That dratted Dakotaraptor pack will need to have been both determined with starvation or straight up galoots to attempt to tackle Scutum. To their credit score, they attacked him with all their ferocity and would possibly, surrounding him on all sides, distracting him with loud cries and violent wing flapping, and leaping onto his again to dig in with their hooked claws and nip at his conceal with their razor fangs. However Scutum fought again with horrible resolve. He bucked the pests off him. He tossed them apart or induced them to leap out of the way in which with every swing of his mighty head. He trampled one pack member into the bottom till his ft have been coated with blood and feathers. And he impaled the most important one on his left forehead horn, the place it shuddered as soon as and moved no extra. The survivors then promptly fled, leaving Scutum with a number of, however superficial cuts.
That was nearly two days in the past now, and the ding-busted lifeless Dakotaraptor continues to be caught on Scutum’s horn despite his repeated efforts to take away it. The burden bears down on him, the dangling limbs and wings impede his imaginative and prescient, the dry feathers irritate his pores and skin, the bugs buzz round him incessantly, and the stench of rotting flesh is changing into stronger and stronger. His fellow torosaurs have been maintaining their distance and it’s solely a matter of time earlier than the scent attracts the most unwelcome of company.
Snorting furiously, Scutum swings his head as soon as once more just for one of many flopping clawed ft to poke him within the eye . . .
Torosaurus was one of many final, largest, and most spectacular ceratopsids. By way of measurement, it rivalled its shut relative Triceratops, plus it possessed a much bigger cranium. Certainly, one explicit specimen, “Adam,” boasts a skull 3 metres long, the most important of any recognized land animal. Fairly a number of Torosaurus fossils have been found within the western United States and Canada, though it seems to have been far much less widespread than Triceratops was again within the day. And for those who’ve been actively following paleontology information for the previous 15 years, then you definately’re in all probability conscious that at one time, it was argued that the perforated lizard and the three horned face have been one and the identical. And also you’re additionally in all probability conscious that that notion has just about been debunked by now, which I’ll contact on extra later. In contrast to Triceratops, there actually hasn’t been a plethora of Torosaurus toys, though there have been some very good ones from Tyco, Toyway, PNSO, and Creative Beast Studio.
Right here is the 2025 Haolonggood Torosaurus, whom I’ve named Scutum. He’s sculpted in a gradual and regular strolling pose together with his tail swinging to the precise, his left hind leg prolonged again, his head held out straight, and his mouth open. He’s one in every of solely two Haolonggood ceratopsians to date to characteristic an open mouth, the opposite being Sinoceratops. From the guidelines of his forehead horns to the top of his tail, he measures about 22 cm lengthy and is sort of 10.5 cm tall on the high of his frill. And he weighs 307 g, which makes him the third greatest Haolonggood ceratopsian after the 373 g Pentaceratops and the 432 g Triceratops.
Two variations of this toy exist: “Wang Bo Dang” and “Shan Xiong Xin,” the latter of which is Scutum. His foremost colors are darkish brown on high and salmon pink on backside, with white for the underside of his tail and really darkish brown and black for his ft and claws respectively. Darkish stripes adorn his tail, thighs, and flanks. There’s additionally a faint streak of pinkish wash on high of his again, which I reckon he would have appeared higher with out.
Scutum’s frill is adorned in fiery shades of purple and orange with darkish brown markings. It appears to be like very hanging and exquisite, and is a welcome change from the attention spots on so many different ceratopsians. Appears like a dawn or a sundown. The remainder of his cranium is a mix of pink, purple, orange, and darkish brown, with beige and medium brown horns, mild orange eyes, pink nostrils, and a shiny pink mouth with off white tooth. And no seen paint flaws, fortunately.
The physique on this toy is sort of typical of a heavyweight ceratopsid. A giant, beefy, very large torso, a somewhat quick tail, and stout, highly effective legs. The ft terminate within the right quantity and association of digits and claws, not that I anticipated any totally different from Haolonggood. Small, rounded scales coated each sq. centimetre of Scutum, with loads of wrinkles on the perimeters and the underbelly and on components of the legs. There are additionally round osteoderms scattered all around the again, which is once more typical of ceratopsids.
Subsequent we come to Scutum’s head, and what a beautiful head it’s! The entrance a part of it’s coated in rounded scales of various measurement and, after all, there may be the acquainted trio of horns, all of them pointy and smooth-textured like these of a bull. The lefthand forehead horn is barely longer and thinner than the righthand one, a pleasingly reasonable contact. The big beak and the small jugal horns beneath Scutum’s alert eyes are coated in ridges. The within of his mouth is painstakingly detailed, with rows of tiny tooth and visual nasal openings within the palate.
And final, however most actually not least, there may be Scutum’s huge frill, the trademark attribute of Torosaurus, the principle characteristic that distinguishes it from Triceratops. In contrast to the latter’s frill, which has a rounded form, Scutum’s seems nearly rectangular when considered from the entrance. And between the curvature and the colouration, it does certainly bear a resemblance to a real scutum. It too is completely scaly, with three pronounced rows of huge scales operating down the very centre and the place the parietals meet the squamosals. The scales are additionally organized in concentric oval patterns over the fenestrae. The rim of the frill seems {smooth} at first look, however nearer inspection exhibits that there are small however pronounced epiparietals.
As talked about earlier, it was proposed again in 2010 that Torosaurus represented the mature type of Triceratops, however that speculation was by no means well-received within the paleontology neighborhood and several other research subsequently concluded that it was certainly a definite species. Additional exhausting proof has extra just lately come within the type of subadult Torosaurus specimens in Colorado and in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Hurrah for that, I says, as Torosaurus occurs to be my very favorite ceratopsian.:)
And now that I personal Scutum right here, I truthfully don’t reckon I’ll be in want of one other Torosaurus toy, no less than not anytime quickly. He’s a terrific toy throughout: large and imposing, beautifully sculpted, attractively painted, and scientifically correct. Oh, and significantly cheaper than the similar-sized PNSO model. Haolonggood has hit a house run but once more. Positively really useful!
Tangling with Tyrannosaurus rex.
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