prehistory times magazine 108

GURNEY'S

DINOSAUR

DINOSAURS

SIBBICK'SDINOSAUR

PRIMEVALWORLD

#108 Winter 2014

U.S. $7.95 CANADA $7.95

Australias Age of Dinosaurs stamps. . . . . . . Gurney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Gigantopithecus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Super Mario Bros Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

How to Draw Dinosaurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Collectors Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fredericks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Dinosaur Collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Knol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Walking With Dinosaurs 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fredericks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Whats New in Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fredericks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Dinosaur Stamps of the Royal Mail . . . . . . . Sibbick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Australovenator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

PT Interview: Debus & Morales . . . . . . . . . . Fredericks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Dinosaur Year 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brusatte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Museum Fur Naturkunde Berlin . . . . . . . . . . McFarland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Building the Behemoth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bengel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Mesozoic Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fredericks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Primeval: New World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

The Small Giant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DeMarco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Prehistoric Times No. 105 Spring 2013

Publisher/Editor: Mike Fredericks

145 Bayline Circle, Folsom, Ca 95630-8077

(916) 985-7986 between 8-5 PST M-Fbusiness hours only please.

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Table of Contents

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Mike Fredericks

Tracy Ford

John Sibbick

James Gurney

Raul Martin

Kevin Hedgpeth

Steven DeMarco

Julius Csotonyi

Jorge Blanco

Jerry LoFaro

David Krentz

Paul Passano

Joe Choate

Andrey Atuchin

Davide Bonadonna

Allen Debus

Bob Morales

Frederik Spindler

Dave Bengel

Jorge Gonzalez

Phil Brownlow

Raul Ramos

Trisha Brummitt

John Goodier

Jacek Major

Pedro Salas

Tan Ngo

Joshua Ballze

Dave Kinney

Clinton Harris

Betty Reid Martin

Wade Carmen

Meg Bernstein

Mike Landry

Tallack Refshaw

Sergey Krasovsky

Jan Harrison

Rick Cantu

John Barina

Charlie Diosdado

Xavier Bernadesco

Simon Geiger

Jim Martinez

Nathan Rogers

Steve Mancuse

John Napolitan

Artists in this issue:

Mike Fredericks

Tracy Ford

Randy Knol

Phil Hore

James Gurney

Steven DeMarco

John Sibbick

Dave Bengel

Steven Brusatte

Mark Berry

Paul McFarland

Robert Peck

SSUUBBSSCC RRII BBEE TTOODDAAYY!!(We could really use your support. Or else we may be holding

the same sign as the man in the photo below.)

www.prehistorictimes.com

Writers in This Issue:

4 Prehistoric Times No. 108 WINTER 2014

Write your own funny caption andWrite your own funny caption and

win a free one year subscription. win a free one year subscription.

Happy 2014 everyone! Its a newyear of PT, your best source for thelatest dubstep music. We have a real-ly special issue this time. Yeah, Iknow I always say that, but this time,I really mean it, HA! We start offwith front cover artwork ofAllosaurus vs Stegosaurus from theincomparable artist Fabio Pastori ofItaly. Thanks so much for creating thiscolorful cover art for PT, Fabio.

We feature the amazing artwork ofDinotopias James Gurney with hisWorld of Dinosaurs postage stamp artfor Australia. James has a great processfor his dinosaur artwork and, like hisarticle here, his new DVD (reviewed inthis issue) shows it to you step by step.Soon after hearing of Jamess dinosaurstamps, British artist John Sibbick toldus about his new set of dinosaur postagestamps for the Royal Mail. Well, Iimmediately asked him for an article and John was also so nice to comply.

From artwork to video, author Mark Berry recently metNiall Matter, the star of the Canadian version of the TVshow Primeval called Primeval - New World and wasable to interview him for PT. See Niall and Primevaldino-fighters in photo at far right. Artist David Krentz hasworked on several dinosaur movies. His latest is Walkingwith Dinosaurs 3D and Dave was kind enough to grant mean interview in which he talks about his involvement withthis new major motion picture and includes much of the arthe designed and created for the film. Joshua Ballze sent usan interview by Robert Peck done for PT on the anniver-sary showing of the Super Mario Bros. movie with its mon-ster dinosaur effects.

Sculpting Dinosaurs 2nd edition has won for best bookamong PT readers for 2013. I was also able to interview theauthors/modelers of this fine book, AllenDebus and Bob Morales. Also Dave Bengeland Steve DeMarco have each written theirown articles describing how they got two newmodels to look as amazing as they do. Ofcourse Tracy Ford talks about drawingdinosaurs. He covers duckbills and concludeswith a major new discovery about their headcrests. Both Randy Knol and I describe thenew prehistoric animal figures and modelsthat we have received and that are in the newline-up for 2014 in our columns. Oh yeah, PhilHore covers Australovenator from his ownhomeland of Australia plus the amazing Gigantopithecus prehistoric ape. Wereceived beautiful artwork of both animals for this issue. Keep in mind that the vastmajority of the art you see in PT was created specifically for PT. It makes me veryproud of my little PT to think of it as both muse and patron of paleo-artists around theworld. What did I tell you? Great issue, eh? Thanks everyone. Thanks too to JCAlonso and Carl Mathias for their graphic art and editing help.

Also, Everything Dinosaur is a great internet store and site from England that istrying to get to 900 likes on their Facebook page; can you please help them out?

I also thank Steven Brusatte, who has written his annual Paleonews of the year arti-cle and it is fascinating as usual. Since he only covers dinosaurs, I wanted to talkabout another very recent, interesting discovery for another prehistoric animal - man.A 50,000 year-old toe bone from a Neanderthal female found in a Siberian cave hasgiven scientists new insights into early human breeding. In what has been describedas a Lord of the Rings - type world, scientists say that Homo Sapiens,Neanderthals, the recently discovered Denisovans and a mysterious fourth species allinterbred thousands of years before all species but ours became extinct. By sequenc-ing the DNA from the bone, it was discovered that all four contributed to the ownerof the toes make-up. It is possible that the fourth species is what has been known asHomo Erectus. So it appears that Eurasia in the Late Pleistocene was an interestingplace to live with people of at least four different species meeting and occasionallyprocreating together.

MOVING?? PLEASE let us know your new address the second you plan to move.I am continually amazed at how many subscribers move and never bother to let usknow. The magazine is NOT forwarded and it costs us to resend the magazine a sec-ond time to your new digs.

Also if you subscribed to PT by sending your payment anywhere except directly tous, please know that we only receive a paltry percentage of that payment. The peopleyou sent the payment to get the lions share of it. When you (hopefully) renew your

subscription PLEASE do it by sending your pay-ment directly to us. We are a very small business

and could really use your support.Thanks so much.

ARTISTS! PT does not pay forsubmissions but many artists whosework is seen in Prehistoric Times getpaying work from other sources.Please send jpg files of your artworkscanned at 300 DPI resolution. Sendas an approx 4 jpg with your namein the title of the image--example--Triceratops by John Smith.jpg toour e-mail address or send good

copies (that you dont need returned and that arent too big to fit our 9 x 12 scannerbed) to our mailing address in California. We need your artand info. For #109 Chasmosaurus & Moa/Bullockornis(ducks vs ratites) (Mar 10, 2014) For #110Diabloceratops & Titanoboa/giant snakes (June 10.2014) For #111 Baryonyx & Thylacosmilus (Sep 10 2014)Apatosaurus & Liopleurodon (Dec 10, 2014)Ankylosaurus & Glyptodon & Archelon (Mar 10, 2015)Thank you!

Prehistoric Times No. 108 WINTER 2014 5

FROM THE EDITORA

d design by Michael Stevens

Even more new

designs

including woo

lly mammoth

and sabertooth

!

Please check

it out!

New Royal Mail set of dinosaur stamps by John Sibbick plus early sketch andfull body of the Megalodon -- See article inside

Fabio Pastorisearly illustration

for our front cover

Primeval - New Worlds Dan Payne (center) and Niall Matter (injeans) pose for a snap with Major Douglass fellow dino-fighters,on location in Vancouvers Thunderbird Sports Centre - courtesy

Dan Payne

Congratulations to PT PIXwinners for 2013!

Best Book: Dinosaur Sculpting; Secondedition by Debus, Morales & Debus

Best new toy: Safari Ltds Wild SafariGryposaurus

Best new Model kit: Deinonychus resinkit by Tony McVey (Menagerie Prod.)

David Krentzs Pachyrhinosaurus from Walking with Dinosaurs 3D

We own a business, Dragonstooth Miniatures(DTM), where my husband, Rick Cantu does profes-sional paintwork for model kits. Rick has just com-pleted a full size 1:1 Velociraptor for a client of ourswho works for ILM (Industrial Light & Magic). Ourclient is a subscriber to your magazine and he men-tioned that you might consider publishing images ofthe completed Raptor head. This work has beenextremely labor intensive and the outcome is absolute-ly beautiful. Please feel free to look at our website asfollows, pictures of the Raptor are pending howeveryou can view his other works for reference.

www.dragonstoothminiatures.net Ricks e-mail:[email protected] Respectfully, Ruth Cantu

Hello Mike; This is the Galileo HernandezVelociraptor model I acquired. The pieceswere rough where they joined and needed a lotof T.L.C. but having never built a resin kitbefore, perhaps that is normal. Also, it washollow and that added some challenges. I havebeen in contact with Galileo regarding how tobuild a stand and he's been telling me that hewould send a picture illustration of how to, butnever has...so I invented my own. The typicalon a steel rod" could not work, being hollow.Bob Morales has been tutoring me via E-Mail.Nice guy and a pro at this sort of thing. Wellafter many, many hours; I had to learn newpainting techniques, how to use steel, brass,etc (inside the model), and here it is. It is BIG(4 Feet long), which made the project evenharder. My first attempt at a Resin Kit (it is not by any means a snap togeth-er kit)...lots of custom fitting... was hard. Iwas afraid of it at first, but decided to do itmyself, and Yup I'm proud of that fact. Myneighbor called it "Phenomenal". It is farhighly more detailed than the photos show. Itseems to change colors and hues dependingon how the light hits it...just like a Bigchameleon. Also, it could appear in"Prehistoric Times" magazine. Hope all isgoing well for you....Still snowed inhere..going on a week !!! YUK ! John (and ofcourse Marla) (FossilsRock) Barina. Let meknow what you think.

