| Issue Date | 10.10.2010 |
| ID | Michel: Stanley Gibbons: UPU: Category: pR |
| Author | Design
Why Not Associates Illustration John Sibbickl Consultant Angela Milner |
| Stamps in set | 10 |
| Value | 1st
calss (GBP
0.60) x10 1st Class - Polacanthus 1st Class - Ichthyosaurus 1st Class - Iguanodon 1st Class - Ornithocheirus 1st Class - Baryonyx 1st Class - Dimorphodon 1st Class - Hypsilophodon 1st Class - Cetiosaurus 1st Class - Megalosaurus 1st Class - Plesiosaurus |
| Size (width x height) | 37mm x 27mm excluding protrusions |
| Layout | 2
stripes of 5 stamp each, issued in sheets of 25 and
50 stamps |
| Products | FDC x 1 PP x1 Gutters x1 Special Cover x1 |
| Paper | Phosphor:
all over Gum: self-adhesive |
| Perforation | 13.5 x 14 |
| Print Technique | Gravure |
| Printed by | Walsall Security Printers |
| Quantity | |
| Issuing Authority | Royal
Mail |
On October 10, 2013 Royal Mail, first time since 1991, launched a set of ten self adhesive stamp of "Dinosaurs" (actually four animals depicting in these stamps are not dinosaurs, but flying and marine reptilies: Dimorphodon Ornithocheirus, Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus ). The new stamp collection is designed to celebrate the 200 year history of paleontology in Britain and the discovery of a multitude of dinosaur remains in Britain by British paleontologists.
Dinosaurs have often been associated with North America and the exploration of the Wild West that began in the 1870s, but as mentioned above the earliest discoveries of dinosaurs and their contemporary marine and flying reptiles happened in England during the early 1800s. The dinosaurs in this 10-stamp set have strong connections with the following locations in Great Britain:
LYME REGIS - DORSET
The cliffs and foreshore are the world’s most important and famous sites for marine reptiles that lived 201-195 million years ago. ICHTYOSAURUS and PLESIOSAURUS swam in the shallow seas that covered Dorset. The pterosaur DIMORPHODON flew over the water and occasionally fell in.
OXFORDSHIRE
MEGALOSAURUS, the first dinosaur to be named, came from Stonesfield Quarry near Witney. CETIOSAURUS was discovered in several locations during the 19th century, including Chipping Norton and Bletchington Station, notable for the most complete skeleton found.
OCKLEY - SURREY
The only fairly complete skeleton of the fish-eating dinosaur, BARYONYX, was discovered in a working brick-making clay pit at Wallis Wood, near Dorking, in 1983. Remains of IGUANODON and a SAUROPOD have also been uncovered there.
TILGATE FOREST - WEST SUSSEX
The first recognised dinosaur fossils came from a stone quarry at Whiteman’s Green, Cuckfield. They included teeth discovered in 1822 and later named IGUANODON. Pterosaur fragments, originally identified as birds and later as ORNITHOCHEIRUS, were also found there.
The fossils from seven of the ten depicting dinosaurs have all previously been found on the Isle of Wight, many of which are on display at Dinosaur Isle in Sandown. Isle of Wight palaeo-artist John Sibbick was selected from a number of expert artists as he is one of the foremost illustrators of dinosaurs and has decades of experience. It was felt that Sibbick’s painterly approach gave a more detailed realisation of the animals than tests with computer generated imagery at stamp size. The stamp designs in this issue are printed such that the creatures ‘break out’ of the self-adhesive stamp frame, so there is not a clean straight edge to the stamp.
Mr. Sibbick said: "I always knew that designing and illustrating stamps was a rigorous and painstaking process. To get the opportunity was a dream come true, especially depicting the world famous dinosaurs found on the Isle of Wight. To get such access to fossil dinosaur bones, tracks and the plants in their environment on the Isle of Wight makes the reconstruction process a much more vivid experience." The museum will host an exhibition telling the story of the creation of John Sibbick's work.The stamps have been produced under the guidance of palaeontologists from the Natural History Museum, including the Angela Milner. (who is along with Alan Charig, her colleague at the Natural History Museum in London, named and described Baryonyx, one of the dinosaurs featured in the set. ) Each illustration is anatomically correct to the extent of present scientific knowledge.
The exciting Dinosaur Island App Trail based on the ancestral links between the characters in the film and the dinosaurs on the Isle of Wight, will give you the chance to be seen standing alongside dinosaurs in the very place they were discovered. The app utilises new technology which allows you to use smart phones and tablets to take pictures of family and friends walking alongside the dinosaurs that roamed the Isle of Wight 130 million years ago, while at the same time learning more about their relatives - the dinosaur characters in the movie. The Augmented Reality App is available to download from anywhere in the world, but will only be triggered into life at six coastal locations on the Isle of Wight.
These stamps presentation, to public for the first time, took place at the Natural History Museum in London on October 7, 2013 - few days prior to official release.
