Young Papo Triceratops Dinosaur Model Review

Triceratops Baby Papo Dinosaur Model Review

Papo, the French manufacturer of models and figures, some time ago introduced two models of baby dinosaurs in its range of replicas. Also, to these “youngsters” the company has just added a model of a baby Triceratops to its portfolio of dinosaur models and it is very cute.

Triceratops fossils are the most common dinosaur fossil found in the famous Hell Creek Formation of the western United States of America. This Upper Cretaceous rock formation can be found in Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota. Almost forty percent of all dinosaur fossils found to date have been attributed to the genus Triceratops, but baby Triceratops fossils are extremely rare.

Likely to be eaten by a predator

Any baby dinosaurs that became extinct on the Upper Cretaceous plains in all likelihood would have been quickly eaten by a scavenging theropod dinosaur. Since juvenile bones are much smaller than adult bones, they are less likely to survive the fossilization process. However, in recent years several fossils of other types of horned dinosaurs have been found (Canada and USA) and this model of Papo’s young Triceratops is based on this fossil material.

Beautifully painted baby triceratops

The model is a fraction of more than ten centimeters long and the head is almost six centimeters high, it is a beautifully painted dinosaur model. Papo’s design team has given their baby Triceratops two small horns on the forehead and a small nasal horn. Scientists know that these horned dinosaurs grew larger horns as they aged. The head shield has small bumps along the edges and has been painted a sand color, the same shade as the underside of the dinosaur replica. The details on the leather are very ingenious. The fossilized skin of an adult Triceratops has been discovered and the makers of Papo’s models must have used this fossil evidence as the basis for the skin pattern of their baby dinosaur replica. The mouth is open and inside the jaw you can see a small pink triangular tongue.

A companion for the adult Triceratops Papo

Although it is not possible to give a scale size for this model, it is worth noting that this figure works very well with the model of the adult Triceratops that was added to the Papo model range a few years ago.

Counting toes

There is an anatomical error that we detected in the model. Triceratops had five digits on its front legs and four toes on its back legs. Unfortunately, this dinosaur model only has four digits on each of its front legs. This is a common misconception when it comes to horned dinosaur figures and replicas.

An excellent Papo dinosaur model

This little complaint aside, this is an excellent Papo dinosaur model, one that will delight collectors and young dinosaur fans alike. It is highly recommended and hopefully this France-based manufacturer will consider introducing more baby dinosaur models to its range of figures and replicas in the future.