Great work and I love that stand - editor

Hi Mike, What a thrill it was to open theissue of Prehistoric Times and see the pic-tures that I sent to you! As my wife says,now I'm published! A small clarification,when I said that "I'm new to this" I meantnew to dinosaur modeling (the T-rex wasmy 1st dinosaur model). I'm not new tomodeling. Far from it. I'm 59 and havebeen modeling in some form or anothersince I was a kid. Happily, I've managed tonever quite grow up! Long live the PeterPan Principal!! I'm still going "dino crazy"and have managed to build 10 of them inthe last year (that's right, I have no life).However, I am finding that the main, newchallenge with modeling dinosaurs (otherthan trying not to hit their tails into every-thing while I'm working on them!) islearning to use transparent paints with myairbrush. I really admire the work of Sean

Kotz, Steve Riojas and Martin Garrett, and amtrying hard to emulate their results - with lim-ited success. I've really enjoyed Sean Kotz'sarticles as they help me understand the layer-ing process with these paints. Any chance ofinterviews and/or how to articles with eitherSteve Riojas or Martin Garrett in a futureissue? Anyway, I've attached a couple of pho-tos (be careful what you ask for) and I hopethat you like them. The Neanderthal Man is1/35th scale and the dinosaurs are GeeneModels Giganotosaurus vs. Iguanodon, alsoin 1/35th scale. As always, I love your maga-zine & keep up the great work!! Sincerely, JanHarrison

What do you mean you have nolife? Dinosaurs ARE our lives! Thanksbuddy, they look awesome just like lasttime - editor

Hi Mike, the Carnegie Collection(Safari Ltd) got me hooked on dinosaurmodels once again. At first I thought I wasgathering them up for my grand-daughter,but then - who was I trying to kid?! So Ibought two sets of them; the one for mygrand-daughter has long since been scat-tered but the set I kept has grown witheach new model. Its gotten to where mywife wont let me bring home any newdinosaur models larger than 1:40 scale,

unless they are small dinosaurs to begin with. Other companies have nowprovided specimens within that scale but with a glaring omission. Where are

the huge hadrosaurs? The big ones, likeShangtungosaurus or Lambeosaurusmagnicrestus in the 40 to 50 foot range,which might have given a tussle to someof the lesser predators of the day, aremissing. When will the largerornithopods be given their due respect?Jack Bowers, Marquette, MI

Hopefully, the Powers-that-be arereading this and will come to your aidsoon, Jack - editor

M A I LM A I L

MME S O Z O I CE S O Z O I C

Last issue we asked PT readers to come upwith funny captions based upon the photo

above. One reader who sent in multiple cap-tions won a PT subscription. Here is my

favorite of his many:No worries, we have plenty of time. Im

sure the Ark wouldnt leave without us...Alain Omer Duranceau of Montreal, Canada

Meg Bernsteins paleo art gallery

Photo gallery of John Barinaspaint job on his Geene models

Velociraptor.

Nice stand too.

Full sized Velociraptor painted by Rick Cantu


Hi Prehistoric Times, there's a show called "Animal Armageddon" aboutprehistoric mass extinctions. Here's the link to it:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV5UJo6Kr5c See what you think ofthis episode and put an article of it in the magazine if you can please. Thereare 8 episodes in all. I love this magazine. It's one of my favorites. I was alsowondering if you can make more articles about prehistoric animals and past,

not just all art andtoys, ok? Thanks,Elijah F.

I saw the showand really enjoyedit. Thanks. Wedon't regularlywrite articlesabout shows thathave alreadyshown on TV buthow about if Iprint your letterhere, includingthe URL for the

YouTube video so that thePT readers can enjoy it firsthand themselves? And welltry to better even out thescience with the art andtoys, okay? - editor

Dear Mike, Enclosed is mysubscription renewal. Alsothere is a drawing that I haveenclosed for printing in yourmagnificent magazine. Alsotell Phil Hore thatTenontosaurus is my favoriteIguanodontid! Believe it ordont. I always felt that it isonly known as the doomedprey of Deinonychus. Also

try to include more articles about ankylosaurs. I feel it is up to you to givegreat fame to the pre-historic tanks. Youshould also make anentire article aboutMegalania orVaranus priscus. I amsuper excited about thenew movie JurassicWorld. Sometimes Idlike to e-mailSpielberg about ideasthat I have for newmovies like a remakeof The Beast from20,000 Fathoms. I

hope that PT lasts for as long as possible.Yours truly, Charlie Diosdado, age 14,Santa Cruz, Ca.

Sir, you sound a lot like I did at yourage, with many of the same interests, Imsure. Ive got your cool artwork on thispage Charlie. Your article ideas are greatand I wouldnt mind seeing some RayHarryhausen movies redone, IF they didthem well, of course. Thanks and Ipromise that I will try to make PT last

as long as possible.But, as much of yourletter was aimed atour favorite paleo-writer from DownUnder, I will let Phil,the worlds premieraardvark wrangler,respond here too: - edi-tor

Great point, Charlie,Tenontosaurus doesseem to be the panick-ing, twisted ankle assis-tant from Dr Who,who only seems tobe around to getinto trouble (littlenod there for the50th anniversary).As an Aussie Iwould love to domore Australianstuff, andMegalania is onthe list in thefuture, but Mike islooking at mewonky whenev-er I mentionm o r eA u s t r a l i a nstuff so theymay have towait a fewissues...anky-l o s a u r sthough . . . I 'msure we can dos o m e t h i n gabout that -Phil Hore

Mike, Thissnow globe soldin the shop ofthe "Museum ofthe Prehistoryof the VerdonGorge" locatedat Quinson, asmall village inthe Alps and apicture taken inthe museum.www.museepre-h i s t o i r e . c o mJ e a n - M a r i eLeonard, France

With the closing of both Tower Records and Border Bookstores, I lostcontact with a lot of the magazines Id enjoyed purchasing some time ago.So, when I saw your ad in the Monster Bash magazine special issue with theRay Harryhausen Tribute, it was like finding that rare dinosaur fossil and anold friend. Enclosed is my renewal check. Jim Garrison, Pacoima, Ca

Adolescent Art

Charlie Diosdado Age 14

Museum of the Prehistory of the Verdon Gorge

Neanderthal man model painted by JanHarrison

Geene modelsGiganotosaurus

and Iguanodonspainted by Jan

Harrison

Snow globe from themuseum (above)

Tallack Refshaw

Simon Geiger, Age 9 - Bavaria, Germany


Xavier Bernardesco

1. Dinosaur Collectibles price guide co-written and signed by PT editor $492. Linde 1950s Coffee Premium plastic dinosaur figs 7 from Austria. $12ea.3. Rare 8th Linde figure to complete above set: Rare Rhamphorhynchus $454. Marx orig. sm/med 50s/ 60s dinosaur toy figs (green, brown, gray) $5 5. Marx orig. Krono, T-rex (pot-belly or slender) $39, Brontosaurus $34 6. Marx original second series dinos/mammals $12 each, set of 8 - $797. Marx 45mm cavemen (6 diff) $7 ea Marx 6 cavemen (6 diff) $15 ea. 8. Abbeon porcelain 5dinos Ptero, Proto, Styrac, Bront, Anky, Coryth @ $499. Multiple (MPC) dinosaur plastic figures many colors $5-10 each (inquire) 11. J H Miller waxy plastic1950s Brontosaurus (perfect condition) $8912. J H Miller waxy plastic1950s Stego, short tail $49, Woolly Rhino $59 13. /15. J H Miller plastic 50s Mastodon short tusk $49, Triceratops shorthorn $4914. Sinclair 1960s green plastic 10 brontosaur bank $2415. Sinclair 1934 Dinosaur book $25 & Sinclair1964 Worlds Fair booklet $1516. Sinclair 60s colorful Hardback The Exciting World of Dinosaurs $4417. Sinclair hollow dinosaurs 64 NY Worlds Fair dinos in several colors @$3518. Sinclair rare hollow NY Worlds Fair Brontosaurus looking backward $6919. Sinclair album and complete stamps set1935 $35 or 1959 $2020. Sinclair 60s solid Worlds Fair dinos (6 diff. various prices) (bagged set $89)21. Hollow, dimestore plastic dinos, 60s/70s six different $8 each (see photo)22. William Otto La Brea tar pit bronze saber-toothed cat 4 figure 1960s $12923. SRG Small metal dinosaurs pterosaur $59, T. rex, Tricer, Dimetro, Tracho, Bronto orStego $35 ea. SRG Large metal Tricer, Tracho, or T. rex $69 each24. 60s Japan Porcelain Dimetrodon, Stego, Bronto, T-rex or Protoceratops 5 @$3025. 1960s, salt & pepper shakers, bone china, intertwining neck Brontosaurus $3926. Nabisco silver prehistoric mammal cereal premiums early 1960s $10 ea. All 8 $7527. Nabisco/Fritos dinosaur premiums, gray (60s) $5 each, 1950s green & red $10 ea.28. ROM (Royal Ontario Museum)plastic dinosaur figures. $15 ea, Pteranodon $2529. View Master Prehistoric Animals 1960s comp. 3 reels/booklet nm $2430. Topps complete set of 12 - 2 plastic dinosaur figures Nice! Early 90s. $2531. Animals Of The Past Golden Stamp Book 1968 - $3232. Teach Me About Prehistoric Animals Flash cards 1960s $4933. Brooke Bonde 60s dinosaur trading album w/ set of cards attached $5934. Rare Bandai motorized Dimetrodon or Brontosaurus model kit in box @$4535. Pyro white box MIB dinosaur model kits, Proto, Dime, Stego, Tricer, @$4536. Lifelike Neanderthal Man plastic model kit Mint in box 70s - $4537. Palmer 1960s Mastodon skeleton or Brontosaurus skeleton $39 each MIB 38. Sinclair Oil 1960s dino chrome metal tray $69 39. Marx Linemar 1960s one inch metal dinos. T. rex $24 ea.PT back issues 23, 24, 38 - $16 32, 54, 103- $12 27, 31, 33, 41, 42, 52, 66, 74,75, 76, 78, 82, 85, 89, 92 - 102, 104-106 only $7 each on sale (PT issue pricesinclude shipping)