 Image from designweek.co.uk
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Dinosaurs dominated the Earth for more than 160 million years during the Mesozoic Era, 252 to 65 million years ago, often called the Age of Dinosaurs. They shared the planet with many other animals including marine reptiles, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, and flying reptiles called pterosaurs. The first finds of all these ancient groups were made in southern England in the early 1800s. Thus began our ever-growing fascination with this long-lost world.
 Image from Bridport News |
The Ichthyosaurus, the Plesiosaurus and the Dimorphodon were all first discovered by Mary Anning (famous British fossil collector, dealer, and paleontologist) on the beaches of Lyme Regis at the beginning of the 19th century, and their fossilised remains can still be found along the Jurassic Coast today.
Mary Anning and her brother Joseph discovered the first ever Ichthyosaurus in 1811 on the beaches between Lyme Regis and Charmouth. Mary continued to find fossilised remains of the Ichthyosaurus during the next ten years, before discovering the Plesiosaurus in the winter of 1828.
David Tucker, curator at Lyme Regis museum, said he was delighted the Royal Mail had commemorated Anning’s finds in the stamp collection, he said “The collection is very interesting and shows the very strong local connection in marine reptile fossil discovery and I’m delighted they have chosen three of Anning’s discoveries. I will certainly be getting some of the stamps, and I am very pleased to see them.”
Some more details prehistoric animals depicting on the stamps:
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Main group: Dinosauria, Arikylosauria Length: 4—5m Weight: 1000-2000kg Diet: Plants Discovered: Reverend William Fox, Isie of Wight, 1865 Firts described: Richard Owen, 1865 Known from only two partial skeletons, both lacking skulls, the heavily armoured polacanthus (‘many spines’) was a herbivorous quadruped protected against predators by spikes and studs along its body and a heavy hip shield of flat, bony plates. |
Period:
Early Jurassic
Adapted to life in the sea, the Ichthyosaurus breathed air and gave birth to live young in the water. About the size of a modern dolphin, but with vertical rather than horizontal tail flukes, it ate fish and squid. |
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Period:
early cretaceous With forelimbs which were much shorter than its hind limbs, iguanodon (‘iguana tooth’) was a herbivore that could stand or walk on all fours but ran bipedally. Its distinctive thumb spikes might have been for defence or for foraging. |
Period:
early cretaceous The lightweight ornithocheirus (‘bird hand’) flew by soaring and gliding on its long, narrow wings, and fed by skimming the surface of the sea to catch fish in slender jaws which were fringed with outwardly-pointing, interlocking teeth. Ornithocheirus represents the pterodactyloid pterosaurs. This species was first described by Harry Govier Seeley in 1869, though the fossils had been known of since 1827. |
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Period:
Early Cretaceous Baryonyx (‘heavy claw’) was a land-based fish-eating creature with a long snout full of serrated teeth. It had a huge thumb claw covered by a horny sheath, which may have helped it catch its prey. |
Period:
early jurassic The two different sizes of teeth in the jaws of dimorphodon (‘two-form tooth’) suggest that this flying dinosaur was a fish-eater. It had a large, puffin-like beak, short wings and a long tail. Dimorphodon represents the older rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs and was described by William Clift and William John Broderip in 1835. This description was based on a fossil that was discovered by Mary Anning in 1828. |
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Main group: Dinosauria, Ornithopoda Length: 1.5~2.3m Weight: 20-40kg Diet: plants Discovered: Cowleaze Chine, Isle of Wight, 1849 First described: Thomas Henry Huxley, 1869 The long shins of the Hypsilophodon suggest that a speedy escape was its main means of defence. With a short thigh and a long shin, hypsilophodon (‘high-ridge tooth’) was a fast runner. With no body armour, running would have been this comparatively small plant-eating biped’s only defence from predators. |
Period:
Middle Jurassic The Cetiosaurus was a herbivore thought to weigh as much as 20,000kg, the same as 20 cars. The large, dense bones of cetiosaurus (‘whale lizard’) were thought to belong to a whale when the first fossil was found, hence its name. |
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Period:
Middle Jurassic The fearsome Megalosaurus grew up to nine metres in length, and preyed upon other Dinosaurs. Megalosaurus (‘great lizard’) was a heavily-muscled bipedal carnivore with long, curved teeth. An exceptional set of footprints discovered in Oxfordshire in 1997 records the 1.5-tonne creature crossing an ancient mudflat at pace. |
Period:
Early Jurassic With its vast paddles, the Plesiosaurus hunted fish and other marine prey at an estimated 8kph. A marine reptile with a small head on the end of a long, flexible neck, plesiosaurus (‘near lizard’) swam like a sea turtle, with two pairs of huge paddles giving it good manoeuvrability as it hunted small fish and squid. |
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References: Royal Maii Group Ofiicial press release of Royal Mail Norvic Philatelics Blog Norvic Philatelics Everything Dinosaur examiner IW radio Driffield Today
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Last update 14.12.2017
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