Nepal 2015 "Prehistoric Elephants of Nepal"

Issue Date	07.07.2015
ID	Michel: 1179-1184 ; Scott: 980-985; Stanley Gibbons: 1184-1189; Yvert et Tellier: 1138-1143 ; Category: pR
Design	Illustrations: Mr. Rajman Man Maharjan, the artist at the Natural History Museum of Nepal Stamps Design: Mr. Purna Kala Limbu Consultant: Dr. Ramesh Shrestha, Chief of Natural History Museum, Nepal
Stamps in set	6
Value	Rs. 10.00 - Deinotherium indicum Rs. 10.00 - Gomphotherium sp. Rs. 10.00 - Stegodon bombifrons Rs. 10.00 - Stegodon ganesa Rs. 10.00 - Elephas hysudricus Rs. 10.00 - Elephas namadicus
Emission/Type	commemorative
Issue place	Kathmandu
Size (width x height)	42.5 mm x 31.5 mm
Layout	30 stamps per sheet
Products	FDC x 1
Paper	Security Stamp paper UV dull with visible & invisible fibers & phosphorescent dots.
Perforation	13 x 13.25
Print Technique	Offset Lithography
Printed by	Joh Enschede Stamps B. V., The Netherlands
Quantity	500.000 each stamp
Issuing Authority	His Majesty's Government of Nepal Postal Services Department

On July 7^th, 2015, the Post Authority of Nepal in cooperation with the Natural History Museum of Nepal issued the second stamp set of prehistoric animals.
Distinguished from the set from 2013, this set is dedicated to one group of animals only: prehistoric elephants.

These stamps presentation took place on the same day in the Museum with present of special guests, including

• Prof. Dr. Ishwar Chandra Dutta, Chairman of Tribhuvan University Service Commission.
• Chairperson Dean Chirika Shova Tamrakar, Institute of Science & Technology, Tribhuvan University
• Drona Pokhrel, Director General of Postal Service Department
• Mr. Sunil Bahadur Malla Secretary of Ministry of Information and Communication
• Prof. Dr. Ramesh Shrestha, Chief, Natural History Museum, Swayambhu.

Prof. Dr. Ramesh Shrestha, Chief, Natural History Museum, Mr. Shankar Shrestha, who also consulted stamp designer, has a speech.	First Day Cancellation by the Chief Guest Honorable Minister Dr. Minendra Rijal.
Prof. Dr. Ramesh Shrestha, the Chief of the Natural History Museum, wrote a book. "Prehistoric Mammals of Nepal". The soft-cover book is written in English and contains 114 well illustrated pages. All 26 different types of prehistoric mammals discovered in Nepal to the date the book was issued are covered.
Presentation of "Prehistoric Mammals of Nepal" book by Prof. Dr. Ishwar Chandra Dutta, Chairman of Tribhuvan University Service Commission at the stamps presentation ceremony.	The cover of "Prehistoric Mammals of Nepal" book, published in Nepal in 2015. ISBN: 978-9937-2-9672-4

The text below is based on the information printed in the flyer attached to official FDC and the reverse side of commemorative covers issued by the Natural History Museum of Nepal, written by Dr. Ramesh Shrestha, Chief of the Natural History Museum.

Deinotherium indicum on stamp of Nepal 2015, MiNr.: 1182, Scott: 980.

Gomphotherium sp. on stamp of Nepal 2015, MiNr.: 1183, Scott: 981.

Stegodon bombifrons on stamp of Nepal 2015, MiNr.: 1184, Scott: 982.

Stegodon ganesa on stamp of Nepal 2015, MiNr.: 1180, Scott: 983.

Elephas hysudricus on stamp of Nepal 2015, MiNr.: 1179, Scott: 984.

Elephas namadicus on stamp of Nepal 2015, MiNr.: 1181, Scott: 985.

Nepal, as part of the Indian sub–continent, remained an important place for the evolution of elephants since Miocene some 24 million years before present. Many Palaeontologists have discovered various body parts of these Proboscideans since a long time from different part of the country. To the date of the stamps issue, fossils of seven Proboscideans have been found in Nepal.
The Proboscideans order encompasses the mammals with long muscular trunks. At the present time, there are only two Proboscideans species alive. One of them is the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) found in mixed habitat zones in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and parts of Southeast Asia.
The other one is the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) found in Sub–Saharan forests and grasslands.
The present Prehistoric elephants of Nepal stamps series contain six elephants, as described below.

