Playable Figure Over 40 cm Long, Made of Soft, Durable Material
A Vinyl Model of Mosasaurus, a giant predatory marine reptile that flourished in the Late Cretaceous seas.Made from safe materials that are gentle for small children to touch, it can be played with safely in the living room or children’s room.
Mosasaurus
Classification: Reptilia/Squamata/Mosasauridae
Size: Total length 12.5〜18 m
Period: Late Cretaceous
One of the largest members of the Mosasauridae, which flourished in the Late Cretaceous seas. This marine reptile had a crocodile-like head, a streamlined barrel-shaped body, and four limbs evolved into flippers.
Its jaws had a double-jointed structure that allowed it to open its mouth extremely wide, and it is thought to have swallowed captured prey whole. Recent research on the related genus Platecarpus has suggested that it may have had a shark-like crescent-shaped tail fin.
Interview with Supervisor Kazunari Araki
- Mosasaurus is the first of its kind in the Favorite lineup. It became famous through the movies. What impression do you have of it?
- Even before the movies made it famous, Mosasaurus was one of the most iconic extinct marine reptiles of the Cretaceous, alongside Elasmosaurus. In Japan, fossils of mosasaurs have been found in many regions, making them familiar prehistoric animals—perhaps even more familiar than dinosaurs. I feel that it is finally joining the lineup. (Laughs)
- Mosasaurus is thought to have been adapted to an aquatic lifestyle. Were there any aspects you particularly considered when sculpting it?
- It may actually have had a smooth body surface suited to an aquatic lifestyle, but Mosasaurus belonged to the same group as modern monitor lizards, and I also wanted to express the possibility that its body was covered in scales. I therefore incorporated scales and wrinkles reminiscent of modern monitor lizards.
- Mosasaurus is considered closely related to snakes based on its jaw structure and teeth in the palate. Were there any aspects of snakes you referenced when sculpting it?
- Its teeth are conical rather than dagger-shaped like those of dinosaurs or sharply pointed like those of snakes, but it could open its mouth very wide like a snake. It is also thought to have had a well-developed organ for detecting odors with its tongue, as in lizards and snakes, so I made the tip of the tongue forked as well.
- What image did you have in mind for the pose?
- A scene in a certain movie where it surfaces and snaps up prey is memorable, but for this model I chose a pose of it diving deep underwater to catch ammonites and fish. I also represented a crescent-shaped tail fin like that of recently reconstructed ichthyosaurs, rather than the long, eel-like tail fin traditionally depicted.
- What image inspired the coloring?
- I want the Vinyl Model to be held and played with, so I used gray as the base and chose colors suited to a large animal, paying attention to the pattern so it would not look too toy-like.
- Please give us your final comments on this model.
- It preserves the realistic image of the Soft Model while being larger and durable enough for vigorous hands-on play. Try playing with it alongside Favorite’s ancient fish figures.
Supervisor Profile
Kazunari Araki
One of Japan’s leading dinosaur model artists, he creates dinosaur reconstruction models for natural history museums and master models for dinosaur encyclopedias and other publications.