April - We've been busy! We have 8 new products to introduce, and are exhibiting at two events this month: the American Association of Physical Anthropologists annual meeting (New Orleans, LA) and the Inland Empire Science Festival hosted by the Western Science Center (Hemet, CA). If you are attending either, please come by our booth to say hello.

Human Anatomy (1) - Pathology: Of our new products, one falls into our human anatomy category, an excellent example of the pathology of hydrocephaly in a young adult male.

Hydrocephaly is a congenital or an acquired pathological disorder of the central nervous system where the absorption rate of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) is disrupted by a specific disease syndrome, a genetically induced malformation or a unique clinical condition. This skull is of a 22-year-old male individual.

This incredible skull will be an invaluable teaching aid in understanding this condition as well as encouraging discussions of disease affecting the developing skull. (Shown here in comparison to a human male European skull.)

Human Male Hydrocephalic Skull

Zoology (7) - Mammal Skulls, Postcranial, Scale & Life Casts: The balance of new additions to our product lines are zoological.

Mammal Skulls and Postcranial
Two full-sized skulls cast from original (real) bone material. The rottweiler adds to our growing collection of domestic dog breed skulls, and the California sea lion skull adds to our marine mammal category. We were also able to obtain and cast the associated baculum from this sea lion.

Our newest dog, a rottweiler, is among the most powerful of dogs. This medium-sized dog has long been used to guard money and property. Its ancestry can be traced to ancient Roman drover dogs. Today, prized as a loyal companion, this animal retains the strength and power of its ancestors.

The domestic dog is believed to have diverged from its wild wolf ancestors sometime between 15-36,000 years ago, and may be the most morphologically diverse animal species.

We have skulls from a large number of canids, including a variety of domestic dog breeds, as well as wolves, coyotes and fox.

Rottweiler Skull

This cast is of a large male California sea lion. An examination of a sea lion's teeth can reveal the age of its owner due to changes in length, size, color (which turns from white to black as they age), and number of dentine layers at the roots of their canine teeth.

The California sea lion, a member of the eared seal family, differs from true seals in in having external ear flaps, larger front flippers used for propulsion, a tail, and the ability to bring all four flippers underneath their body to "walk" on land.

California Sea Lion Baculum

California Sea Lion Skull

Scale
Our R&D department has finalized two scale specimens which employed 3D scanning and printing in their development; One larger than life-sized by 8 times, the other a third life-sized.

Our goal with this series is to produce replicas of items too fragile, or, frankly, impossible to cast directly from real material, such as tissue from living organisms. We use several methods to obtain scans which must then be hand-prepared before they are 3D printed. After being printed, the raw print is refined by hand and then follows our standard casting, molding and hand-finishing procedures. For more information see About 3D Printing.

This 8 times life-size overscale vampire bat skull measures over 7" in length and makes a nice comparison to our other 8:1 overscale bat, the myotis, as well as to both bats (myotis and vampire) in their natural 1:1 scale size, 5/8" and 1" in length respectively. The enhanced detail revealed by scaling up the scan of the original 8 times clearly demonstrates its unusual dentition, jaw and ear structures. (Shown here with the life-sized vampire bat for comparison.)

Vampire Bat Skull, 8:1 Scale

We have taken our popular (and bestselling) sabertooth cat, cast from an original found in the La Brea tarpits in Los Angeles, and produced a one-third scale version, complete with custom base, which makes a stunning collectable, or convenient space-and-money saving educational tool for K-12 educators. (Scale version on base shown next to life-sized sabertooth cat skull on stand.)

Sabertooth Cat Skulls
1:3 Scale (L) and 1:1 Scale (R)

Life Casts

Two life casts round out our new products to date: a handsome and expressive life cast of the face of a 41-year-old adult male western lowland gorilla who had been born in captivity in the UK, and the full-body, hand-painted life cast of a tuatara, the iconic lizard-shaped reptile from New Zealand.

The world's largest primate, gorillas are almost strictly vegetarian with the exception of an occasional meal of termites or ants. Gorillas are sexually dimorphic. Males are larger and develop a large sagittal crest, resulting in a high domed forehead which can be seen in this life cast.

This individual was a 41-year-old adult male western lowland gorilla who had been born in captivity in the UK. (Three views shown)

Male Gorilla Head (Life Cast)

Although tuatara resemble lizards in shape, they are as closely related to lizards as they are to birds! In fact, they are the only surviving species of a family of reptiles called Sphenodontia, with a lineage that stretches back 200-million years. Our life cast is carefully painted to match the original.

They can be found in the wild only in a few places in New Zealand.

Tuatara (Life Cast)