Allosaurus VS Camarasaurus Diorama

[Dyscrasia]

Oh, that poor Allosaurus! I hope they're compensating you for that. At least the Stegosaurus looks to be in good shape, or does he have damage somewhere I can't see?

I did get a 70% discount for the T.rex VS T.rex Vs Triceratops desktop scene model. Anyways, I'm planning to get another Trcic Allosaurus but possibly on my next trip to Japan which will be in next month.

As for the Stegosaurus, the third plate on the left side broke off but that was partly my fault, I shouldn't have let a 4 year-old touch it. When it first arrived, it was in very good condition.

 

[Dyscrasia]

Btw, our local retailer just told me today that the Deinosuchus VS Parasaurolophus dio is going to ship from China within a few weeks. Seems like there is another chance that the international customers might get their dio before the US customers just like the T.rex maquette
(I hope it's true though, since the guy who told me that is the very person who screwed up my Styracosaurus maquette order which I still haven't received.........)

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

But dinosaurs, unlike the small lizards to which you are referring, do not possess caudal autonomy. A tail cannot be detached, and if forcibly removed would not have been regrown. Additionally, bear in mind that even in small lizard species (and it is present only in small lizards) this sacrifice comes at a cost. The lizard in question may keep its life, but it also usually endures a lower social status in gregarious lizard species and a greatly hampered mobility. This hampered mobility makes the animal vulnerable to predators anew to an even greater degree. Also, bear in mind that these lizards locomote chiefly as laterally undulating belly-draggers. This particular movement would have been impossible for dinosaurs, most have which would have found movement impossible without counterbalancing tails.

Birds are also possessed of vibrant feather patterns which may be flared so as to accentuate colors. You don't see this feature in large reptile species which have tails much more comparable to dinosaur tails. Certainly birds and reptiles are known to flare certain portions of their bodies for conspecific communication, and dinosaurs likely acted similarly. Dinosaurs with vibrant tails on drab bodies isn't something that we have any reason to believe was prevalent or existed at all.

True, I just wanted to list some possibilities.

Baby copperheads have bright tipped tails and ring-necked snakes have bright collars..( don't even ask me to explain that )...even large monitors have bright striped tails but there are animals that have it..so artistically it's something that can be done...not saying I like it..but it's possible.

These colors may have been present at certain times, I doubt eve na dinosaur skin sample would help a lot there. You would think as much as dinos probably rubbed against trees we would find more bits in amber. There is a really ironic story I read about just that scenerio..though it didn't turn out too well for us.

Not to scale but no less impressive with that in mind.

Also true..just seemed he was thinking the Spino would be a huge piece compared to the other maquettes...I figure it will be at least as big..maybe a bit larger...but if we're looking for a piece scaled to the Carnotaurus..not very likely..heh heh

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Btw, our local retailer just told me today that the Deinosuchus VS Parasaurolophus dio is going to ship from China within a few weeks. Seems like there is another chance that the international customers might get their dio before the US customers just like the T.rex maquette
(I hope it's true though, since the guy who told me that is the very person who screwed up my Styracosaurus maquette order which I still haven't received.........)

I've been anticipating it's release about the 2nd week of February..if my estimates are right from what I have on the first few pieces...so far no one else has tried figuring the time between pieces yet to back up my guesses though.

 

[Scar]

True, I just wanted to list some possibilities.

Baby copperheads have bright tipped tails and ring-necked snakes have bright collars..( don't even ask me to explain that )...even large monitors have bright striped tails but there are animals that have it..so artistically it's something that can be done...not saying I like it..but it's possible.

These colors may have been present at certain times, I doubt eve na dinosaur skin sample would help a lot there. You would think as much as dinos probably rubbed against trees we would find more bits in amber. There is a really ironic story I read about just that scenerio..though it didn't turn out too well for us.

In all species of monitor, any stripes present on the tails of large vibrant colors uniquely displayed on the organism's tail, but rather they are the same tones as the rest torso's color palette. This is true of all species of monitors.

