Issue Date |
15.01.2015 |
ID |
Michel: 3450-3453;
Scott: 1102a-d;
Stanley Gibbons: 3315-3318;
Yvert et Tellier: 3359-22362;
Category: pR |
Design |
D. Zoe Seemel,
Artwork: Bryan Kneale |
Stamps in set |
4 |
Value |
c34 - Triceratops
c34 - Stegosaurus
c34 - Protoceratops
c34 - Tyrannosaurus
|
Emission/Type |
commemorative |
Places of issue |
Majuro |
Size (width x height) |
stamps: 10 mm x 31 mm
Sheet: 184 mm x 152 mm
|
Layout |
Sheet of 16 stamps (4 strips of 4 stamps) |
Products |
none |
Paper |
unwatermarked gummed paper |
Perforation |
13.50 x 13.50 |
Print Technique |
Black, cyan, magenta, yellow by offset lithography
|
Printed by |
Pioneer Printing, Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A. |
Quantity |
|
Issuing Authority |
Marshall Islands Postal Service. |
In March 2015, the Marshall Islands Postal Service introduced at their on-line store
the set of four stamps shows "Dinosaur Bones", while official issue day
was announced as January 15
th, 2015.
The stamps were printed in a strip of all four stamps, in fours rows per sheet.
Design of these stamps is based on the artwork of Bryan Kneale, who painted the
set of six images "Dinosaur Bones" in 1990, who painted them for the Royal Mail of
Great Britain.
The "
150th Anniversary of Dinosaurs' Identification by Sir Richard Owens"
stamps of the Royal Mail in 1991, where based the Kneale's images.
Bryan Kneale was born in 1930 on the Isle of Man and attended Douglas School of Art (1946-47)
and the Royal Academy Schools, London (1948-1949).
Kneale was initially a figurative painter, but started making sculpture after attending a
welding course in 1960.
Since the mid-1980s Kneale's major source of inspiration has been the skeletons
and joints of animals he studied and drew at the Natural History Museum in London.
In an unpublished Tate interview he related his fascination to a sculptural
interest in structure and form:
I have always found in all my work it
is the connections, the articulation of form which has been of
particular importance to me, rather than the development of sculptural mass.
The endless invention in nature of bony structures from minute tiny insects
and animals to colossal forms of dinosaur bones … has always fascinated me.
Fleetwood company, of Unicover Corporation, who owed the Kneale's images, reproduced as is
on cachets of their FDC with "150th Anniversary of Dinosaurs' Identification by Sir Richard Owens"
stamps of Great Britain in 1991.
Dinosaur bones on FDC of Fleetwood with stamps of Great Britain 1991
The following prehistoric animals were depicted on the stamps
Triceratops
lived and died during the Late Cretaceous Period - more than 136
million years ago.
![Triceratops on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015 Triceratops on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015](../../images/details/stamps/official/marshall_islands/2015/preview/marshall_islands_2015_1.jpg) |
Triceratops on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015,
MiNr.: , Scott:
|
A large bony frill which partially encircled its
neck separated the creature's massive body and elongated head.
Two long, bony horns measuring more than three feet in length jutted from
its forehead, while another short horn curved slightly up from its snout.
The weight of its heavy body was borne by stout hind legs and
shorter forelegs, which suggested a bipedal ancestor.
Paleontologists have estimated that the
Triceratops weighed eight to nine tons and
supported its enormous bulk by browsing continuously, for this dinosaur
- like so many others of formidable appearance- was an herbivore.
Its beak-like mouth ripped fibrous vegetation such as palm fronds,
while its teeth sheared through the stringy pulp and chopped it finely
to allow for easy mastication.
Scientists believe that the
Triceratops grazed and traveled in groups or
herds which provided additional protection from hungry predators such
as the
Tyrannosaurus rex.
A latecomer to the Age of Dinosaurs, this species was also among the last
of the reptilian giants to become extinct.
The late Jurassic Period produced one of the dinosaur era's most
unusual creatures- the
Stegosaurus.
![Stegosaurus on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015 Stegosaurus on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015](../../images/details/stamps/official/marshall_islands/2015/preview/marshall_islands_2015_2.jpg) |
Stegosaurus on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015,
MiNr.: , Scott:
|
It developed as a biped, but through the eons it reverted to a
quadruped, thus accounting for its high haunches and short forelegs.
Measuring approximately twenty feet in length, the
Stegosaurus was
armored -- with two offset rows of large, triangular, horn-covered bony
plates along its back and two pairs of long, pointed bony spikes at the
end of its tail.
This battle-ready, ponderous body completely dwarfed the creature's comically-small
head and suggested a pugnacious nature.
