Plastic Skeletons for Halloween or Education

Dilophosaurus Plastic Skeleton at Tapir and Friends

The thigh bone's connected to the knee bone; the knee bone's connected to the shin bone...and we try not to think about it too much otherwise we start imagine our skeleton moving around inside our skin and get freaked out (or maybe that's just me). With the school year now in full swing and Halloween right around the corner, our skeleton and skull section is a great place to visit this time of year. Whether you're looking for tools for learning or spooky decor, we've got you covered! 

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Come See the Dinosaurs

Cryolophosaurus Plastic Dinosaur Replica,

3 1/2 inches tall - F3248 B144

The big news is our BRAND-NEW STORE! Although the store has been up and running for a couple of months now, we are still improving the organization and adding new products every day.

I've been working on the text for our Prehistoric Life section and the other day I got as far as the Jurassic Period. After writing the text, I realized that our dinosaurs still needed to be broken down into their categories according to the geologic timescale. I took a break from writing and organized our dinosaurs. You'll now find them happily living in their correct categories: Jurassic, and Cretaceous.

Come on over! When you get to our website, scroll to the bottom of the page and join our mailing list. Periodically we send out discount coupons as well as updates.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Lion and Dino - Upside and Downside

One of the benefits of working at Tapir and Friends is that my office gets to look like this. Unfortunately we don't carry these products, though. The cardboard cutout lion was found at a garage sale, and the inflatable T-rex was on my list of things to order for the store when I discovered that the manufacturer was selling them to my potential customers online for the same price I would have to pay for them. It's all part of our changing world. The lines between wholesale and retail have become permanently skewed. Navigating between the Scylla and Charybdis of China and a diminished customer base has become part of any online retailer's daily routine. I'm glad I get a chance to live with such endearing office-mates, though. It helps.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Dinosaur Pins!

See our cute new dinosaur painted pins online at
Tapir and Friends Animal Store

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Who needs a pink dinosaur puzzle?

Buy this Styracosaurus dinosaur 3-D interlocking 
plastic puzzle at
 Tapir and Friends Animal Store

Who needs a pink dinosaur puzzle? Maybe you or maybe me. Or maybe you know someone who just loves PINK and also loves dinosaurs! Could this pink dinosaur be the perfect gift?

Our Styracosaurus 3D Puzzle

The details on this 3-D puzzle animal toy add another dimension, so you could say it is 4-D (3-D + details)! It is certainly one of the more detailed we have seen, making it an interesting replica as well as a fun toy for adults and children above the age of 3. This delightful dinosaur model measures 4 inches from nose to tail and 2 inches tall. It comes assembled. The pieces are cleverly fitted, flexible, and not too difficult to assemble. When complete, this highly-detailed dinosaur stands nicely on its own for display on your shelf, TV, computer monitor, etc. Check out our other 3-D Puzzle Animals, as well as our other dinosaur toys.

About Styracosaurus

Dinosaurs represent the dominant terrestrial lifeforms on planet Earth for 135 million years, from the beginning of the Jurassic period through the end of the Cretaceous period approximately 65 million years ago. While no human ever lived during the age of dinosaurs, modern palentologists have learned much studying the fossilized remains of these magnificent creatures.

Not to be confused with its famous cousin the triceratops, Styracosaurus was a herbivorous dinosaur that lived approximately 75 - 76 million years ago. Styracosaurus was around 18 feet long and weighed as much as 5,000 pounds. Its most distinctive feature is a head-frill of bone laces with long horns, as well as horns protruding from its large head.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Pachycephalosaurus 3D Puzzle

Bet he needed LOTS of asprin!

Our Pachycephalosaurus 3D Puzzle

The details on this 3-D puzzle animal toy add another dimension, so you could say it is 4-D (3-D + details)! It is certainly one of the more detailed we have seen, making it an interesting replica as well as a fun toy for adults and children above the age of 3. This delightful dinosaur model measures 4.75 inches from nose to tail and 3 inches tall. It comes assembled. The pieces are cleverly fitted, flexible, and not too difficult to assemble. When complete, this highly-detailed dinosaur stands nicely on its own for display on your shelf, TV, computer monitor, etc. Check out our other 3-D Puzzle Animals, as well as our other dinosaur toys.