Please add $6 shipping in U.S. Call or e-mail me about condition.Mike Fredericks Prehistoric Times

145 Bayline Cir. Folsom, California 95630-8077

(916) 985-7986 [email protected]

The PT DinoStoreVintage dinosaur collectibles for sale from PT magazine

26. Nabisco cereal prehistoricmammals

17. Sinclair hollow dinosaurs

28. ROM plastic dinos 7. 6 inch Marx large cavemen

15. 1934 Book

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36. LifelikeNeanderthalman model

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hardback

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long each. 29. 60s Viewmaster

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24. 1960sJapan


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37. Palmer

Even from this distance he could hear gunfire.

Hurry up, Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald muttered to himselfas he completed wrapping the skull fragments and pushed them into a smallcigar box. He then began stuffing a milk bottle with rags and cotton wool.Once the bottle was half full the anthropologist grabbed the enormous teeth

out of a box on the table and gingerly poured them in. After eachtooth he pushed another piece of cotton wool in, ensuring they werenot touching each other so that they could not get damaged if jostled.

Job completed, von Koenigswald ran out of the house. At the veryfar end of the street he could see the Japanese soldiers ordered intothis part of the city. As they started forcing their way into the firsthouses on the street, the screaming began. Ducking around thefence, von Koenigswald ran through numerous deserted backyardsuntil he reached a house three streets away. In the garden he fell to

by Phil [email protected]

Jerry LoFaro

Joshua Ballze

GigantopithecusGigantopithecus

Clinton Harris


his knees and began digging. Once the hole was largeenough von Koenigswald dropped his treasures insideand began filling it back in. With the earth replaced hepicked up a large rock and laid it across the excavation.Only when he was sure the hole was invisible, did thescientist pick himself up, brush himself off, and headfor home.

The German just made it inside his back door whenthree Japanese soldiers stormed through the front.These were followed closely by an officer who askedsomething in a language the anthropologist did notunderstand. Speaking Dutch and pretty good Javanese,von Koenigswald instead switched to his native tongue,hoping to play the one card he had to get himself out ofthis situation.

I am a German citizen, my name is Ralph vonKoenigswald, and I am here on behalf of the BerlinInstitute of Science looking for specimens for the muse-um.

Papers? the officer asked in Japanese, ignoring thestatement.

The paleontologist justshrugged as though he didntunderstand.

Papers? the officer askedagain, this time in Javanese.

The anthropologist under-stood but continued to playdumb.

Papers? The officer askedagain, this time in Dutch. Histone indicated he would not beasking again. Now there was noway to play ignorant as youcould work in the colony only ifyou dealt with the islandsDutch masters.

Patting himself down andstill playing for time, the littleruse was never going to beenough as the Japanese officersimply nodded at one of hismen, who moved forward, bayonet raised. Miraculously finding his lostpapers in his rear pocket, von Koenigswald handed them over to the officer,who waved off the advancing soldier. Im glad you have come to your sens-es, Professor. Now where are they?

I am a German citizen, and the last I heard Germany was still an ally ofhis imperial majesty.

I know exactlywho you areProfessor vonKoenigswald, andyou are neitherGerman nor an allyof anyone, much lessthe Emperor. So ifyou would be so kind,please tell me wherethey are.

Where what are?

You are operatingunder an assumptionProfessor von

Koenigswald, one that Iwould like to correct. I amshowing you the respect ofcalling you by your title to letyou know I am aware ofexactly what you have beendoing during your time inAsia. The Emperor has a greatinterest in the history of ourregion and asked me to inter-cept you and the collectionsyou Westerners were trying tosteal in China. Sadly I missedthe fossils the Americansmanaged to get out ofBeijing; so I have no intentionof missing yours now.

Fossils?

Professor, we have doneour homework; so please donot think me a fool. For

starters you are notGerman as you took upDutch citizenship, mak-ing you an enemy of thestate. Right now all thatis standing in the way ofyour being dragged outof here and thrown into avery dark place is mygoodwill; so please handover your fossils so wecan move on.

The anthropologiststood, keeping his gazefixed on the Japaneseofficer, whose calm butefficient demeanor hefound unnerving.Outside vonKoenigswald could hearscreaming as Japanesesoldiers began ransack-ing and arresting the few

John Sibbick www.johnsibbick.com

Frederik Spindlerwww.frederik-spindler.de

Tan Ngo


Westerners whod not left the country before theinvasion, with the occasional gunshot a grimreminder this was no game and the man beforehim was extremely dangerous.

Acting crestfallen, he moved to one corner ofthe room, lifted a floorboard, and pulled out thesmall bundle hidden there. With a short hesitationhe handed this over to the Japanese officer, whotook the offering with a short nod. The officergingerly placed the bundle on a nearby table andopened it carefully. Inside were a small number ofbones and partial skulls.

Content, the officer rewrapped the package andheaded outside. Stopping just short, he turned andgestured toward the door. Professor, if you will.

Following, von Koenigswald stepped into thefirst day of his internment inside a Japanese pris-oner-of-war camp. He would not know freedomfor another three years.

Giants

Myth and mysticism are big business these days,with numerous books, documentaries, experts,and the good old Internet fueling interest in suchsubjects as lost kingdoms, the power of crystalskulls, and aliens building the Eiffel Tower. Withmodern science youd think the debate over some-thing as obvious as giants would be settledwell,youd be surprised. Google Atlantis and see howmany serious hits you get if you dont believe me.

In the 1930s a Dutch paleontologist called Ralphvon Koenigswald was perusing a traditional medi-cine store in Hong Kong when he noticed a humanmolar of extraordinary size. The Chinese believehealth and internal harmony can be found by eatingrhino horn, tiger bone, bear bile, and any number ofalmost extinct animals, which has been proved timeand again to do absolutely nothing except wipe out said endangered species.One of the other ingredientsoften found in such stores iscrushed fossil, which curesgullibility when ingested(OK, I made the symptom up,Im sure it probably realignsyour twang or something elseridiculous), explaining whythe tooth the Dutchman foundwas in the store.

A few years later a secondtooth turned up in a Cantonapothecary, and vonKoenigswald realized he wasonto something important.When even more teeth showedup in a shipment of dragonbones at a Chinese store in1955, the fossils were back-tracked to the location wheretheyd been unearthed. To thisdate over a thousand suchteeth and even a few jaws havebeen uncovered of this giantfrom China, Vietnam, andIndia, indicating they onceroamed much of Asia.

Von Koenigswald had also been busy in Java,where he found a huge jaw in 1941 after travel-ing to the island to escape the Japanese occupa-tional forces in China. Unfortunately theJapanese soon followed, invading the Philippinesand Indonesia. Though von Koenigswald wascaptured, he had the foresight to bury most of hisfossils in his garden and those of his neighborswho belonged to neutral nations. When vonKoenigswald was taken, the Japanese did getmany fossils, or so they believed. Cleverly theanthropologist had made casts of his fossils, andit was these that he allowed to fall into theirhands. There was at least one real fossil in thiscollection, possibly to help authenticate the rest,and after the war it was discovered sitting inEmperor Hirohitos Household Museum by USoccupational forces and returned to theDutchman.

After the war and his release, vonKoenigswald returned home and managed to digup most of his treasures, though there are some

still hidden somewhere in the gardens of Javabecause he couldnt remember where hed placedall of them. When originally casting these fossils,the Dutchman sent some to a fellow paleontologist,Franz Weidenreich, who was struck by the size ofsome of them. One specimen was smaller than theChinese fossils but still clearly from somethingenormous. Weidenreich estimated this hominidwas at least 8 feet tall; Therefore, it may not betoo far from the truth if we suggest the Java giantwas much bigger than any living gorilla and thatthe Chinese giant was correspondingly bigger thanthe Java giant That is, one and a half times aslarge as the Java giant, and twice as large as amale gorilla.

Von Koenigswald named this new find Meganthropus palaeojavanicus,or the Giant Man of ancient Java, and noted that the molars in the jaw werefar more human-like than the larger Chinese teeth hed hidden from theJapanese. This led the anthropologist to a startling realization shaped by thefossil themselves. Humanity had evolved from giant ape-like creatures andthroughout time had grown smaller. Originally hominids had been 15 to 20feet tall with small brains and thick skulls. As our intelligence grew, theneed for such gigantism was unnecessary, and we shrank, with our skullsalso becoming thinner to house our larger brains while our teeth became lesspronounced with our increased ability to cook and process food (making itsofter).