Deinotherium indicum (Family: Deinotheriidae)
Deinotherium also known as a ‘terrible beast’ was a large prehistoric relative of modern–day elephants that appeared in Late/Middle Miocene and survived until Early Pleistocene. Deinotherium evolved from the smaller early Miocene Prodeinotherium. Its trunk was shorter and it had downward curving tusks attached to the lower jaw. Three species of Deinotherium giganteum in Europe, Deinotherium bozasi in Africa and Deinotherium indicum in India, Nepal and Pakistan are known. The molar tooth of Deinotherium was discovered at Babai River by Dr. Robert West & his team 1978, in west Nepal. This molar tooth is in the collection of Natural History Museum.

Gomphotherium (Family: Gomphotheriidae)
Gomphotherium is called welded beast, which evolved in the late Oligocene/early Miocene of North America from 13.650 to 3.6 MYBP living about 10 million years. The genus immigrated into Eurasia and Africa after a drop in sea level (probably during the Tortonian Epoch) allowed them to cross over. It survived into the Pliocene and its remains have been found in many countries including Nepal. These animals probably lived in swamps or near lakes using their tusks to dig or scrape up aquatic vegetation. Several fossils of Gomphotherium are reported from Babai River by Dr. Robert West and his team in 1978 and Surai Khola by Dongol in 1985 and again by Gudrin Corvinus in 1988 in Nepal.

Stegodon bombifrons (Family Stegodontiidae)
The Gable–toothed Elephant or Stegodon bombifrons is the initial stage of the true elephant family, or more correctly, the transition from Mastodon to Elephant. In Bardia National Park in Nepal, there is a population of Indian Elephants which, possibly due to inbreeding, exhibit many Stegodon like morphological features. Some dismiss these primitive features as recent mutations rather than atavisms. Gudrin Corvinus found the skull of this elephant at Rato Khola, in Nepal in 1988.

Stegodon ganesa (Synonym Stegodon insignis, family Stegodontiidae)
Stegodon, also known as roofed tooth elephant, is the genus of the sub family Stegodontinae. Although it was assigned to the family Elephantidae by some authors, but it has more comfortably been placed in Stegodontiidae due to its certain features which are more towards stegodons than true elephants. In some individuals the tusks were so close together that the trunk probably did not lie between them but instead draped over. The molars of Stegodon ganesa are reported from Kathmandu valley (Sharma & Singh, 1966 and Corvinus, 1988) and Babai Khola (West & Munthe, 1981).

Elephas hysudricus (Synonym: Hyselephas hysudricus, family Elephantidae)
Elephas hysudricus is an extinct elephant species and was described from fossil remains found in the Siwalik Hills. It lived during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. The molar teeth of Elephas hysudricus has been reported from Kathmandu valley by Dongol in 1987.

Elephas namadicus (Family Elephantidae)
Elephas namadicus was a species of 2.1 metre–tall prehistoric elephant that ranged throughout Pleistocene Asia from India (where it was first discovered) to Japan where the indigenous Neolithic cultures hunted that particular subspecies for food. Elephas namadicus is a descendant of the Straight-tusked elephant. The molar teeth of Elephas namadicus was discovered from the alluvial deposits of Binai Khola near Pidari village at Dumkibas in Nawalparasi.

Related stamps

"Fossils of Nepal"	"Natural History Museum of Nepal"	"Prehistoric mammals of Nepal"

Products and associated philatelic items

Mini-Sheets	Official FDC	FDC issued by the Natural History Museum
Signed FDCs
Signed by the artist, Mr. Rajman Maharjan from the Natural History Museum of Nepal, who created the artwork.	Signed by Dr. Ramesh Shrestha, Chief of Natural History Museum of Nepal, who provided scientific advice to the stamp designer.
Examples of circulated FDC covers
Examples of circulated covers

References

• Technical details and short description of the stamps:
  
  • Reverse side of FDC
  • lisaslairbookstore
  • colnect

• Description of prehistoric animals depicted on the stamps:
  
  • Inside text of FDC
  • Book "Prehistoric Mammals of Nepal", by Prof. Ramesh Shresta, published in 2015 in Nepal. ISBN: 978-9937-2-9672-4

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.
• Many thanks to Mr. Shankar Shrestha and Dr. Ramesh Shrestha for their support.