Many species of snake (more prevalently in venomous varieties), when born, display bands of color towards their tails. The evolutionary defensive logic behind this is easy enough to ascertain; it's relatively easy for the snakes to whip around and envenomate their attacker - and venomous baby venomous snakes have no control over the amount of venom which they deliver into a particular bite. In that respect, for example, a baby King cobra is vastly more dangerous than mature adults. Also, constrictors often loop a ball into their torsos and gradually unwind it posteriorly until they are capable of either breaking off the attacker or constricting it; they will also often bite after initiating the loop so as to achieve a good hold if the animal is small enough to be prey.

The only anomalous example there is the D.punctatus, whose "collar" has long been a mystery to herpetologists. Their ventral coloration, however, they often use to attract prey by curling up their crimson tails to appear like a worm to small lizards and mammals upon which they traditionally prey.

None of these strategies seem at all applicable to dinosaurs, though, considering the vastly different anatomies by way of which these color schemes have evolved over time.

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I know I saw at least two species of monitors before with bright tails...one was red/orange the other blue..but I can't recall the names.

Birds have bright colors so dinosaurs may have as well..though a Parrot-colored T-Rex would seem a bit odd...lol

 

[Scar]

I know I saw at least two species of monitors before with bright tails...one was red/orange the other blue..but I can't recall the names.

Birds have bright colors so dinosaurs may have as well..though a Parrot-colored T-Rex would seem a bit odd...lol

You're referring to V.doreanus, the Indonesian "blue-tailed" monitor, which most of the time demonstrates a subdued hue only visible upon close scrutinization, and has an increasingly vibrant tail coloration during mating season only; far more dull and subdued the rest of the year and again broken up by the mottled dark browns and tans common to monitors. Also, this animal is again a smaller monitor which uses the tail as a sexually dimorphic characteristic on the part of males to attract females; this feature isn't prevalent year-round and is not actively employed in strategies other than mating, signaling virility to conspecifics. It's true of all species of monitors that traditionally year-round their color patterns are cryptic and any vibrant dimorphism is seasonal and sexual in nature.

As to the red-tailed monitor, are you positive it was a true monitor? Because I can't think of one off the top of my head. There are a number of other lizard species which demonstrate this trait and have caudal autonomy, but I can't think of a monitor.

You have to look at where the animal lives, what its diet is, and what ecological niche into which it ultimately fits. Predators are vibrant if they live in vibrant environments and/or tropical settings. Cryptic coloration is far and away the most common strategies for animals which actively predate. Tactics and morphological coloration varies for pure scavengers and herbivores differs from this for the obvious reason that their lifestyle doesn't always rely heavily upon stealth, and those herbivores whose lifestyles do reflect said trait in their body plans.

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think it was an older issue of Reptiles magazine..I remember having the pullout poster on my wall for awile..it was mostly yellowish-orange with a brighter red/orange head and tail...the whole body had darker stripes and patterns over it. Maybe it was juvenile specimen ?


It's been thought that therapods had flashy head colors during mating displays ..I don't think it's too much of a stretch to thing the tails may have been brighter then as well.

 

[Scar]

You have to consider why these traits are considered desirable in the first place: because they are energetically extremely costly to the individual organism. It takes a lot of energy and bodily resources to pour into maintaining flashy sexually dimorphic ornamentation. Such a vibrant display signals to an individual of the opposite sex that the organism in question can do all that is required for that organism to feed and maintain itself, while still putting extra energy into traits purely intended for display. We know in many of the species that they would have had extensive vascularization around certain regions on the skull, so it leads one to believe that these capillary beds could have been flushed with blood for vibrant displays. This thought process culminated in Anthony Mestas painting the T.rex maquette as he did. A younger T.rex in mating season may well have had a much more vibrant cranial display, whereas even though this animal is extremely successful in evolutionary terms, it needs more and more bodily resources to maintain corporeal constitution with increased age.