This new theory for the evolution of humans all began with the giantman-ape teeth found in a Chinese medical store decades earlier. We alsonow had a name for our large, distant ancestor, Giganthropus,the GiantHuman, and this name aligned with a science that had begun nearly a cen-tury earlier.

For years gigantology was listed in many dictionaries (Noun, An accountor description of giants) and was a semiformal science that grew as believ-

ing scientists and col-lectors searched far andwide for anthropo-lites, human remainsthat had turned tostone. It was hopedthese fossils wouldbe the longsoughtafter evidencethat the Great BiblicalFlood had washed away

Clint Harris

Pedro Salas

Mike Landry


Jim Martinez

humanitys past sins along with the animals thatdidnt get on the Ark. Amongst the dragons andunicorns that didnt make the trip were thegiants of lore. As silly as this all sounds today,this research heralded the coming of anthropol-ogy and archaeology and also brought aboutanother science that does indeed deal withgiants from the past, paleontology!

Today most resources state that Robert Plotbelieved the fossil hes famous for describingwas from a biblical giant, whereas RobertBrooks would later describe the same fossil as agiants scrotum. Actually this whole story hasbecome something of a myth because bothBrooks and Plot had recognized that the fossilbelonged to an animal, with Plot originally sug-gesting the remains: must have been theBone of some Elephant, brought hither duringthe Government by the Romans in Britain. Theconfusion continued when Plot later wrote:There happily came to Oxford while I waswriting of this, a living Elephant to be shownpubliclywith whose BonesI compared ours;and found those of the Elephant not only of a differentShape, but also incomparably different to ours, thoughthe Beast were very young and not half grown. If thenthey are neither the Bones of Horses, Oxen, norElephants, as I am strongly persuaded they are notitremains, that (notwithstanding their extravagantMagnitude) they must have been the bones of Men orWomen: Nor doth any thing hinder but they may havebeen so, provided it be clearly made out, that therehave been Men and Women of proportionable Staturein all Ages of the World, down even to our own Days.

Its important to note that Plot had first consignedthe bone to an elephant, and only when he got thechance to see for himself that this wasnt possible,having exhausted every other possibility, he conclud-ed it may have been the bone of a human. As forBrooks describing the fossil as a scrotum, its prettyclear he only thought the bone looked like a giantsscrotum. The problem is a French philosopher, Jean Baptiste Robinet,believed fossils were actually natures attempt to create human organs (as weare truly excellent, and nature is jealous of our form),and it was he who jumped on the scrotum description asproof that God and nature were constantly trying toreplicate usseriously. Although the fossil has beenlost, thanks to Brookss drawing of the bone we now rec-ognize it as the lower end of a dinosaurs femur, specifi-cally Megalosaurus.

The science was also fueled by numerous explorersreporting giants in places like Tasmania and Patagonia.There was even an official report completed by a RoyalNavy officer who sailed with Cook on the Endeavour.By far most of the reports of giants came from theSpanish in South America, where enormous bones werecollected and sent home for display. Graves in Europecontaining some of the gigantic heroes of the past havealso been unearthed. Ancient times were also full ofgiants, with Sparta even being founded on one.Herodotus wrote that the oracle of Delphi had foretoldthat Sparta would become powerful and defeat her mor-tal enemy, the Tegeans, when the bones of the heroOrestes were found and moved home. These were found(with the remains measuring around 10 feet), and Spartarose to dominate Greece.

Amazingly almost all of these giants,from Europe to South America, have beenrecognized by science, only today weknow them as the bones of mammoths andvarious other megafauna species that oncewandered the earth. Although they werenot giants, in what has to be one of thegreat bizarre coincidences in natural histo-ry, it turns out the Giganthropus fossilsthat von Koenigswald had found beforethe Second World War did indeed belongto a giant. Instead of a massive human,however, the remains belonged toGigantopithecus, a 1,000-pound, 9-foot-tall great ape that most resembled anorangutan and populated southern Asianforest around 10 to 1 million years ago.

At this time three species have beenshakily identified, G. blacki (the largest),G. bilaspurensis and G. giganteus. Itsbelieved males were around twice the sizeof females, and the size of the teeth, thewear on these fossils, and the fact that

many show cavities, indicate these hominids mostresembled pandas in their diet. Mostly herbivorous,pandas are known to eat almost anything they comeacross, including bird eggs, reptiles, and carrion.Gigantopithecus likely had a similar diet, eatingmostly plants (probably bamboo), occasionally meat,along with some seeds, vegetables, and fruit. Thiswould make them herbivorous with a slight leaningtoward omnivorous. The pandas distribution alsomatches that of the fossils, indicating that both speciesmay once have competed with each other for food andhabitat.

It should be pointed out that almost all we think weknow about this genus is conjecture. There are no limbbones, nor any from a torso, just a few pieces of jaw,and so exactly how this creature moved is unknown.For its size and weight it was likely a quadruped simi-lar to a gorilla. There is of course a chance they were

bipedal, an idea highlighted by the width of the jaws, which is suggestivethat the head sat on top of the windpipe and neck. This feature is generally

seen in bipeds. Quadruped necks are usu-ally somewhat behind the head, but againthis small sliver of information is notenough to give us any sense of certainty,just possibilities. For all we know this wasa human-sized hominid with enormousteeth.

So the idea of giants has been provedridiculous once and for all, right? Wellmaybe. The original Javan giant,Meganthropus, is still causing some con-fusion. Renamed Homo palaeojavanicusand then Australopithecus palaeojavani-cus, it is a species that today no one isreally sure just where it belongs. Becauseof the association of tools, its believed tohave been a closely related hominid, andthe extraordinary size of the fossil indi-cates a large one, and so its possible, justpossible, there once had been an enor-mous hominid walking the earth. Not justsome giant unrelated ape but a true rela-tive of humanity.


John Goodier

Mike Fredericks

Dave Kinney

Our story begins in a quaint theatre in LA, off Santa Monica.Just under a freeway bridge, the marquee flashes it's neon lights inthe night, and illuminates a line of eager people slowly making theirway into the building. Once inside, they break free into the lobby,ready to make their way into the theatre and covet their prized seatsfor the show, but something catches their eye. Just to their left, aharrowing grin leers at them with rows of needle sharp teethwrapped beneath scaly wet salivating lips. This grin continues rightup to it's eyes, cold and calculating as they stare back, the lightreflecting off their large yellow iris. The crowd slowly begins togather around the spectacle, the giant head leering back being noneother then King Koopa! And the film? That's right, The SuperMario Bros Movie!

The film itself can be categorized as a Popcorn flick, a funromp to watch for nostalgia or even artistic value as the overall lookwas designed by the Art Director for Blade Runner: David Snyder.And even it's creatures were developed by FX houses ADI (StarTrek Series, Masters of the Universe) and Patrick Tutopulos(Independence Day, Stargate, Underworld). The plot revolves around youngPaleontologist Daisy who asks the help of two plumbers (The Mario Bros)to save a site being sabotaged by a corporate organization, and unknowing-ly releases a gateway to a parallel New York ruledby highly evolved Dinosaurs or, Dino-Sapiens, ifyou will. And here we are, 20 years later!

2013 marked the 20th anniversary of therelease of the film. To commemorate the anniver-sary a public screening was held at the NuArttheatre here in LA which was brought together bythe Super Mario Bros Movie Archive, a site ded-icated to the film, and Jurassic Con, an organiza-tion dedicated to movie props and exhibits. Weactually tracked down the people behind theSuper Mario Bros movie archive, and scored aninterview. Steven Applebaum is one of the guyswho coordinated the anniversary screening

PT: So, my first question is why the SuperMario Bros movie?

Steven: It's just one of those curious filmsyou have vague, feverish memories of from yourchildhood. When you revisit it as an adult youeither adore it or hate it. I admired it.

PT: As a fan of the film, did you also like thevideogame?

Steven: I grew up playing the games, especiallySuper Mario World. I would have to say the charac-ter of Yoshi is what really spurred my interest indinosaurs.

PT: How did your site start up? And when itdid, which actor/producer was your first inter-view?

Steven: Ryan Hoss started the site back in 2007as an archive of the memorabilia he had collected.He had done a couple interviews with the makeupand effects crew, but when I came on I helpedarrange an interview with Mojo Nixon, who playedToad.

PT: For the anniversary, what steps were taken to put together suchan amazing event?

Steven: We had held a test screening the pre-vious year, so we knew we could get a good turn-out and arrange for a panel. The key differencethis year was working with Joshua Ballze and hisJurassic Con crew, who were instrumental in set-ting up our prop display and filming the Q & Asession.

PT: What was your favorite prop/costumefrom the exhibit?

Steven: The Goomba suit from MEL was cer-tainly a favorite. The work put into the suits wasphenomenal.

PT: Yeah, it was one of my faves as well.What was your favorite character from thefilm? My favorite was Mario. I see Bob(Hoskas) and just jump right into Roger

By: Robert Peck

SSuuppeerr MMaarr iioo BBrrooss Movie Interview


Rabbit, haha.

Steven: I know I'm in the minority, but I've always been fond of Lena.Fiona Shaw's performance was one of the best of the entire cast, while hercharacter's arc was motivated by pure ambition.

PT: I got to say, when I first saw the film it was on VHS, and I wasabout ten. But I liked it, it was fun and if I wanted more I just poppedin the video game. But seeing your childhood at the theatre so manyyears later, and then seeing the props in person, thats a different expe-rience. How did you feel seeing a piece of your childhood up on the bigscreen, with the films artists, writers, and producers in tow?

Steven: Few people can say that they have been an active part of a film'scult revival. Bringing it back to the big screen and showing not only the fansbut the film's production has a huge following, is a real honor.

