A number of days in the past, the primary Columbian mammoth figure was reviewed on the weblog, which jogged my memory how a lot I really like mammoths, so I used to be impressed to evaluate my oldest mammoth toy; the Dor Mei woolly mammoth. I can’t discover a lot information about it on-line, aside from that it’s supposedly from 1983 and a part of a line referred to as “Galaxy Fighters Warriors”, however I do not know what which means or if it’s even right.
The woolly mammoth is after all one of the vital well-known prehistoric animals, and maybe essentially the most well-known prehistoric mammal of all. It is usually one of the vital fully identified prehistoric animals, represented by many frozen specimens from Siberia (and some from North America), and was depicted by prehistoric people in surprisingly well-executed art work. Taken collectively, we’ve had a reasonably full image of how this animal would have appeared in life for many years, if not centuries, and depictions due to this fact haven’t diversified drastically (save for a few early ones based on half-decayed carcasses).
One other fascinating incontrovertible fact that was found comparatively lately is that the final, remoted woolly mammoth populations died out solely 4000 years in the past, inside historic instances, and famously after the Nice Pyramid of historical Egypt was constructed. And whereas similar to fashionable elephants, their apparent variations give them a little bit of an uncanny vibe. To me, all this simply makes the woolly mammoth all of the extra mysterious, prefer it’s so shut, but nonetheless thus far… I may go on and on about these fascinating animals (the much less mentioned about cloning the higher, although), however let’s transfer on to the determine.
This determine is about 24 cm lengthy from the tip of trunk to the tip of the tail, and 13 cm tall on the dome of the top. It’s immediately recognisable as a woolly mammoth as a result of well-made striations that depict its lengthy, brown fur, in addition to from the shoulder hump, curvy tusks and small ears. In comparison with different Dor Mei figures of prehistoric animals, that is by far the most effective and most correct one I’ve seen, in all probability as a result of it’s onerous to go mistaken with one thing as well-known as a woolly mammoth if not intentionally attempting. That mentioned, there are some minor inaccuracies which I’ll level out under.
Initially, when seen from the entrance, the tusks are directed straight down, their curve solely being actually obvious in facet view, whereas they need to curve outwards and again in the direction of the center in semi-circular shapes when seen from the entrance. That is presumably as a result of the sculptor was referencing art work depicting the animal from the facet. And whereas being extra carefully associated to the Asian than the African elephants, the woolly mammoth shared with the latter a double-lobed (or “fingered”) trunk-tip, however this determine solely has an higher lobe, just like the Asian elephant. This function has lengthy been identified, however lately it was found that woolly mammoths additionally had an growth on the trunk which is assumed to have functioned like a “mitten”, whereby the trunk may curl in to guard the non-hairy tip from the chilly, and that’s after all not current within the determine.
The tail can also be considerably too lengthy; the tail and ears of the woolly mammoth had been smaller than in fashionable elephants to guard from the chilly. I’m not solely updated concerning the variety of toe nails mammoths had, however this one has 4 on every foot: they range lots amongst fashionable elephants, since they don’t correspond to the variety of underlying toes, so it’s not so apparent. Contemplating what atrocities Dor Mei in any other case launched, these are very minor nitpicks, and I feel the determine holds up fairly effectively. The mid-stride posture can also be very dynamic and real looking, and whereas I’m unsure I can pinpoint any particular piece of palaeoart it may very well be based mostly on, the pose appears much like Charles R. Knight’s American Museum of Natural History mural from 1916 depicting the species.
The fur has an applicable reddish brown color, as indicated by frozen specimens, although this may occasionally have been an artifact of bleaching, and colouration might have diversified between specimens. The decrease a part of the fur appears to be lighter than the higher, but when so, it’s very slight, and a really clean transition. The crimson eyes appear an odd alternative, however the eyes of recent elephants do additionally look fairly uncommon with their seemingly black irides. The tusks are white, although they’re extra yellowish in fashionable elephants, and appear to be fabricated from separate items of plastic from the physique. The fur on the entrance of the top has a humorous middle-parting, however hey, we are able to’t rule that out, and the fur would have diversified in size and density at totally different seasons.
So all in all, I’m fairly happy with this outdated determine (aside from the paint that appears to have rubbed onto it in locations), I lately dug it out of my mother’s attic, and I feel I’ll really put it on show in my dwelling. It’s fairly giant and majestic-looking, and will in all probability look cool standing on the sting on the prime of a book-shelf. I’m positive there are extra correct woolly mammoth figures on the market, however I feel this one is fascinating in being an older, mass-produced, low-end toy which really seems to be fairly correct even at present.
Addendum: after studying the evaluate of the Dor Mei Brachiosaurus, the difficulty of lead poisoning from the paint utilized in these figures got here to my consideration, so have this in thoughts and preserve them away from kids.
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