Burundi 2012 "Dinosaurs"

Issue Date	31.08.2012
ID	Michel: 2555-2558, Bl. 235 ; Scott: 1128a-d, 1148 ; Stanley Gibbons: ; Yvert et Tellier: 1584-1587, 316; Category: pR
Design
Stamps in set	5
Value	F1070 - Pachyrhinosaurus F1070 - Tropeognathus (pterosaur, not dinosaur) F3000 - Lystrosaurus (dicynodont theraspid, not dinosaur) F3000 - Arrhinoceratops F7500 - Compsognathus
Emission/Type	commemorative
Places of issue
Size (width x height)	Souvenir-Sheet: 105mm x 128mm
Layout	Mini-Sheet of 4 stamps, Souvenir-Sheet of 1 stamp.
Products	"FDC" x2
Paper
Perforation	13,50
Print Technique	Offset lithography
Printed by	Stamperija, Lithuania
Quantity
Issuing Authority

On 31^st of August 2012, Lithuanian based agency Stamperija on behalf of the Post Authority of Burundi issued more than 40 Mini-Sheets simultaneously. According to Michel catalog, in 2012 687 (!) stamps were issued by Burundi, printed in 274 Mini- and Souvenir-Sheets.
For comparison, in the same year, 58 stamps were issued by Germany. It is worth mentioning that the population of Germany is approximately 10 times the population of Burundi. Germany has an area 13 times the size of Burundi!
Some of the stamps, issued by Stamperia on behalf of Burundi, were delivered to the post offices in the country. These stamps were accepted for postage, but their high face values made them only useable for large international letters.
The stamps issued by Burundi in 2012 covered all possible topics including prehistoric animals. Unfortunately, there were errors on these stamps - for example the "Dinosaurs" set shows 8 prehistoric animals, but only 5 of them are dinosaurs:

• Pachyrhinosaurus - dinosaur, discovered in North America
• Tropeognathus - pterosaur (flying reptile) not a dinosaur, discovered in South America
• Lystrosaurus - dicynodont theraspid, not a dinosaur. Lystrosaurus was one of the proofs of the supercontinent Gondwana - as it is found in African, Indian, and Antarctic rocks of the same age.
• Arrhinoceratops - dinosaur discovered in Canada
• Compsognathus - dinosaur discovered in Germany and France
• Camarasaurus - dinosaur (on the margin of the Souvenir-Sheet)
• Saltopus - dinosaur (on the margin of the Souvenir-Sheet), discovered in Scotland
• giant dragonfly, discovered in many places around the world

Products and associated philatelic items

Souvenir Covers	Example of circulated covers
The "FDC" is not the First-Day-Cover, but a Souvenir-Cover. All covers with "Nature Protection" stamps, including the "Dinosaur" stamps were cancelled by the same postmarks. Moreover, these stamps came to market a few months after the "issue date" printed on the postmark.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for his help to find an information for this article, the draft page review and his very valuable comments.