PT: We know actor John Leguatia sent you guys his retrospective onthe film. Tell me, how did that come about? And what was the first con-versation with him like?

Steven: We have had some correspondence with John via Twitter, so weknew that he had a fondness for the film. We decided to get in touch withhis assistant and worked out the video over a period of a few weeks. It wasa privilege sharing that with him.

Along with the screening, various movie props and costumes from thefilm were on display which ranged from the Dino theme busts of an evermutating King Koopa into a T-Rex, to costumes worn by actors JohnLeguatia and Samantha Mathis, and even a Goomba was present! A type ofde-evolved Dino-Sapiens which sports a huge hulking body, only to becounter balanced by a tiny head sporting a variety of dinosaur traits. Theexhibit itself was made possible by ADI studios, FX artist Rob Burman, andprivate collectors.

The video of John in it's entirety can be found on the Super Mario BrosWebsite. In it John recalls his favorite behind the scenes stories, bloopers,accidents, and more. I'd like to end the interview with a small excerpt fromJohn as he talks about one particular accident on set, enjoy!

John Leucemias: "Well, here we are, 20 years after the fact. The bigAnniversary for Super Mario Brothers, since I played Luigi Mario..."

"There was an incident that happened, among many...when we got to themeteor, there was a crazy electrical problem that happened and the electri-cian grabbed the power source, and it started going through his body! Soanother electrician came and kicked him off the thing. If you don't kick himoff and you grab him, you get double the surge. So, that was one incident. Ilearned alto about electricity."

"I'll always have my action figure which looks more like John Leguatiacrossed with Vin Diesel but, hey, I got an action figure, I'm very proud of it.I wish that you all had a great time, and may the fungus be among us.


Joshua Ballze andfriend

Special guests includingArt Director David Snyder,and Makeup artist Vincent

Guastini.

Hadrosaurs revisited

This article was inspired by a conversation I had with palearctics extra-ordinaire Donna Brigantes and Dr. Larry Witmer. We were at the Society ofVertebrate Paleontologys opening gala held at the Los Angeles NaturalHistory Museum. I was standing with Donna while we both were lookingat the beautiful nearly complete excellent specimen of Angosturas cf.annectent skull (LACH 23502). We remarked that it is unfortunate thatskull has never been full described (except for a short article in 1970). Thisis a nearly complete skull with extended bill.

I dont know if it is the keratin rhamphotheca or a skeletal bill. For therest of the article I will be referring to it as the rhamphotheca. Ive com-mented on it before in PT and that it has the largest premaxillary rostralrhamphotheca preserved. There is only one other specimen, that I know of,with a preserved rhamphotheca, and that one is in Switzerland. It has beensuggested it was either pathological; that is, the rham-photheca hadnt worn down, similar to what has hap-pened when the front teeth of rodents dont occludeand continue to grow into a large circle, or it is cor-rect as is. If it wasnt an abnormality, why haventmore hadrosaurians (the current term for the clade isSaurolophinae because it is the oldest family nameafter Hadrosauridae, and I will be usingsaurolophines for the rest of the article) been foundwith an extended rhamphotheca? The problem is thatother specimens have been found with an extendedrhamphotheca, but it has been either lost or destroyedduring collection or preparation. For some reasonCope (1883) had the bill destroyed during prepara-tion. The outside preserved rhamphotheca has ninegrooves, and the inside has grooves (Figure 1). Whatthese grooves were for is still conjecture. Some of the

rhamphotheca ismissing on thesides. Concerningthe preserved out-side of the rham-photheca, Donnawondered if it wouldhave extended a lit-tle or a lot onto thesides of the premax-illa. As we were dis-cussing that, Dr.Witmer walked by,and I said if anyonewould know itwould be him.

He suggested thatit extended a littleonto the premaxilla.I then asked what

his opinion was onthe soft tissue ofthe nasal area. Ifyou look at thatarea, youll noticethat the dorsalnares are long andnarrow ins a u r o l o p h i n ehadrosaurs. Thelower part of thenares, the premax-illa, is very wide,and if you look atthe inside of thatarea there aregrooves, bumps,and ledges. I sug-gested that fromthe upper nares tothe border of thepremaxilla the softtissue would extendover and around

that area. Also, as I recently commented on the inside of the antorbital fen-estrae in theropods, this area insaurolophines is also smooth, whichmeans that something was there fillingup the space. This would give the area ahalf-oval shape and would have beenwider at the tip of the jaw than at themiddle of the head. I also asked if thenarial opening would be at the tip of thepremaxilla, but he said he wasnt toosureit could have been along thesides of the premaxillaeither way, thenarial opening was at the tip of the pre-maxilla (Figure 2).

I do not believe lambeosaurineswould have had one as large as theextended rhamphotheca. Only one lam-beosaur has been found with an extend-ed rhamphotheca (Corythosaurusexcavatus NMC 8676).

Ive commented before onhadrosaurs with cheeks, which I still

believe were present, but Ive also noticed that, from the predentary to thetooth battery in saurolophine hadrosaurs, the dorsal edge of the dentarynearly forms a straight edge and would have occluded with the ventral por-tion of the premaxilla (Figure 1, C). I believe that edge would act like a cut-ting board. Perhaps the bill gathered the food, the dentary edge cut the veg-etation, and the dentary battery ground it. The cheek, I believe, would havestarted after the cutting edge. The predentary also has knobs and bumpson its edge, which also helped gather food, and there is a ridge on the insidemiddle predentary. Could they have also had a prehensile tongue to helpbring the vegetation to their mouth, position the food between the dentaryblades to cut it, and then use their tongue to position the cut food over thegrinding teeth?

I have argued in the past that Edmontosaurus, Anatosaurus, andAnatotitan are not in the same genus (Figure 3), and I still believe this.Edmontosaurus has a shorter and taller skull (with a slightly forward-tilt-ing posterior skull table, a very wide muzzle, and what I call orbital crests,whereas Anatosaurus had a longer and lower skull, a smaller muzzle withno orbital crest, and a slightly forward-tilting posterior skull table, andAnatotitan had the longest skull. What hasnt been addressed by those whobelieve all these forms belong to an ontogenetic stage is that every elonga-

Ho w t o D ra w H o w to D r a w DD ii nn oo ss aa uu rr ssBy Tracy Lee Ford [email protected]

Figure 1. LACH 23502. A, Front view. B, Close-up view of bill. C, Arrow, dentary showing the cut-ting edge.

Figure 2. Views of possible width of the narial areaand extended rhamphotheca in Angosturas. A, Front;B, oblique; and C, dorsal views showing possible posi-tion of narial opening. D, Lateral view also showingpossible position of narial opening.

Figure 3. Comparing the skulls of Edestosaurus,Angosturas, and Anatolian. A to C, Edestosaurus. D,

Angosturas. E and F, Anatolian.


tion of the skull adds different stress andstrains on the skull and its muscles. Therewould also be a difference or change in thefeeding and behavior. This needs to bestudied and addressed. This also goes forTriceratops / Torosaurus, Stygimoloch /Dracorex / Pachycephalosaurus, andTyrannosaurus / Nanotyrannus. I dobelieve ontogeny did proceedthere is noway it couldntbut I do not believeontogeny explains the extreme differencesin these similar groups.

One last matter, the so-called unicornhadrosaur, Tsintaosaurus, no longer has aunicorn (Figure 4). A new interpretationby Prieto-Mrquez and Wagner, shows thatit had a larger crest similar to that of otherAsian lambeosaurs. Jamie Headden sug-gested a similar crest a few years ago (seeJamie Headdens blog, http://qilong.word-press.com/2013/11/22/recrowning-the-uni-corn/). However, I have a few problemswith their interpretation. To bring the crestto the angle that they have it, they have theback of the skull angle downward in a way that no other hadrosaurs does.The dorsal skull table in all hadrosaurs is either horizontal (in saurolophinesand lambeosaurines) or angled downward anteriorly (as seen inEdmontosaurus and gryposaurs) and not angled posteriorly as the newinterpretation suggests. I believe Tsintaosaurus should also have a hori-zontal dorsal region of the skull. I also agree that there was a larger crestbefore the unicorn horn, but Tsintaosaurus would look different from thenew interpretation as well as the old, with either a vertical crest or one thatangles forward.

In conclusion, saurolophine hadrosaurs had a fat wide nose with thenarial opening near the tip of the premaxilla and with the possibility of anextended rhamphotheca. I believe they had cheeks covering the tooth bat-teries and possibly had a prehensile tongue, which could help gather food.Ontogeny may not explain the differences in skull shapes. And finally theskull of Tsintaosaurus had a crest and not a unicorn horn.

This just in.Every image of Edmontosaurus regalis (and possiblyAnatosaurus, and Anatotitan) are wrong! A new fragmentary mummifiedspecimen of an adult Edmontosaurus regalis (back part of the skull, fourcervical and four dorsal vertebrae, with skin impressions) has beendescribed by Bell, Fanti, Currie and Arbour (2013). The specimen comesfrom the Wapiti Formation, Latest Campanian, Grande Prairie, Alberta,Canada. Over the neck are raised oval clusters of polygonal basement scales,which have been found in other mummified hadrosaurs. This supports thethicker neck in hadrosaurs that Ive reported on before. The most signifi-cant and startling discovery is there is a large soft-tissue Cocks

Comb/Dome/Crest on the back of the skull. Itspans from the anterior limit of the orbit to theposterior edge of the squamosal. The crest hasa maximum height of 20 cm, is 33 cm longanteropsteriorly and is three-dimensionally pre-served. There is no skull bones in the crest, andthe base of the crest overlaps the lateral edgesof the postorobital and squamosal, leaving nodoubt it is real. There is also skin impressionson the crest with undulating and partly wrin-kled posteriorly, implying it was soft and sup-ple. The scales are of homogenous polygonalbasement scales measuring 3-4 mm in diame-ter.

