Andrewsarchus Toy and a Theory about Time Travel

Plastic Andrewsarchus at Tapir and Friends Animal Store

We have a theory about time travel here at Tapir and Friends. Secretly (well, not secret anymore), we believe that someone actually discovered time travel a long time ago, but instead of being decorated as a hero and written up in all the history books and scientific journals, our poor explorer got eaten right out of his time machine by an angry Andrewsarchus, and the rest, well, isn't history. Poor time traveler. If you'd like your own collection of extinct beasts, please visit our prehistoric life section. Enter at your own risk. They may or may not be hungry today.  

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Inostrancevia

Plastic Inostrancevia Permian Therapsid at Tapir and 

Friends Animal Store

We're expanding our prehistoric animal collection! Our newest addition is the Inostrancevia Permian Therapsid (try saying that three times fast. No, wait. Don't. It might summon an angry Andrewsarchus to eat you if you do it whilst looking into a gas station mirror). If prehistoric life makes you as happy as it does some of us here at Tapir and Friends, you must visit our prehistoric life section!

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Andrewsarchus Plastic Toy

That's right...this bad boy had HOOVES!!

Our Plastic Andrewsarchus

Our small plastic Andrewsarchus toy is just the right size replica for your prehistoric life shoebox diorama. This little Andrewsarchus model will fit in a shoe box along with other examples of extinct animals from the Earth's past. Add a few rocks, plants, grass, make a river or stream from anything that strikes your imagination, and there you go - a scene of life on our planet as it might have been millions of years ago. Our plastic toy Eocene mammal is painted to look the way paleontologists imagine the animal looked in real life, although of course nobody really knows. That's part of the fun and mystery – you can imagine Andrewsarchus any way you like! It is made of solid plastic and is quite durable. The name "Andrewsarchus" is molded onto the bottom of the animal. Be sure to take a look at our other prehistoric figurines.

About Andrewsarchus

To date the only fossil remains found of this amazing Eocene (55-37 MYA) hoofed predator are a skull and a few bone pieces. They were found in Mongolia in 1924 during an expedition led by paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, for whom the creature is named. After extensive study of the skull, it was concluded that this creature was a member of the only known group of carnivorus hoofed mammals called Mesonychids, which looked somewhat like wolves with hoofed toes. Mesonyx obtusidens, a small North American relative, was the model for current depictions of this predator. From the size of the skull (3 feet long), it was determined that Andrewsarchus was approximately 6 foot tall at the shoulder and 13-18 feet long (over twice the size of today's brown bear), making it the largest carnivous mammal in the world. There is a commentary on Andrewsarchus on the Laelaps blog. For additional information, check out the Andrewsarchus page and the "What are Mesonychids?" page.

 This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Trilobite

A terrific replica of an amazing creature from Earth's past!

Our Plastic Trilobite Replica

Made of solid plastic, this trilobite's superior design and details make it a museum-quality replica or collector's item, and yet the price puts it in range for the average collector of plastic animals. Topside details include blue-gray eyes and the three ridged lobes for which it was named. The underside also shows the three segments and details of the trilobite's anatomy. It measures 2 inches wide by 3 inches long. The word "Trilobite" is embossed on the underside. Our model trilobite is made in Germany and hand painted; it comes with an informational tag in both German and English. This sturdy, durable trilobite is also excellent for school projects, novelties, party favors or even as a children's toy. Our plastic trilobite is for decoration or play only. It does not float, and should NOT be put in your aquarium with living fish or other aquarium dwellers. However, you can make a terrific ancient sea life shoebox diorama using this wonderful plastic trilobite replica.

About Trilobites

Trilobites were an early form of life on earth that have left many fossils, some of which have been made into beautiful jewelry. They appeared about 600 million years ago during the Cambrian period and ruled the earth for about 350 million years. Their descendants include centipedes, spiders, shrimp, and insects. Trilobites lived in shallow seas, swimming, crawling, and burrowing. They evolved into many different forms during their reign. You can learn more about these interesting creatures at trilobite.com.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Dodo Bird Replica

NOT as stupid as he looks!

