A Review of the Schleich Pentaceratops Dinosaur Model
Pentaceratops from Schleich Reviewed
One of the lesser known horned dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous of North America Pentaceratops ( P. sternbergi) was discovered by the famous 20th Century fossil collector and scientist CM Sternberg. The trivial name honors, Charles Mortram Sternberg, in recognition of his work on fossil vertebrates both in his native United States and in Canada, specifically the Dinosaur Provincial Park of Alberta. The honor was bestowed upon him, by a fellow American palaeontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn, who was given the responsibility of naming and describing this member of the Chasmosaurinae. It is always a pleasure to see a new type of horned dinosaur turned into a prehistoric animal replica and the Schleich Pentaceratops is an excellent figure.
Herbivore of New Mexico 70 Million Years Ago
Known from a number of skeletons including several complete or partial skulls, Pentaceratops was a spectacular looking dinosaur. It had two huge horns over its eyes and a small, stubby nose horn. Extending over the back of the neck was a high but disproportionately narrow, bony head and neck shield. The name means "five horn face", but this is misleading as Pentaceratops did not have five horns, it had three, in the same configuration as its more famous relative Triceratops. The name comes from the additional pair of large jugal processes that stick out over the dinosaur's cheeks. These are not horns as such but these bony processes would have been very prominent when the dinosaur was viewed from the front. The Schleich model reproduces the head and neck shield very accurate. The design team at the German manufacturer have obviously taken care to reproduce their model based on the known fossil material.
Striking Coloring – Scarlet Member of the Dinosauria
The paint work on the dinosaur is superb. The Pentaceratops has been painted a mottled red, almost scarlet color with patches on the back and the flanks painted a bronze hue. It is certainly a vivid and eye-catching model, one that will appeal to dinosaur fans and model collectors alike. A scarlet horned dinosaur such as this may not have been very well camouflaged but with those meter long brow horns, only a brave or very hungry tyrannosaur would have dared to have tackled it.
An Accurate Dinosaur Model
The correct number of digits can be seen on the front and hind feet, and the skin texture has been rendered extremely well. The replica is posed with one front leg raised off the ground, an interesting pose, one that distinguishes this replica from most other Ornithischian dinosaur models.
Six Meter Long Giant
Reaching lengths in excess of twenty feet (six meters), Pentaceratops was a large herbivore. A fully grown adult could have weighed as much as three tonnes. With a three meter plus skull, it rivalled the likes of Torosaurus latus and Triceratops horridus for the title of the biggest-headed terrestrial vertebrate. It is always a pleasure to see a new type of dinosaur reproduced as a dinosaur model, this new dinosaur replica from Schleich is recommended to collectors and we are confident it will prove very popular amongst children who like prehistoric animals.