They argue that because the other mummi-fied hadrosaurs (they call Edmontosaurus, Icall Anatosaurus) lack a soft crest is either dueto taphonomy, inadvertently lost during collec-tion/preparation, is a specific trait ofEdmontosaurus regalis, or I may add, ontoge-netic or sexual dimorphism.

They theorize the soft crest was used for dis-play, and there is the possibility that otherhadrosaurs/ornithopods also had a soft tissue

display.

National Geographic has a shot article on their web page.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131212-duckbill-dinosaur-rooster-comb-fossils-paleontology-science/

Julius Csotonyi illustrated this and has the copyright to the image. Thisinformation was not in the National Geographic article.

To quote Andrew A. Farke One of those out-of-left field fossils, eh? Oneof the coolest discoveries in awhile! I'd like to thank Nick Gardner for sup-plying me with the latest information.

Dont forget to visit my two websites; my original Dinohunter(http://www.dinohunter.info) and Paleofile (http://www.paleofile.com).

Paleofile has several areas and an easy index (just click on the name, andit will take you to the systematic list), or you can go directly to the system-atic list (eggs and ichnology included). Click on the name in the list, and itwill take you to a more comprehensive listing: genus, species, etymology,holotype (lecto-, para-, etc.), locality, horizon (formation), biostratigraphy(faunal zone if known), age, material, and referred material. There will betwo faunal lists, one in which you can check your area or any area in theworld to see what animals were found there and the other will be ages. Ifyoure interested in Biostratigraphy, you can see which animals lived withwhich at that time from around the world.There are also smaller sections:paleopathology, histology, extinction, taphonomy, skin, coprolites, etc.

Eventually it will befully illustrated.

The site is now afree site, no subscrip-tion. I do have adonate button forthose who would liketo help keep the sitegoing.

Figure 4. New interpretation of Tsingtauite skull. A,After Presto-Moresque and Wagner. B, My new interpreta-

tion. C, Edestosaurus, showing forward tilting posteriorskull table. D, Cotylosaurs intermedius, showing level

posterior skull table.

Figure 5. A) preserved material; light grey is the matrix, dark grey isthe skull material; B-C) new reconstruction of the skull showing the softcrest; B) dorsal view; C) cross section just in front of the orbit; D) side

view of the skull.

Julius Csotonyi


Pick up your copy of this computer discdirect from the author. Please note it is a

PDF format so you must have AdobeReader. The disc sells for $22 including

shipping. Contact Joe [email protected]. Joe accepts

Paypal.

With over 2000 full color photos and a wealth of information ondinosaur and prehistoric animal collectibles from the 20th century

by expert Joe deMarco and a half dozen other experts, this discallows you to also become the expert with just a touch of your

computer mouse.

Dinosauriana, The Compendium


LEFT: Museum ofDinosaurs is a twentynine cent book from1961 in which the

dinosaurs are punchedout and fit together to

create a 3-Dimensional Stage of16 Dinosaurs The leftphoto shows the backof the book and some

of the punch outdinosaurs with their

flaps for sticking theminto place. Pretty cool,especially to me back

in 1961.

ABOVE: Dinosaur collector extraordinaire Jeff Quinn of Connecticut sent us these great images of anold 1950s wooden Simplex brand dinosaur puzzle including the box lid on the left and the actual puzzle

on the right. Like so many artists have done, the images were copied from the famous RudolphZallinger mural, Age of Reptiles at the Peabody Museum at Yale University.

LEFT & BELOW: French collector Jean-MarieLeonard sent us these photos of some of his collec-tion of Henkel-Ovomaltine-Yoplait premium figuresfrom Europe. The figures are no longer available. He

also recently acquired an Endothiodon,Baluchitherium, Iguanodon and Ankylosaurus.

LEFT : At the 1933 ChicagoWorlds Fair titled Century ofProgress Sinclair Oil offered adisplay of life-sized dinosaurs

and Messmore & Damon creat-ed a World A Million Years

Ago exhibit as well. Souvenirsincluded a metal Brontosaurus,a metal saber-toothed cat and

this flat, metal Triceratops (Fig.1). The three rare figures

included a blue sticker advertis-ing the fair as seen on the insideof the Triceratops in fig. 2. Butrecently we discovered a ver-

sion without the sticker but withthe words Century of Progress1933, Chicago engraved inside

instead of just Triceratopsand no sticker.

LEFT: Vintage posterfrom a Sinclair Oil gaso-line station advertising

their different dinosaureach week promotion inwhich you could buy a

copy of an old Marx toydinosaur figure for twen-ty nine cents at participat-

ing stations while sup-plies lasted.


Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

By Randy [email protected]

www.dinosaurcollector.150m.com

2013 has been the year of the Carnotaurus. I can understand it, as thekids we teach at Smithsonian recognize the name and the distinctive hornsof the flesh bull. It has become a staple for dinosaur sets, replacing ani-mals well known in my youth. Trachodon, Hadrosaurus andStruthiomimus have become obscure to the public or even nomen dubium(Latin for "doubtful name"). Velociraptor, Spinosaurus andPachycephalosaurus are famous for their roles in Jurassic Park (JP) butCarnotaurus was not included in the films. How did Carnotaurus capture thepublic eye? It was a star in the Disney Dinosaur movie even though themovie itself was not a great success compared to JP or Walking withDinosaurs (WWD). Hasbro did make two collectable JP Carnotaurus fig-ures; the rare and sought after Demon Carnotaurus and the series 2 figure.Demon was a black and red figure with dino damage that looked reallyexciting until you tried to stand it up and play with it. The series 2 figurenever got anyone excited. Mattel, McDonalds, and Bullyland all made fig-ures based on the Disneymovie. These figures reli-ably reproduced the look ofthe movie, which is sadbecause the movie did notmake a priority of accuracy.Carnotaurus is one of thebest known fossils we haveof a theropod dinosaur andthe most complete for anyabelisaur. There is fos-silized skin for most of thebody. There are boneybumps along the sides ofthe neck, back, and tail inrows. The animal has twohorns above the eyes and atrophied arms with four fingers. Toy figurescome in two styles; the Disney morph and fossil morph. The Disney morphcaptures the horn and skin for a figure with squat build, a box shaped skulland cartoon villain expression. This is the preschool image targeted foryoung kids. Papo and Schleich released Disney morph versions this year.The Schleich version has an attractive red and gray painted torso anddetailed skin with a frill along the back. The conical horns on the head looklike they have a keratinous sheath. The articulated jaw contains well definedsmall teeth. The forearms have 3 clawed fingers; the fourth may have justbeen a splint, like an Allosaurus with the wrong limb proportions. The legsare short and the feet large to allow the figure to stand. There is almost noresemblance to the Schleich Replicasaurus figure from 2000. Carnotauruswas lightly built with long slender legs. The 2010 Carnegie Safari replica isthe most accurate Carnotaurus representation. The Carnegie Museumchooses figures based on the amount of fossil information and incorporatesthat information faithfully. The Carnegie Carnotaurus displays the hatchetshaped skull with horns that are flattened on the upper sides. The stuntedforearms have four fingers. The legs are slender as befitsa cursorial predator. The skin has a frill and rows of round,boney nodes on the back. The mottled black and brown ofthe upper body breaks the silhouette, a practical colorscheme for a predator. Why an inaccurate, chunky, grin-ning horned dinosaur is a better choice for a preschooler isnot apparent to me. As a parent I would pick the Carnegiefigure every time.

GeoWorld has released a horde of dinosaurs. They have

a vast range of species and types. My favorites are the small theropods andsmall ornithopods seldom included in toy figure releases. They remind meof the best and last of the Sky Kids Thunder Beasts releases. It is still a

challenge to find the Jurassic Hunters in many areas so I contactedPT retailer Dejankins for help. I was pleased with myThescelosaurus. The1:15 scale can be inte-grated with myCollectA 1:15 scaleTriceratops andTyrannosaurus. This

is a free standing, bipedal fig-ure with a long beaked mouth.The cheeks are a nice detail.One of the reasons we see sofew small ornithopods isbecause they established asimple body plan in theTriassic that did not really change and that makes them hard to physicallydifferentiate. The figure has small, wide five-fingered hands, boney eye-brows, and a long tail. The design got adventurous by including boney nod-ules along the midline of the neck. One surprise was the coloring which wasdifferent from the catalogues;it has a yellow base coat withbrown stripes and highlights. Itis a unique and collectablefigure I was happy to add tomy collection.

If 2013 was the year forCarnotaurus figures, then2014 will be the year for Pachyrhinosaurus. The JP franchise released alarge figure for Christmas that looks like the old Dino Rider figure withKeratinous horn. BBC Walking with Dinosaurs 3D opened December2013. This movie features a family of Pachyrhinosaurus and I expect itwill help drive figure sales for 2014. Vivid Imaginations, based in the UK,has the franchise for the figures. They include 4 large articulated figures inthe style of the Hasbro JP and Tyco Dino Rider figures and are equally frag-ile. There are 12 solid vinyl blind bag figures. The figures are slightly larg-er than the Safari Ltd Toob figures. The production quality is rough withmany figures having the Battat affliction of malformed limbs and have aproblem standing. The feathered Troodon looks great, much like the SafariLtd Toob figure Sinornithosaurus, except it doesnt stand on its own verywell. The Gorgosaurus seems to be crudely done and unfinished. ThePachyrhinosaurus figures are faithful to the movie but not competitivewith the Papo, CollectA and Wild Safari figures. Still, I hope they distrib-ute to the US.

