Slovenia
2017
"Mammal Fossils In Slovenia: Cave Lion"
| Issue Date |
17.03.2017 |
| ID |
Michel: Scott:
Stanley Gibbons: Yvert:
UPU: Category: pF |
| Designer |
stamp design: Alenka Lalic
photo: Matija Križnar from Natural History Museum of
Slovenia in Ljubljana
|
| Place of issue |
Postojna |
| Stamps in set |
1 |
| Value |
€0.65 - Cave Lion, Panthera
leo spelaea |
| Size (width x height) |
42.60 x 29.82 mm
|
| Layout |
Sheet of 25 stamps
|
| Products |
FDC x1 |
| Paper |
Tullis Russell Chancellor Litho PVA
RMS GUM, 102 g/m2
|
| Perforation |
14 x 14 |
| Print Technique |
Offset, 4 colours |
| Printed by |
Agencija za komercijalnu djelatnost
d.o.o., Zagreb,
Croatia
|
| Quantity |
50.000 |
| Issuing Authority |
Posta Slovenije
|
On March 17,
2017
Slovenian Post Authority issued the second stamp of their multi-year
set of "Mammals fossils in Slovenia" shows fossil of Cave Lion.
The first stamp of the set
issued in
2016
and shown fossil of cave bear.
Silhouettes of cave lions were shown on draft, but disappear
on the released stamp. |
"
The cave lion (Panthera
leo spelaea) was almost certainly the terror
of
other Ice Age creatures, thanks to its size and bloodthirsty nature.
Its remains have been found across almost the whole of Europe and the
remains of cave lion cubs frozen in the Siberian tundra are still being
discovered today. Despite its name, the largest Ice Age predator did
not actually live in caves. Its bones, however, have been found in
large quantities in the sediments of dark cave passages. The cave lion
lived on the open plains and probably followed the great herds of
horses, bison and other large mammals. Its biggest competitors were the
Ice Age leopard and cave hyena. As far as the territory of Slovenia is
concerned, the cave lion only lived here during very warm periods
between ice ages, when the climate and territory were similar to
today's African savanna. The last cave lions in central Europe died out
between 25,000 and 15,000 BC.
Postojna Cave on stamp of Slovenia 2013 |
They remained longest
in Siberia and Alaska, right up until the end of the Pleistocene. The
cave lion was also viewed with great respect by Ice Age humans, who
drew pictures of it on the walls of their caves and
honoured it as a remarkable and wonderful animal. Modest
finds of bones from just six sites are the only evidence of the
presence of the cave lion in Slovenia. The best preserved remains have
been found in the Pleistocene strata of
Postojna Cave, and
in fact the
lower jawbone featured on our stamp comes from here. A few more bones
and teeth have been unearthed in a filled cave near Črni Kal and a
minor karst pothole near Lesno Brdo not far from Vrhnika. Remains have
also been found in Mokriška Jama, a cave high up in the
Kamnik-Savinja
Alps. The other two sites are Divje Babe I, a cave above the valley of
the Idrijca, and Lukova Jama, a cave in the Kolpa Valley. The present
modest collection of cave lion remains seems certain to grow in the
future, since even now the indications are that the cave lion was once
found throughout the territory of present-day Slovenia. "
Matija
Križnar, Department of Geology, Natural History Museum of
Slovenia
[R1]
Products
FDC
|
|
|
Sheet
|
Used
cover from Kamnik |
 |
 < |
|
|
References:
[R1] Press
release of Slovenian Post, Stamp Magzine of Slovenian Post,
Bulletin
Nr. 115 (page 3 with text on Slovenian, German and Englsh
languages)
Latest
update 28.03.2019
Any feedback, comments or even complaints
are welcome: [email protected] (you
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