Our Plastic Dodo Bird

Our realistic-looking plastic dodo bird brings ths marvelous extinct animal "back to life" in your school project or collection. It looks like the real thing and is a wonderful educational toy, useful for shoebox dioramas and other school projects, a collector's item, a gift for your favorite dodo (or dodo fan), and more. Made of solid, rubbery plastic, it measures 2 3/4 inches tall. The body is moulded to look like feathers that almost make it seem real. Its name is moulded into the underside as it is on many of our plastic animals. Be sure to see our other bird and extinct animal toys and gifts.

About Dodo Birds

The dodo, a flightless bird about 3 feet (or 1 meter) tall, was found in only one place in the world - the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. It fed on fruit. The name of this bird is often equated with the condition of extinction - "extinct like the dodo," "dead as a dodo," "gone the way of the dodo bird." Within two hundred years of the arrival of Portuguese sailors on Mauritius in the 1500s, the dodo had become exterminated forever. The bird was last recorded alive in 1663. The starving sailors found the large dodo birds easy prey, as they were not afraid of humans and have been described as "clumsy." In fact, the name "dodo" comes from the word for "fool" in Portuguese. There is some disagreement over how much of the dodo's demise can be blamed directly on human consumption or whether it was the dogs, cats, rats, and pigs introduced to the island that destroyed their eggs. Both played a role. A number of dodos had been brought to Europe before their extinction, where they were variously drawn, painted, and stuffed. Like the bird itself, the dodo's remains, it seems, had also "gone missing," as no complete skeleton had been found for hundreds of years until the discovery by Dutch scientists of a dodo "mass grave" in 2005. Even a complete taxidermied dodo can no longer be seen, as the last surviving one in Oxford was seriously damaged. However, in recent years a slimmer replica has been made based on new data about the proportions of the bird. The dodo gained its place as the most famous extinct animal partly because of its appearance in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The dodo was a favorite of the author, "Lewis Carroll," whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. It is said that he stuttered, and often pronounced his name "Do-Do-Dodgson."

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Andrewsarchus Plastic Toy

Part of terrific new line of prehistoric miniatures!

Our Plastic Andrewsarchus Miniature

Our small plastic Andrewsarchus toy is just the right size replica for your prehistoric life shoebox diorama. This little Andrewsarchus model will fit in a shoe box along with other examples of extinct animals from the Earth's past. Add a few rocks, plants, grass, make a river or stream from anything that strikes your imagination, and there you go - a scene of life on our planet as it might have been millions of years ago. Our plastic toy Eocene mammal is painted to look the way paleontologists imagine the animal looked in real life, although of course nobody really knows. That's part of the fun and mystery – you can imagine Andrewsarchus any way you like! It is made of solid plastic and is quite durable. The name "Andrewsarchus" is molded onto the bottom of the animal. Be sure to take a look at our other prehistoric figurines.

About Andrewsarchus

To date the only fossil remains found of this amazing Eocene (55-37 MYA) hoofed predator are a skull and a few bone pieces. They were found in Mongolia in 1924 during an expedition led by paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, for whom the creature is named. After extensive study of the skull, it was concluded that this creature was a member of the only known group of carnivorus hoofed mammals called Mesonychids, which looked somewhat like wolves with hoofed toes. Mesonyx obtusidens, a small North American relative, was the model for current depictions of this predator. From the size of the skull (3 feet long), it was determined that Andrewsarchus was approximately 6 foot tall at the shoulder and 13-18 feet long (over twice the size of today's brown bear), making it the largest carnivous mammal in the world. There is a commentary on Andrewsarchus

on the Laelaps blog. For additional information, check out the Andrewsarchus page and the "What are Mesonychids?" page.

 This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Woolly Mammoth

Check out this wonderfully detailed plastic woolly mammoth!

Made of solid plastic by Safari, Ltd., one of the best names in plastic toy animals, this woolly mammoth's superior design and details make it a museum-quality replica or collector's item, and yet the price puts it in range for the average collector of plastic animals. It measures 6 1/4 inches from the wonderfully lifelike curled tusks to the extended rear foot and stands 5 1/4 inches tall to the tip of the upturned trunk The word MAMMOTH is embossed on the underside. It comes with an informational tag in French, Italian, Spanish, German, and English. This sturdy, durable mammoth is also excellent for school projects, novelties, party favors or even as a children's toy. You can make a marvelous prehistoric or ice age animals shoebox diorama using this and other plastic extinct animals from our gift shop. Be sure to look over our other woolly mammoth toys and gifts.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.