Wild Safari has announced 4 new figures for 2014 Megalodon,Monolophosaurus, Suchomimus and Pachyrhinosaurus. In 2014 WildSafari becomes pure Safari with the retirement of the last of the Wild Safarifigures of the Galaxy vintage. When you look at the Wild Safari advertise-ment in this issue you see the nine year journey through time to give the col-lection a modern vision. The timeline starts with the Devonian sea and theplacoderm Dunkleosteos released in 2007. The Mesozoic starts with theJurassic trio; the 2008 Brachiosaurus, 2010 Liopleurodon and 2013Dimorphodon. It ends with the Cretaceous 2011 Tyrannosaurus, thisyears Elasmosaurus and next years Suchomimus, Pachyrhinosaurus andAmmonite. The collection continues with the Cenozoic Gastornis 2013and Megalodon 2014. Finally we have the Ice Age Woolly Mammoth from2005. What you see is Paleoart tempered with fossil discoveries.

Dunkleosteos shows a look at a classic Burian print.Brachiosaurus replaced the archaic Galaxy figure,Liopleurodon could have swum in and Dimorphodoncould have flown in the Walking with Dinosaurs documen-tary. The Tyrannosaurus was the first fully bipedal figurefor the collection. Elasmosaurus is acknowledged as thenew standard. Gastornis redefines the MPC original(Diatryma) from the 60s. It will continue to be an exciting

Wild Safari Megalodon


Walking withDinosaurs

GeoWorld Thescelosaurus.Did paleontologists find his

mummified heart?

Safari LtdCarnotaurus (left)

and others

Wild SafariSuchomimus(foreground

journey in 2014. In 2005 it was the firstSuchomimus figure from a major toy company.The initial fossils were not extensive, and morecomplete fossils were found in 2007. The initialfigure used material from the better known andclosely related Baryonyx for the reconstruction. Iwas able to obtain the 2014 Suchomimus from PTsupporter Dans Dinosaurs. You can immediatelysee it is a more sophisticated figure. The defaultstance uses the fore claws for a four foot pose but you can balance the fig-ure for bipedal stance with some customization. The three front claws arefish hooks, the long jaw is fit for a fish eater and it has a prominent backridge. One of the big differences in the 2005 version is that the old style ele-phant skin folds have been replaced by a pattern of scales of variable size.Other details include a ridge down the snout and a small fringe along thespine; both understated. The coloring has a darker top on a gold brown base.It is a good omen for 2014. Safari Ltd made their new Megalodon availablefor review. This is a natural choice when you look at the Wild Safari SeaLife Collection. Megalodon is generally reconstructed as a larger version ofthe Great White shark; much larger. The coloring and shape conform to themodern Great White Shark. The open mouth lets you see the conveyor beltrows that replace teeth in sharks. The Miocene may have been the peak ofMegalodon success with the diversity of whales. For display include aselection of wild Safari Whales as prey for your Megalodon.

CollectA has released their list of the 2014 collection and PT receivedsome review copies. The Deluxe 2014 Carcharodontosaurus is a largescale figure compatible with the Deluxe Nigersaurus and Spinosaurus.The body is robust with skin made up of folds of irregular scales with a rowof osteoderms on each side. The tail extends straight back and the palms ofthe forearms face inward. The torso is brown with black highlights, and thelegs look well proportioned. The skull is long with a white stripe across thesnout. The Emu blue patches set off the black eyes. This is one of the mostimpressive theropod figures I have seen. It is a must have for any seriouscollector. The 2014 releases are cutting choices that show that CollectA hasmastered the production process and Anthony Beesons distinctive designstyle is recognizable in all these figures. Xenoceratops is a Canadian cen-trosaurine described in 2012 from fossils dating back to 1958. The recon-

struction of the face is speculative based on closerelatives where the fossils are incomplete. The topof the crest has two white spikes, with two small-er red projections lower and on the midline. Thelarge brow horns play to the side like last yearsDiabloceratops. There is a red nasal ridge infront. The shield is scalloped with boney projec-tions. The body is black with white stripes on theface. There is a white frill over the hips; a

CollectA design trademark. Ichthyovenator was also described in 2012. Itis a unique choice for several reasons. It is from Laos, not an area that hasbeen the source of figures, and it is the Asian spinosaur. The figure exhibitsthe fish eating skull of spinosaurs reinforced with the fish in its mouth. Thedistinguishing feature is the double sail on the back. The skin is done ingreat detail; fringes parallel to the sail. The skin color reminds me of mod-ern crocodiles. Special effort was made to get the limbs proportioned cor-rectly with the clawed arms facing inward. The slender back legs are sup-ported by a base. All the CollectA bases are in the same style and I thinkthey should be made to join with each other. Quetzalcoatlus lifestyle hasbeen revised in recent years. The catching fish strategy during flight hasbeen rejected as nonviable due to energy costs. The jaws do resemble thoseof modern scavenging birds. This model portrays the Quetzalcoatlus as aterrestrial stalker with fore and hind limb proportions suited to preying onsmall vertebrates. The design mirrors their Deluxe Hatzegopteryx on asmaller scale. The Stork like beak contains an infant Alamosaurus prey.This makes the CollectA figure the standard for Quetzalcoatlus. Thestegosaur corpse is one of the innovative ideas that I enjoy so much aboutCollectA. The design and coloration are what we see in the DeluxeStegosaurus. Both sides are painted; one side is flattened and the other hasdino damage that would shame a Jurassic Park figure. The body can beposed flat or upright. The figure is configured to join with theSaurophaganax scheduled for release this year. For gamers it is a gift; itbeats using shears to cut up old Imperial models for scavenging actions.Pictures of the new releases have generated a buzz but seeing them in 3Dexceeded my expectations. I cannot wait to see the Saurophaganax,Bistahieversor, Mosasaurus, Gastonia, Arsinoitherium, and young T.rex (feathered). It should be a great year for prehistoric animal figures.

New CollectA for 2014

PT: The new Walking with Dinosaurs movies animation looks amazing.Certainly some of the best I have ever seen. What part did you have in itscreation, Dave?

David Krentz: I was a character designer and somewhat of a consultant.I was called on very early to draw and digitally design the characters beforethey headed off to Animal Logic's modeling and animation department.

PT: Okay, right off, I realize it is aimed at children but I can't imagine youare too happy about the dinosaurs talking. What are you happiest about withthe final product and what are you most frustrated with?

DK: Its obvious that I, or many other hardcore dinosaur fans are not crazyabout voice over in any dinosaur films. I think what was most dishearteningto me was that this one proved to be "the one" without any (or little) narra-tion until very late in the game. The animation was painstakingly created towork in mime format, with a lot of research done as to how animals actual-ly show emotion to each other without anthropomorphism. I've beenthrough this ringer a few times (five times actually) where the intent is a nar-ration free film that really puts you back into the time of the dinosaurs and

then it winds up with a lot of talking. In the back of my mind I knew therewas always a possibility of that happening to WWD3D. I've been to thesausage factory one too many times and I know how it all works. Testscreenings, etc, can sway a decision very quickly and take power out of thecreatives hands. This often happens because they want to make their moneyback, which is of course understandable as we are talking about millions ofdollars. No one is going to give you money and let you do anything youwant!

When we were working on Dinosaur Revolution, we took the conceptof the feature film version (which was always the intent) to a studio that isinfamous for some serious horror/ thriller movies with the hope that theywould want to fund a young adult oriented nature experience film. Aftershowing boards of dino on dino combat, their reason for turning us downwas "but kids love dinosaurs, and that is the audience." It's a very hard sellto make the kind of movie that readers of this magazine would love to see.The current climate in Hollywood does not support it. So far the silent ver-sion of "the Watering Hole" on the Dinotasia Blu-Ray (as well as much ofthe film) and (Phil) Tippet's Prehistoric Beast come the closest; If I dare


The PT Interview with artist David KrentzThe PT Interview with artist David Krentzby Mike Fredericksby Mike Fredericks

All art David Krentz

make that comparison.

I've said it before and I'll sayit again. If this inspires a kid toget into science then the film isa success. There has been somegreat ancillary things on linethat promote the science of thismovie.

What was I happiest with?It's a movie about dinosaurs.

PT: Fox appears to be settingthis film in the far north. Why isthat or who's idea was it?

DK: Its mostly based on fos-sils from the North Slope ofAlaska and Pipestone Creek. Icould be wrong, but I thinkEvergreen Films had that idea.One of the founders of thatcompany is a big ceratopsianfan. Dinosaurs in snow is agreat selling point too. It cap-tures the imagination and thatswhats important.

PT: Im certain that dinosaurs in snow will be atotally new concept to many people seeing the film.What are some things that we will see in this filmthat we can directly attribute to you, Dave?

DK: When I was first brought on, my mandatewas to create the most scientifically accuratedinosaurs imaginable. The BBC was driving that aspect. I had to answer toabout 5 paleontologists, including Scott Sampson and Tom Holtz, and makethem all happy. Scott Hartman and Mark Witton provided great referencesfor me and I worked with them as well. The models were some of the bestwork I've done. Looking back at them they were fairly gaunt looking but Ilike to do that because when you put skin and muscle systems on a modelall that stuff disappears. Knowing that what I did was going to be re-mod-eled for animation I felt I'd rather over-inform them of anatomy than under-inform them. Of course theywent through changes as theyalmost always do; the mostnotable one being the muchstockier, smoother, heavier lookof the pachys.

So, I know you want toknow specifically what I did, sohere goes.

-Designed the main Pachycharacters. They changed butthe basic ideas are all there-Patchi is based on roundforms, and has a hole in his frill,Juniper is triangles and slen-der, Scowler is parallelo-grams with everything pointingforward.

