Slovenia 2019 "Mammal Fossils in Slovenia: Anthracotherium Magnum"

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Issue Date	22.03.2019
ID	Michel: 1356; Scott: 1325; Stanley Gibbons: Yvert et Tellier: 1138 Category: pF
Design	Edi Berk
Emmision/Type	commemorative
Place of issue	Trbovlje
Stamps in set	1
Value	€0.85 - an Oligocene mammal from the Zasavje region (Anthracotherium magnum)
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	40.000
Issuing Authority	Posta Slovenije

On March 22^nd, 2019, Slovenian Post Authority issued the fourth stamp of their multi-year set of "Mammals fossils in Slovenia" shows fossil and reconstruction of Anthracotherium Magnum. The first stamp of the set issued in 2016 and shown fossil of cave bear.

The following text was written by Matija Kriznar MSc, palaeontologist, senior curator Slovenian MNatural History Museum and was published on the website of Slovenia in 2016.

The anthracothere – an Oligocene mammal from the Zasavje region Back in the days when coal mines were still operating in the Zasavje region, it was not uncommon for miners to dig up fossil remains of various kinds.

The skeleton of Anthracotherium magnum on commemorative postmark of Slovenia 2019

Particularly noteworthy finds included the remains of large mammals such as the anthracothere. The genus name of these mammals, Anthracotherium, translates literally as “coal beast”. Reports of discoveries of the remains of these creatures were already arriving from open pits and mines in Hrastnik, Trbovlje and Zagorje ob Savi in the mid-nineteenth century. Contemporary palaeontologists classified them as the species Anthracotherium magnum and, in the case of an exclusively local find, as Anthracotherium illyricum. The unearthed remains were often badly damaged and fragmented, with usually only the teeth being well preserved. Today many of the remains are found in palaeontological collections in Austria, while collections in Slovenia contain relatively little. The anthracotheres’ habitat consisted of the vast forests and wetland margins that approximately 25 million years ago (the late Oligocene) extended across the area of present-day central and eastern Slovenia. They fed on the leaves of trees and various wetland plants, and research indicates that they probably spent a lot of time in the water. They grew to a length of two metres and reached a weight of 250 kg. They belong to the group of mammals whose ancestors lived in Asia and which colonised Europe during the Oligocene. Their bones and teeth have been excavated in other sites around Europe, from Italy and Switzerland to Germany. Anthracotheres (genus Anthracotherium) died out in Europe just a few million years after the formation of the coal deposits in the Zasavje region.


The bottom row of the stamp sheet, with labels under the stamps.

Products and associated philatelic items

FDC	First-Day-of-Issue Postmark	Stamp Sheet
Circulated FDC

References

• Technical details and short description: Posta Slovenije, Bulletin Nr. 125 (page 8 with text on Slovenian, German and Englsh languages), colnect.

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Latest update 25.03.2025

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