About Pachycephalosaurus

Dinosaurs represent the dominant terrestrial lifeforms on planet Earth for 135 million years, from the beginning of the Jurassic period through the end of the Cretaceous period approximately 65 million years ago. While no human ever lived during the age of dinosaurs, modern palentologists have learned much studying the fossilized remains of these magnificent creatures.

Pachycephalosaurus is best known for a characteristic dome of bone crowning its skull. This dome can be as much as 10 inches thick. The purpose of such a formidable helmet of bone is still being debated by paleontologists. It's been suggested that pachycephalosaurus competed with each other by cracking their heads together in much the same way modern mountain goats do, in which case the thick dome of bone would be necessary to protect pachycephalosaurus's brain. Pachycephalosaurus was believed to be up to 15 feet long and weighed almost 1,000 pounds.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Dilophosaurus 3D Puzzle

Another star from Jurassic Park!!

Our Dilophosaurus 3D Puzzle

The details on this 3-D puzzle animal toy add another dimension, so you could say it is 4-D (3-D + details)! It is certainly one of the more detailed we have seen, making it an interesting replica as well as a fun toy for adults and children above the age of 3. This delightful dinosaur model measures 5 inches from nose to tail and 3.5 inches tall. It comes assembled. The pieces are cleverly fitted, flexible, and not too difficult to assemble. When complete, this highly-detailed dinosaur stands nicely on its own for display on your shelf, TV, computer monitor, etc. Check out our other 3-D Puzzle Animals, as well as our other dinosaur toys.

About Dilophosaurus

Dinosaurs represent the dominant terrestrial lifeforms on planet Earth for 135 million years, from the beginning of the Jurassic period through the end of the Cretaceous period approximately 65 million years ago. While no human ever lived during the age of dinosaurs, modern palentologists have learned much studying the fossilized remains of these magnificent creatures.

Dilophosaurus was a carnivorous dinosaur that existed about 193 million years ago. Fossils of dilophosaurus were originally found in 1942 in Arizona. Dilophosaurus could grow to be 20 feet long, and it's estimated they weighed as much as 1000 pounds.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Pteranodon Skeleton Model

A wonderful model of a majestic prehistoric creature!

Our Pteranodon Skeleton Model

This realistic-looking pteranodon skeleton model is made of strong plastic and is sturdy when assembled. It is 9 1/4 inches long and 9 inches wide. There are about 11 separate pieces, some large, with easy to follow assembly instructions and a diagram. The bones look weathered and connect with one another through pegs or joint sockets. Although most pieces hold together well, it may help to use a little super glue. This miniature pteranodon skeleton replica makes a nice display, a gift, or toy for children or adults and could work well for school show-and-tell or as a school science project. Check out our other dinosaur model toys and gifts.

About the Pteranodon

"Pteranodon" means "winged and toothless." These flying reptiles were closely related to dinosaurs, but were technically not included in the same group. They lived during the late Cretaceous Period - one of the great ages of dinosaurs. Pteranodon stood about 6 feet tall (and some scientists believe they did stand upright), and had a wingspan of 25 to 33 feet - longer than any known bird. They had short tails, as you can see on our plastic pteranodon skeleton replica. Most pteranodon fossils have been found in Kansas and in England. Pteranodons fed primarily on fish, and may have scooped them out of the water the way a modern-day pelican feeds.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Dinosaur Tracks

Seeing a dinosaur skeleton in a museum may be thought-provoking, but seeing actually tracks in nature is downright exhilarating. Just South of Tuba City, Arizona, on a large tract of Navajo Nation land are the footprints of countless dinosaurs that roamed a marsh during the Jurassic Period about 200 million years ago. These are known as "trace fossils" since it is hard to say whether the prints are from one or many different, in this case plant-eating, Dilophosaurus wetherilli. What became of them, who knows? Tyrannosaurus Rex didn't arrive on the scene until 65 million BC, 135 million years later and the above herbivore had long been extinct. Tapir and Friends Animal Store encourages people to study the facts about dinosaurs and extinct animals and to become comfortable with the incredibly long history of life on the planet. See the wide selection of plastic dinosaurs and dinosaur skeleton puzzles for sale. They are so useful for science projects and as teaching devices.