- The Gorgosaurs. Theystayed pretty close to what I did.I loved what Animal Logic did

with the colors on Gorgon. These were done pre Yutyrannus soeveryone just calm down about the lack of fuzz. I did present thatidea early on but it did not get any traction at all. Also, I couldn'tresist the Judith horns on Gorgon.

- The Quetzes. Mark Witton worked close with me on that. Theystayed close to my work, but as usual they were hit with thatpterosaur head shrinking ray. "A creature with a head that couldn'tfly!"

- The Parksosaurus

- The Troodon. The face changed a little on that one.

- Edmontosaurus. I think they stayed very close. I believe theyhave artist Angie Rodriques' color scheme too. She worked a littleon the film as well.

- Edmontonia. The hardest model I've ever built. It drove bothScott Hartman and I insane. One slight change from the paleontol-ogists and we had to redo all the scutes and spikes.

- Chirostenotes- I was happy Animal Logic was handling thefeathers on this movie. They are great at them.

I think that was it. PT readers know that many people have a sayin what a character looks like. I also provided some input on ani-

mation. Animal Logic'steam, lead by MarcoMarenghi did a greatjob with that.

PT: Now that youhave a few dinosaurrelated projects underyour belt, does thismake it easier to findsimilar future projects?Are you specificallylooking for dinosaurrelated movie work?

DK: I could do dinosaurs all day long. Seriously. I do try and finddinosaur related projects but I'm still up against really great establisheddesigners in this industry. Of course I'd love to direct one again.

PT: Well, I was there at my local theater on opening day and still cantget over how great the look of it was. Truly some amazing work, Dave.

(Later, when I buy the Blu-Ray, I will definitely watch it with the soundoff, though.) Can you tell us what you are working on now, either relatedto dinosaurs or not? Any new sculpting?

DK: My recent work has included Hotel Transylvania 2, A Popeye fea-ture, and two Marvel live action features called Guardians of the Galaxyand Ant-Man. My sculpting happens in fits and spurts and depends on mypaying film work load. I'm trying to get my 1/40 Spinosaurus andTherizinosaurus out soon, and have plenty of models to load onShapeways as well. My kids have loved the little "Chubbie" series I'vebeen doing of late so I tried to do a bunch of those before Christmas forthem. I know they are silly, but they are fun and easy to do.

So people, please go out and support this film! Otherwise Hollywood,and even serious documentary makers will believe that no one wants to seedinosaurs anymore!

PT: To find out more about the incredible artist that David Krentz is,type his name into a search on the internet. He has a Facebook page andseveral sites showing his amazing work. It will be well worth your time.


The Giant Behemoth was a British film released in1956 about an enormous dinosaur-like monster that menaces London. Willis

OBrien createdthe stop motioneffects. The filmbecame availableon DVD a coupleyears ago if youare interested inseeing it. Mike

Evans Alchemy Works model company has issued a beautiful resin modelkit of the Behemoth attacking the famous Big Ben clock tower. While theBehemoth does attack london in the film, he is only seen attacking BigBen in movie promo posters (and this model).

The Paleosaurus, as the paleontologist in themovie calls it, puts off an electrical aura of radioac-tivity - thanks to our atomic testing. It uses this as aweapon. The Behemoth reminds me a little of theBrontosaurus from the original King Kong movie; asharp-toothed, meat-eating sauropod (Brontosaurusrex?) The model is an thirteen piece kit that includesa 10 base of rubble and wrecked period cars. It hasa separate jaw, four legs, a tail and a large, solidbody. It is a great likeness of the Behemoth in themovie. Exhaustive scale work that is beautifullylined up on the skin must have taken the sculp-tor forever to complete. Of course gluing theseparts together is going to take a fair amount ofwork as the scales must match and the connec-tion on each part is not great. The Gothic, greatbell tower at the Palace of Westminster is nicelyrepresented. It is comprised of two detailed partsand includes four, paper clock faces. It is a bitstubby and does not include the rest of the build-ing it is actually attached to in reality and I also

question if there is enough rubble onthe ground for all the damage thathas happened here but I am nit-pick-ing. The star of this kit is the giantdinosaur and he and the tower lookgreat together. The 12" tall model issculpted by the one and only JoeLaudati so you cant go wrong. Joedoes great work. My good friendDave Bengel shows you how he builtand painted this kit in an article inthis issue of PT so please check thatout. For your own copy of this won-derful kit, call 817-471-9096 or visithttp://thealchemyworks.com.

Sculptor Heidi Richter sent areview copy of her 13 Stegosaurus resin figure in 1:30 scale. It is a solid,super detailed figure made of high-quality resin. There is no assembly asthis is a one-piece casting and minimal seam-cleaning is required. Heidi has

created a naturalistic prehistoricanimal with the emphasis on aliving animal, not a monster.She captures the look that thiscreature most likely had in lifeduring the Jurassic period witha great, realistic overall look.The highly detailed skin andplated back are quite well done.It seems to stroll along in a verytrue-to-life manner and I love it.The model is slightly delicatebut I can see that Heidi rein-forced the spiked tail with wireunderlay. Great job! I hope tosee more from this talentedartist. Custom paints and faux

bronzes are available from the sculptor. For availability and ordering:[email protected] or 217-722-3636. Unpainted Resin is $110.Faux Bronze $170, or Custom Painted $200 - painted by the sculptor areavailable. See more at: www.heidirichter.com/sculpture

Some of the big chain stores carry the new Walking With Dinosaurs 3Dmovie-related, boxed, action figures now. They cover some interestingdinosaurs, but of course, are made for young children. Nonetheless, theywill undoubtedly become collectible some day when they are no longeravailable.

Long time PT readers Sheldon Wright and DeanWalker told me about Matchbox Catch the Creature

Whats NewWhats Newin reviewin review

By Mike FredericksBy Mike Fredericks

Heidi Richters Stegosaurus painted by her

1/30 resin Stegosaurus

painted in two schemes by the sculptor, Heidi Richter

New from TheAlchemy Works

These 3 new modelscan be purchased as

resin kits or fully fin-ished (by Martin

Garratt) fromDansDinosaurs.com

Unpainted1/30

Stegosaurusresin figuresculpted by

Heidi Richter


Diabloceratops by SeanCooper

Suchomimus by EduardoPantoja Moreno

series vehicles and figures. A set of four came out in2012 of which one is a vehicle with a Yeti/AbominableSnowman and another includes a green Tyrannosaurus.A new series of these vehicles came out this year and ofthe four available, two are a Smilodon and aWoolly Mammoth. They are pretty hard to find,but Sheldon found them mainly at Kohls andTarget stores for about $6 to $7.50 each.

Its a new year and the Big Five prehistoricanimal figure creating companies Safari Ltd,CollectA, Papo, Schleich and Bullyland arealready making images of their new lines available tothe public, even though most of the actual figures arenot here yet. Lets take an early peek, shall we?

Starting with our good friends at Safari Ltd, theyare introducing a new, good-looking T. rex in theirCarnegie Museum Collection, and its a red head. Ibelieve the other six prehistoric animals are all in the Wild Safari line. SafariLtd. was kind enough to have already sent us a couple and they include abeautiful 7.5 Carcharodon megalodon with its many rows of razor-sharpteeth. This shark was so large, it may have preyed on whales. Three newdinosaur figures include the strange, ChineseMonolophosaurus with the single crest over itssnout, a new version of the African crocodilemimic an 8 Suchomimus, and the star of the newWalking with Dinosaurs 3D movie,Pachyrhinosaurus. All three look great; both

accurate and realistic.Safari Ltd retired theirold ammonite so their beautiful new one for 2014is most welcome. It would look especially greatnext to a collection of real ammonite fossils. Afive man collection of hominid human figuresis another welcome addition to the 2014 line fromAustralopithecus to Homo sapiens, it follows

our evolution and is sold as a set. And finally, Ilove their new Toob filled with Cryptozoologicalanimals like the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot.It also includes coelacanth, which of course is factnow and no longer fantasy.

Our other good friends, CollectA are reallybringing out a lot of new prehistoric animal fig-ures designed as usual by Anthony Beeson.CollectA continues to produce figures ofdinosaurs that many PT readers will have neverheard of. Okay, even your PT editor hasnt heardof some of them either. (Of course their identity isalways merely a Google search away) I highly

applaud this; I just hope CollectA can continue to stay in business doing it.Its so fantastic to have figures of obscure or newly discovered dinosaurs andCollectA was also kind enough to send us several for review.

CollectA is alsoinnovative with theirbetter known figureslike theirStegosaurus corpse.Its perfect for theirnew Saurphaganax,a super-sized allosaur

figure, to be munchingupon. Both figures lookfantastic. Their giantAzhdarchid figure of thep t e r o s a u rQuetzalocoatlus is por-trayed standing on the

ground with a babys a u r o p o d

(Alamosaurus) in its mouth. Another first forCollectA and the figure world. Bistahieversor wasa tyrannosaur from the southwest United States.

CollectA boldly presents itas a feathered dinosaurwith some interesting coloration. Designer AnthonyBeeson has decided to place most of the newtheropods upon bases for easy standing this year.Baby dinosaurs are popular in 2014 and CollectAintroduces their young T. rex (also feathered andalso on a stand.) The south-east Asian SpinosauridIchthyovenator is a cool looking dinosaur and one

that, again, no one else offers. It has an interesting hump/sail back with abreak in the middle. This fish-eater from Laos was originally designed with-out a base but now has been given one. Their Xenoceratops dinosaur modelhas a clever color-scheme and is a nice sculpt. Also coming is a nice feath-ered, Deluxe Therizinosaurus, plus a Carcharodontosaurus,Mosasaurus, Arsi

prehistory times magazine 108

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