New from Collecta for 2015
Temnodontosaurus and Moropus Models
The last two CollectA models to go into production for 2015 are the remarkable Temnodontosaurus and Moropus models. CollectA will produce an ichthyosaur replica depicting a Temnodontosaurus giving birth and a chalicothere replica – Moropus). These figures will be available in the late Spring of 2015, we suspect around May/June.
Temnodontosaurus platyodon
The ichthyosaur replica (Temnodontosaurus platyodon), is we believe, a world first for a mainstream model manufacturer. The replica depicts a female at the moment of giving birth. Viviparity in the Ichthyosauria was just one of their adaptations to a fully marine existence.
New for 2015 The CollectA Temnodontosaurus Ichthyosaur Model
Picture credit: CollectA
Model Measurements
This model measures around twenty centimetres long from the tip of the snout to the tail flukes. The baby is being born tail first and it is not detachable from the mother. There have been some remarkable fossils found which show ichthyosaurs preserved in the process of giving birth, we are not aware of any such specimens which feature T. platyodon, but it is fitting that CollectA should choose to produce their first ichthyosaur based on Temnodontosaurus, as this was the first ichthyosaur fossil to be described, when a specimen showing a nearly complete skull and articulated cervical vertebrae was discovered in Dorset back in 1810.
In several fossils a baby can be clearly seen emerging tail first from the mother. Being born tail first prevented the youngster from drowning before it had time to free itself from its mother. A number of Temnodontosaurus species have been described, at around twelve metres in length, T. platyodon was one of the largest of all the ichthyosaurs known to science. It would have been an predator (but not likely an apex predator) in the Early Jurassic seas of Europe. Everything Dinosaur team members thing that this marine reptile specialised in hunting cephalopods. Based on a length of twelve metres we estimate that this figure would be in 1:60 scale.
Black Pigmentation
The mainly black pigmentation of the model is based on recently published research (Lund University, Sweden), that suggested that most ichthyosaurs were dark coloured, although the conclusions made by the Swedish researchers have been challenged.
To read about the research into marine reptile skin colour: Marine Reptiles Dressed in “Little Black Numbers.
To view the article that challenges the colouration proposed for marine reptiles: Working out the Colour of Long Extinct Animals Just Got Harder.
To view the range of not-to-scale CollectA Prehistoric Life models in stock: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models.
CollectA Deluxe Moropus Model
Now let’s turn our attention to the Chalicothere model that CollectA will also be bringing out in the summer of 2015 (July 2015). This is a model of the North American “knuckle-walker”, known as Moropus.
CollectA Deluxe Moropus Model Available in Summer 2015
Picture credit: CollectA
Intriguingly, this replica has attracted a lot of attention, after all, there are not that many top quality prehistoric mammal replicas to be found and this model of a Miocene herbivore is superb. Everything Dinosaur intends to produce a fact sheet on this model, we intend to focus on Moropus elatus (named by Marsh).
Prehistoric Animal Models
There may also be confusion over to the scale of the Deluxe Moropus figure, some paperwork from CollectA states 1:12 scale, whilst other notes refer to the Moropus being a 1:20 scale model. The Moropus figure measures a fraction under fourteen centimetres long from the snout to the tip of the tail and it stands a little over sixteen centimetres high (top of the head). Based on M. elatus with a shoulder height of around 2.4 metres we estimate that this figure is nearer to 1:20 scale than 1:12, although this calculation does depend on which species and which fossil specimens are used as references.
To view Everything Dinosaur’s existing stock of CollectA Deluxe: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Animal Figures.
Either way it is a super, new addition to the CollectA range and we look forward to adding both these replicas to our inventory.