But the
Stegosaurus was a peaceably-natured dinosaur which grazed on
soft vegetation and counted on its formidable appearance to ward off predators.
Closer examination of
Stegosaurus fossils in the late 1970s
revealed that the bony plates contained a network of canals which
probably contained blood vessels.
Many scientists is now speculate that the vessels served as a convective
heat-loss system, enabling the dinosaur to control its own body temperature.
Such startling information suggests that dinosaurs were warm-blooded creatures
- not cold-blooded like modern reptiles- and add extra dimension to the
continuing quest to explain their mass extinction.
The
Protoceratops
was one of the most primitive species of dinosaur.
![Protoceratops on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015 Protoceratops on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015](../../images/details/stamps/official/marshall_islands/2015/preview/marshall_islands_2015_3.jpg) |
Protoceratops on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015,
MiNr.: , Scott:
|
A predecessor of later great horned dinosaurs, the
Protoceratops was slightly larger
than the modern alligator and probably evolved - like so many other
herbivores - from a bipedal ancestor.
The
Protoceratops' large head was partially encircled by a bony frill which protected
its vulnerable neck area from a predator's deadly attack, but this dinosaur lacked the
sharp horns which gave its
Triceratops descendents their fierce and
combative appearance.
A beak-like mouth suited its vegetarian diet, but the creature possessed only a few teeth
in its upper jaw and probably eschewed fibrous palm fronds in favor of tender, easily masticated
shoots.
The animal's well-developed tail contained long vertical spines, indicating to some researchers
a partially-aquatic lifestyle.
Like other larger herbivores, the
Protoceratops traveled in groups or herds.
In recent decades, scientists have uncovered more than eighty individual specimens in all
stages of development -- from whole, unbroken eggs complete with intact embryo to older
animals at the end of their lifecycle.
These valuable finds -- many of them unearthed in Mongolia -- will in time produce priceless
additional data on this ancient creature. The
Protoceratops was one of the Dinosaur Era's first
species and one of science's most fertile sources for paleontologic research.
In 1842 British anatomist Sir Richard Owen coined the word dinosaur
from two Greek words meaning "terrible lizard."
Although dinosaurs were not lizards, the term aptly applied to the best known and most fearsome
of all dinosaurs -- the
Tyrannosaurus.
![Tyrannosaurus on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015 Tyrannosaurus on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015](../../images/details/stamps/official/marshall_islands/2015/preview/marshall_islands_2015_4.jpg) |
Tyrannosaurus on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015,
MiNr.: , Scott:
|
Its name meant "tyrant lizard," and this ravenous meat-eater conducted
an unrivaled reign of terror as master of the Mesozoic Era.
Towering twenty feet above the ground, the
Tyrannosaurus possessed an enormous
head and six-inch, dagger-like teeth which slashed into prey with
merciless efficiency.
Its short forelimbs served little function other than grasping objects at close range,
and the behemoth's long tail acted as a counter-balance for its cumbersome body.
While the
Tyrannosaurus was undoubtedly the most powerful and dangerous dinosaur,
it was also one of the rarest.
Scientists estimated that one hundred square miles of territory served as the habitat for only one
Tyrannosaurus.
Its remains are generally uncovered in the same deposits as the remains of its most likely
prey - the more plentiful great armored dinosaurs such as Triceratops and
Protoceratops.
Millions of years after the last
Tyrannosaurus died, this terrifying creature
continues to stimulate scientific investigation and linger in the mythological fantasies of mankind.
Products and associated philatelic items
Stamps-Sheet |
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![Dinosaurs on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015 Dinosaurs on stamps of Marshall Islands 2015](../../images/details/stamps/official/marshall_islands/2015/preview/t_marshall_islands_2015_ms.jpg) |
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References:
- Technical details and short press releases:
Marshall Islands Stamp Catalog (this website does not exist anymore),
Unicover (this article does not exist anymore),
Tate
- Bryan Kneale:
Wikipedia,
Interview to "Tate" website (this article does not exist anymore).
- Triceratops
"Bryan Kneale: Dinosaurs - Triceratops" at ArtworkOriginals.com (this article does not exist anymore)
- description of the artwork.
- Stegosaurus
"Bryan Kneale: Dinosaurs - Stegosaurus" at ArtworkOriginals.com (this article does not exist anymore)
- description of the artwork.
- Protoceratops
"Bryan Kneale: Dinosaurs - Protoceratops" at ArtworkOriginals.com (this article does not exist anymore)
- description of the artwork.
- Tyrannosaurus
"Bryan Kneale: Dinosaurs - Tyrannosaurus" at ArtworkOriginals.com (this article does not exist anymore)
- description of the artwork.