachycephalosaur the brain cases of these dinosaurs were thickened and reinforced.  Fossils of pachycephalosaurs are extremely rare, only one fossil specimen of Dracorex has been discovered to date, the fossil remains consist of a very well preserved skull, some cervical vertebrae (neck bones) and a single tooth.   The fossils of this dinosaur were found in the famous Hell Creek Formation, Dracorex was named and described by the American palaeontologist Bob Bakker in 2006.  Although, not large by dinosaur standards, this animal measured something like three metres in length and would have weighed perhaps as much as ninety kilograms.

The New Dracorex Dinosaur Model (Safari Ltd Wild Dinos)

New Dracorex dinosaur model available.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The species name Dracorex hogwartsia honours the author J. K. Rowling, the writer of the Harry Potter books.  The scientists thought that the skull of this dinosaur resembled the skull of a dragon and with its strange lumps and bumps it looked quite magical.  This coupled with the reaction of young visitors to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, where the skull was first put on display, convinced the scientists to name this dinosaur after dragons and the fictional school – Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books.  This dinosaur with its fearsome appearance may have inspired its name of “Dragon King of Hogwarts School” but it was  in fact a herbivore.

The Safari Ltd model depicts this particular dinosaur as a facultative quadruped, an animal that may have walked on all fours, but was capable, when it wanted to, of being able to run on its hind legs only – adopting a bipedal stance.  The model measures twenty centimetres long approximately and based on the actual animal being around three metres in length, we estimate that this dinosaur model is in 1:15 scale.

Just for a bit of fun, our dinosaur experts, at Everything Dinosaur, played around with the Dracorex images and tried to create an impression of what a juvenile member of this species might have looked like.

Dracorex Adult and Juvenile as Depicted by Everything Dinosaur

Mum and baby dragons.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To create the juvenile we toned down the cheek colour, reduced the amount of dermal armour shown in the hide and scaled down the illustration.  No fossils of juveniles have ever been found, but this illustration was made using fossil material examples from immature dinosaurs and sub-adults preserved in the fossil record.

Dracorex Dinosaur Replica

The dinosaur replica is beautifully painted with a combination of bright green, mustard yellow and black.  The cheek areas (this dinosaur could chew its food and so possessed cheeks to help it process plant material in its mouth most probably), are painted a vivid, striking orange.  The various knobs, bumps and horns on the skull are nicely depicted and the design team have given Dracorex a rough skin texture with small pieces of dermal armour embedded in its back.

To view dinosaur models in the Safari Ltd prehistoric animal model series: Safari Ltd – Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animal Figures.

It is good to see such an unusual member of the Dinosauria added to a quality dinosaur model range such as the Wild Dinos series.  This highly detailed replica will no doubt, prove popular with dinosaur model collectors as well as fans of science and fantasy novels.