Could have been a juvenile. A number of juveniles have crimson tails so as to attract insects, lizards, birds, and small mammals as prey.

Making the tail of the animal the sole vibrant portion is a bold statement as to the ecology of that animal, whereas a bright head, flanks, or entire body isn't uncommon at all. Bright tails are intended to draw attention. Even with the blue-tail, it whips that tail about in flashy mating displays. It can do that due to how supple its tail is, unlike what we would have seen in the rigid tails of theropods.

I see where you're going with it, though. I love the thought of some really vibrant dinosaurs. But a statue depicting a dark brown Albertosaurus running around with a fluorescent yellow tail tip would certainly leave me scratching my head.

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Yeah that's a bit too extreme I think..lol that statue by Trcic posted earlier..I didn't care for that much.. so bright a yellow stripe running the whole length of the body..could have been possible..but I just didn't care for it myself.

All that out of the way, I don't see anything that would make me think this piece has a bright tail at all.

 

[Scar]

Yeah that's a bit too extreme I think..lol that statue by Trcic posted earlier..I didn't care for that much.. so bright a yellow stripe running the whole length of the body..could have been possible..but I just didn't care for it myself.

All that out of the way, I don't see anything that would make me think this piece has a bright tail at all.

I know, right? Trcic can do some outstanding work, but that Allosaur just looks atrocious. It's not a ????ing racecar.

And I'm liking the color scheme on the Allosaurs thus far. Very much.

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think that's the same exact thing I said ! It reminds me of that show on Disney where they had dragons as racers...heh heh

Same here..they look very good..I just hope this piece meets what I building it up to be in my head..

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Found the sculptor thanks to Adrian :

Jorge Blanco of Sculpted Heroes Studio

Anyone have a website for him ? I'm having a little trouble locating one.

 

[Dyscrasia]

If it's the same person, then these are some kits by Jorge Blanco

- Amargasaurus

- Giganotosaurus

- Monolophosaurus

- Kritosaurus

- Plesiosaurus


As for the Trcic Allosaurus, the sculpt (except for the teeth) is quite good imo, but I also really dislike the overall color scheme. In fact, I am actually not so fond of the colors applied on the Trcic Dinos from Kinto even though the sculpting is quite impressive....

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I thought the name sounded familiar I've seen him Prehistoric Times magazine on occasion.

I tried searching the site Sculpted Heroes but that was for work by Pablo Viggiano .

The Giga and Mono look to have the same general look as the Allosaurs though...and I love the detail on the Amaragasaurus' skin... good find !

 

[dansdinosaurs]

Ah yes, another familiar name. I tried getting in touch with Blanco a while ago, but all I could find were his kits on Alchemy Works. That Giga's paint scheme looks awfully familiar, doesn't it Blade?

 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Just about..lol It is pretty familiar..but a good pattern is a good paint pattern...

Same here..after looking through 20 search pages all I could find were his kits for sale...looks like another Delgado..heh heh Why are good paleo-artists so hard to find ?

 

[Scar]

So this upcoming piece is courtesy of Jorge? Hhmmm... info I'm very, VERY pleased to hear.

 

[Scar]

As for the Trcic Allosaurus, the sculpt (except for the teeth) is quite good imo, but I also really dislike the overall color scheme. In fact, I am actually not so fond of the colors applied on the Trcic Dinos from Kinto even though the sculpting is quite impressive....

Oh I agree. The sculpt is impressive, but the colors are atrocious on that one. Just atrocious. It looks like the Allo had projectile vomit while running at full speed.

 

[Spiker]

Today i was in a exhibit and saw lifesize skelletons of Giganotosaurus, Argentinosaurus and Carnotaurus. I am still in awe!
Some years ago i saw a T-Rex, but compared to that Giganotosaurus it was nearly small...

Would love to see some of those in the sideshow line.

Here is the Argentinosaurus that i saw: