So here at last is the promised second installment of the strange cephalopods brought back to life by the dino companies we love so much (the first installment was the Polyptychoceras). In time I will probably feature many other ammonites and even belemnites. Now we have here the amazing Kaiyodo Nipponites, based on a Late Cretaceous heteromorph ammonite found mainly in Japan (the name is not gratuitious, although it has been found also in North America), arguably the most bizarre-looking shell of all times: like many other heteromorphs, lots of fossils have been found, but not many complete specimens exist, which also makes it difficult for us to envision them. I read somewhere that paleontologists thought at first that such pattern must have been of pathological origin; not so long ago some even believed that the strange shape originated when the animal had died, leaving a weak shell which had collapsed, but it’s been proven that the growth of the shell and the design itself, a tridimensional labyrinth of well-formed U’s, were quite regular, despite the grotesque appearance. Actually every healthy ammonite displayed regular whorls and its coiling patterns can even be projected into perfectly stable mathematical models.
In reality, despite the impressive fossil record (one of the most reliable), we know very little of these animals: Were they related to octopus? Were the shells external or internal? Were they benthic creatures or were they able to float in the water column? We are used to see the traditional renditions of ammonoids, but we could still be wrong about practically everything. Therefore a little ‘poetic’ license can be forgiven: the head of the Nipponites seems to be based on the nautilus’ head (one can see a pic of it here for reference), but the more orthodox reconstructions make it look octopus-like. This is so because some paleontologists think that the ammonoids were more related to the octopus. Since practically no soft tissues have been found so far, we don’t know for sure. We had already seen this reconstruction on another prehistoric cephalopod, the Kaiyodo Rayonnoceras (soon to be reviewed). Indeed, the head of the Nipponites looks like a smaller version of the nautilus-like head of the Rayonnoceras. It is remarkable because the soft part of the Kaiyodo Polyptychoceras was reconstructed like an octopus (perhaps different artists?). Exquisite detail graces the head, and so does a delicate paint scheme of silver dots and streaks over a pink background. The tiny tentacles seem grouped together, as if the animal were propelling itself.
Like usual, the shell on this reconstruction is external, not internal (i.e. no skin covers it). They were able to translate every detail of the warped body into plastic, including the regular rectiradiate ribs (found everywhere) and the more pronounced ones (found only near the aperture). The red paint is splashed almost parallelly to the ribbing, making irregular lines on the small ribs and a netted pattern on the bigger ones. The background color is bone-yellowish.
This collection was produced exclusively for the National Museum of Nature and Science from Japan. These figures can only be found today at the museum (although I’ve been told that they were sold on Ebay years ago). The figure comes in a plastic bubble (a truly bad way to market them, these critters rattle around a lot, the material is very brittle and some of the figures break quite easily) it includes a sheet with facts. The Nipponites comes already assembled but you still need to put it on the rock and then on the base. The figure is close to the 100:100 scale, since it measures less than 15 cm from top to bottom, although the base makes it look bulkier.
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Pics and diorama by Tomhet
And without further ado, the winners are as follows.
