Namibia 1995 "Fossils"
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| Issue Date | 24.05.1995 |
| ID | Michel: 789-792, Bl.22 (793); Scott: 779-782, 780a; Stanley Gibbons: 663-666, 667; Yvert et Tellier: 745-748, BF22; Category: pF |
| Design | Lambert Kreidemann |
| Stamps in set | 5 |
| Value |
40c - Tortoise Geochelone stromeri (shell) 80c - Diamantornis wardi (eggs) 90c - Prohyrax hendeyi (skull) N$1.20 - Crocodylus lloydi (skull) Souvenir-Sheet, 80c - Diamantornis wardi (the same design as the 80c stamp) |
| Size (width x height) | stamps: 29 mm x 45mm, Souvenir-Sheet: 50 mm x 65 mm |
| Layout | Mini-Sheets of 10 stamps, Souvenir-Sheet with 1 stamp. |
| Products | FDC x 2 |
| Paper | |
| Perforation | 13.75 x 14.25 |
| Print Technique | Offset |
| Printed by | Government Printer, Pretoria, South Africa |
| Quantity | |
| Issuing Authority |
On May 24th, 1995, the Post Authority of Namibia issued the set of four stamps and the Souvenir-Sheet depicting some fossil of prehistoric animals and some modern animals of the country. All these fossils were found at the Orange River Valley.
Orange River is the longest river in South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. The river forms part of the international borders between South Africa and Namibia and between South Africa and Lesotho, as well as several provincial borders within South Africa. Except for Upington, Kimberly, and Aggeneys, the river does not pass through any major cities, it plays an important role in the South African economy by providing water for irrigation, as well as hydroelectric power. The river was named by Robert Jacob Gordon after the Dutch Royal House.
The following text was written by Dr. Martin Pickford from Geological Survey of Namibia. The text was published in the information card attached to the FDC.
The fossils of the Orange River Valley provide us with a rare glimpse of life in southern Namibia between 20 and 16 million years ago.
40c - Geochelone stromeri
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| Geochelone stromeri on stamp of Namibia 1995 MiNr.: 789, Scott: 779. |
In 1992, the first complete carapaces of this species were found during diamond mining operations at Auchas in the Orange River Valley 50 kilometres upstream from Oranjemund.
The tortoises are associated with fossil mammals and plants that indicate that the area enjoyed a subtropical climate at the time that they lived, in stark contrast to the extremely arid conditions that prevail there today.
The specimen depicting on the stamp is almost half a metre long and 25 centimetres high, and is thus much larger than any tortoise living in southern Namibia today.
80c - Diamantornis wardi
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| Diamantornis wardi on stamp of Namibia 1995 MiNr.:790, Scott: 780. |
At this site 30 kilometres north of Auchas Mine is an extensive cliff of hardened sand dunes 120 metres thick which contain abundant fossil mammals as well as eggshells dating from about 16 to 17 million years ago.
The eggs of Diamantornis wardi (Wards Diamond Bird) are one and a half times as voluminous as those of the living ostrich (1,8 liters as opposed to 1,2 litres) and the shell is much thicker (3 to 4 millimetres versus 1,2 millimetres), suggesting that the birds that laid them were appreciably larger than the living ostrich.
90c Prohyrax hendeyi
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| Prohyrax hendeyi on stamp of Namibia 1995 MiNr.: 791, Scott: 781. |
The commonest mammals found at the site, dating from 17,5 million years ago, were large dassies (hyraxes) the size of Dorper sheep.
In 1976, a particularly finely preserved skull was found and this formed the basis for the reconstruction depicting on the stamp. These dassies probably lived in herds along the floodplain of the proto-Orange River, much as the springbok today. At that time, the environment in the Orange River Valley would have been considerably more luxuriant than it is today. Apart from dassies, Arrisdrift has yielded many other species of mammals ranging in size from mice to elephants.
N$1,20 - Crocodylus lloydi
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| Crocodylus lloydi on stamp of Namibia 1995 MiNr.: 792, Scott: 782. |
At Arrisdrift, many fossilised crocodile bones and teeth have been excavated which indicate that the climate was on average warmer then than it is now.
The discovery of the complete skull and jaws of the Crocodylus lloydi revealed its similarity in shape and size to the Nile crocodile, the modern distribution of which is restricted to the tropics and subtropics.
Many of the fossil mammal bones at Arrisdrift show evidence of having been bitten by crocodile, which must have been one of the major predators in the valley.
The cachet of the FDC show fossil and reconstruction of Orangemeryx hendeyi
During the Middle Miocene Period, an incredible variety of now extinct mammals comprising at least 28 species lived in the proto-Orange River Valley.
One of the most peculiar of these was a large ruminant about the size of a gemsbok, called Orangemeryx hendeyi.
It belonged to the giraffoid group and possessed branched ossicones (antlerlike horns) covered in skin. It was probably a browser, preferring young shoots and leaves out of reach to other herbivores but which it could exploit because of its long legs and neck. Many of the Orangemeryx fossils have tooth marks made by crocodile.
Products and associated philatelic items
| FDC | Mini-Sheet | Examples of circulated covers |
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References
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Technical details and short description of the stamps:
colnect, the information card attached to the FDC. -
Orange River:
Wikipedia.
Acknowledgements:
- Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for reviewing the draft page and his valuable comments.
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