Please e-mail your photos and text if you would like to see them on this blog.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

3D Dinosaur and other Animal Puzzles

These wonderful lifelike 3-D puzzles depicting dinosaurs and other animals are running out quickly! At the beginning of the holiday season, we had eight types of donosaurs - now we only have three left! Come on over and see what they are. As of today, these three are still in stock and ready to ship for Christmas!

The dinosaur shown above is Dilophosaurus.

The beautiful details on this 3-D puzzle animal toy add another dimension, so you could say it is 4-D (3-D + details)! It is certainly one of the more detailed we have seen, making it an interesting replica as well as a fun toy for adults and children above the age of 3. This colorful dilophosaurus dinosaur is roughly 5 inches long and 3 inches wide. It's a new item and we still need to assemble one to measure it for you. It comes unassembled in a re-usable plastic case that looks like a fossil. The pieces are cleverly fitted, flexible, and not too difficult to assemble. When completed, this striking dinosaur stands nicely for display with your favorite collectible animal replicas and figurines. To see our entire inventory of puzzle animals, go to our 3-D Puzzle Animals page. Be sure to see our other dinosaur toys and gifts as well.

Dilophosaurus dinosaurs come from the Early Jurassic Period, and are named for the two crests on their heads. Dilophosaurus was not described until 1954.

Dinosaur gifts for everyone!

Dinosaurs never lose their appeal or their popularity. They seem to fascinate everyone, and we carry dinosaur gifts for "children" of all ages! The dinosaur dinking cup above is for toddlers, but I know one child who has not advanced to drinking cups yet, but loves to hold them by the handles and bang them together. Since they are durable, this works well for everyone :)

Our dinosaur bones (or fossil) model will be fun for older children or teens and older who simply want to enjoy learning and looking at the way the bones fit together. It's a bit too simple to be called a puzzle, but as a model it can decorate a classroom or bedroom or den very nicely. Shown here is our t-rex, but we have others, too.

We love our colorful Pteranodon hand puppet, and we think you will, too! It's made for smaller hands, so is perfect for children and adults with small hands!

The Iguanodon dinosaur above is just one of the four species of dinosaur 3D puzzles we still have left in stock. Order today, they are becoming extinct rather quickly!

Dinosaur skeleton (or fossil) plastic model

We still have dinosaur bone models in stock and ready for shipping! These cool toys will spark up the shelves of any dino fan's room or study area.

Our Stegosaurus Skeleton Model

This realistic-looking stegosaurus skeleton model is made of strong plastic and is sturdy when assembled. It is 9 1/4 inches long and 4 inches tall. There are about 10 separate pieces, some large, with easy to follow assembly instructions and a diagram. The bones look weathered and connect with one another through pegs or joint sockets. Although most pieces hold together well, it may help to use a little super glue. This miniature stegosaurus skeleton replica makes a nice display, a gift, or toy for children or adults and could work well for school show-and-tell or as a school science project. Check out our other dinosaur model toys and gifts.

About the Stegosaurus

"Stegosaurus," meaning roof lizard, is an armour-plated dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period characterized by large spikes along its back. It was an herbivore that used its spikes for protection against predators. Stegosaurus had a distinctive and unusual posture, with a heavily arched back, short forelimbs, head held low to the ground and a stiffened tail held high in the air. It was thirty feet long and fourteen feet tall. Many skeletal remains have been found in Wyoming.

Kids! Drink out of dinosaur cups!

Your kids, grandkids and young friends will love drinking out of these plastic dinosaur cups made just the right size for young hands. Our if the child is too young to manange the cup himself or herself (like my grandson, Teagan), they may enjoy just banging them together to hear the sound! Once they reach the age when they can drink from an open cup, they will already know the cup as a friend!

Our Plastic Dinosaur Cups

What fun! The tails of these dinosaurs forms the handles of these delightful, kids' drinking cups. They are great for birthday parties, for holding crayons, or for orange juice and milk in the morning. Although some of our drinking cups come in a choice of colors for each animal, the dinosaurs are in this playful purple only. You will find our entire inventory of children's cups on our page of Animal Drinking Cups. Mix and match animals and cup colors to create your own unique set! Check out our terrific selection of dinosaur toys and gifts.

