Guanlingsaurus (Yuanlin) (Prehistoric Animal Models by PNSO)

Guanlingsaurus is a genus of late Triassic ichthyosaur from China. It is a member of the Shastasauridae family and for a time it was assigned to the Shastasaurus genus. It is known from the Xiaowa Formation and lived alongside Guizhouichthyosaurus, which was also once assigned to Shastasaurus. PNSO has made models of both genera. I previously reviewed the Guizhouichthyosaurus and also included it in my Top Ten figures of 2025, now it’s time to look at PNSO’s Guanlingsaurus.

Guanlingsaurus is notable for having a small skull, short, triangular snout, toothless jaw, long, shallow body and tail, and short flippers. These characteristics are intriguing and, In his book, The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Sea Reptiles, Gregory Paul suggests that Guanlingsaurus may have been a suction feeder, like short-snouted cetaceans. Darren Naish, in Ancient Sea Reptiles, claims that Guanlingsaurus “lacks the features required for suction-feeding. Its jaws are too long and narrow to generate suction, and the hyoids are not large enough to allow the expansion of the throat needed for suction-feeding either.” What Guanlingsaurus and other short-snouted shastasaurs were doing with their short, toothless jaws, remains a mystery.

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With this figure, PNSO has accurately created the Guanlingsaurus body plan as outlined above. The figure is an almost identical match to the model on display at the Guizhou Geological Museum. Some aspects of the toy are speculative, such as the size and placement of the dorsal fin and upper lobe of the caudal fin, but these would have been soft tissue structures for which we have no remains but were likely present. Due to some paleo-art depicting Guanlingsaurus with large fore flippers, some have suggested that the PNSO model is inaccurate, but it seems to compare well with the fossil specimens that I’ve seen images of online.

The PNSO Guanlingsaurus measures 12” (30.48 cm) long when measured from the snout to the end of the lower lobe on the tail. The actual Guanlingsaurus reached a length of about 33’ (10.06 meters) which would put the model at 1/33 in scale. The figure is named Yuanlin, which means “the round woodland” and also happens to be the name of a city in Taiwan. Yuanlin is presented in a static pose with the tail gently sweeping towards the right. It comes with two support rods.

Being a marine reptile, the figure is fairly smooth, streamlined, and low on detail. Only the flippers have any texture, in the form of irregularly shaped scales that give them a cracked-earth appearance. The underlying musculature is nicely conveyed, particularly along the back and tail. A seam runs underneath the mouth that can be distracting when viewing the figure up close.

Yuanlin has a fairly conservative, counter shaded color scheme. It’s painted a cloudy gray color that’s darker dorsally and transitions to a light gray underside. A light gray stripe runs from the chin, up over the flipper, and then back down to the belly, and a small stripe branches off and points towards the dorsal fin. Past the dorsal fin, dark gray stripes run along the back and transition to bands along the lower lobe of the tail. Both lobes of the tail are tipped in light gray. Overall, the color scheme is very reminiscent of various shark species, with the striping reminding me of the tiger shark in particular. The eyes are brown with black pupils.

With the PNSO *Guizhouichthyosaurus* and *Eurhinosaurus*.

With the PNSO *Glyphoderma*, Safari *Notosaurus* and *Elasmosaurus*, and CollectA *Mosasaurus*.

With their Guanlingsaurus, PNSO delivers another high quality, oddball taxa, and one from the Triassic to boot! These are the kind of models I get the most excited for and for me, PNSO’s run of marine reptiles (and one feathered dinosaur) were the most exciting offerings of 2025. If your interest in prehistory extends past dinosaurs or you’re a marine reptile aficionado, Yaunlin should definitely find its way into your collection.