About T-rex

The Tyrannosaurus or T-rex meaning tyrant lizard appeared on the scene during the Late Cretaceous about 65 million years ago. Although full skeletons have been found throughout North America in Alberta, Montana, South Dakota, Saskatchewan,and Wyoming, some have been found in Mongolia as well. Some skeletons have been measured to 45 feet in length. It walked on two legs and had a huge skull and an enormous tail to help with balance. It had two small powerful clawed forearms. There is debate whether this carnivore was just a scavenger or a killer itself. It is the largest animal known to have walked the earth.

About Triceratops

The triceratops, meaning three horned face, appeared on the scene during the Late Cretaceous about 65 million years ago. No full skeletons have been found, but many bones have been discovered throughout North America in Alberta, Montana, South Dakota, Saskatchewan,and Wyoming. Bearing a large bony frill and three horns on its large four-legged body, it looks similar to the modern day rhinoceros. It was a vegetarian and possessed a sturdy build, with strong limbs and short, five-hoofed hands and four-hoofed feet. It was almost 10 feet high and 25 feet in length.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H . . . What animals begin with "I"?

We have a number of animals in our online wildlife gift shop that begin with the letter "I." What a about this nice green dinosaur puzzle? What is it? An iguanodon! We have lots of other 3-D plastic animal puzzles, too.

There are several kinds of rhinoceros in the world, and this one with the "armored plates" on it is an toy Indian rhino plastic action figure. Real Indian rhinos have skin that folds to look like armored plates as well.

Of course "I" is for iguana, we all know that. We have lots of iguanas in our store. The iguana shown above is a small plastic Galapagos marine iguana.

Here we have a stunning painted iguana pin made of pewter and hand-painted in the USA. It looks like a watercolor or a rainbow, but it's made of sturdy metal with lacquer finishes over the paint that makes it extremely durable and long-lasting.

We even have an stuffed plush iguana hand-puppet in our online store! Come check him out on our gift shop web site! We have other iguanas, too, from small to large. Come see them all!

What animals start with "D"?

That wasn't too hard. We have a plastic desert fox (above) and a plastic dingo (below). Both are in the dog family, too :)

I'm trying to stay away from generic names, so I'm not going to say "D is for dinosaur," but this dinosaur's name does start with "D," it's a dilophosaurus 3-D plastic puzzle. Dilophosaurus also has a lot of friends. Come see all of his dinosaur and other animal puzzle buddies!

Since dragons don't come in species (that I know about anyway), I will use a generic here and say "D is also for Dragon." We have several beautiful hand-made, hand-painted dragon pins, and dragon Peeper Keeper eyeglass holders, too! We also have other kinds of animals with the word "dragon" in their name, such as Komodo dragons, which are really big monitor lizards, and leafy sea dragons, which are very elaborate and beautiful seahorses.

This nice plastic damsel fish is another of our "d" animals that lives in the water. Hey, what about dolphins? We have those, too! In fact, we have lots of dolphins! Check them out!

T-Rex Dinosaur 3-D Plastic Puzzle

Our 3-D dinosaur puzzles are lots of fun to put together on a rainy night or a snowy afternoon. You can take these plastic animal puzzles apart and put them back together again as many times as you'd like! Come see our T-rex and his many dinosaur friends in our online gift shop. We ship around the world. We also have 3-D puzzles of many interesting animals that live on the planet today.

New 3D (4D) animal puzzles in the gift shop (reptiles and dinosaurs)!

We have added twelve new 3-D Animal Puzzles to our collection in Tapir and Friends online gift shop! The puzzles are ready for the holidays and are fun for all ages. If you can't put one together, get someone under the age of 10 to do it! We have four new reptiles and eight new dinosaurs. In the order you see them here, they are dilophosaurus (above), gecko (first picture below), brachyosaurus, iguanodon, spinosaurus, boa vs. crocodile, pentaceratops, frilled lizard, Indian star tortoise, two different versions of t-rex, and a brightly-colored stegosaurus. We're in the process of putting them online. If you read this before we get them up, you can call toll free (888) 325-3179, or e-mail us at tapir@tapirback.com. Have fun!

Animal jewelry: yes, we have T-Rex dinosaur jewelry in two colors

We have three dinosaur pins left in stock! We have two green t-rex pins and one red pin. You can order them by phone or e-mail or check out our site. You can call us toll free at (888) 325-3179 or send e-mail. These hand-painted pins are $29.00 each. Read more about this US-based artist's work on the painted animal jewelry page of our web site.