Montserrat
Fossils and reconstruction of dinosaurs and other prehistoric
animals, famous paleontologist Richard Owen, Charles Darwin, flint tools on stamps and postmarks of Montserrat
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Register letter from Montserrat, with dinosaur stamps from 1992, sent to Germany in 2020.
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Contents:
Montserrat
is a Caribbean island—specifically in the Leeward Islands, which is
part of the chain known as the Lesser Antilles, in the British West Indies.
It is a
British Overseas Territory (BOT).
Montserrat measures approximately 16 km long and 11 km wide, with approximately 40 km of coastline.
Montserrat is nicknamed The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and
for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants.
English and Irish colonists from
St. Kitts first settled on Montserrat
in 1632; the first African slaves arrived three decades later.
The British and French fought for possession of the island for most of the
18th century, but it finally was confirmed as a British possession in 1783.
[R1]
Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory, formerly issued stamps
concurrently with the Leeward Islands until they were withdrawn in 1956.
[R2]
Official stamps of Montserrat related to Paleontology: fossils and reconstruction of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, famous paleontologist Richard Owen, Charles Darwin
01.08.1992 "100th Anniversary - Death of sir Richard Owen 1804-1892" [1] |
06.05.1994 "Aquatic Dinosaurs" [2] |
28.07.2009 "200th birth anniversary of Charles Darwin" |
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Notes:
[1] Dimetrodon is not a dinosaur.
According to
stampedout:
The title 'Prehistoric Montserrat' on the miniature sheet is misleading, the island is geologically very recent.
[2] "Aquatic Dinosaurs" is a nonsense, Dinosaurs are terrestrial animals per definition.
None of the animals shown on the stamps is dinosaur:
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Elasmosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that
lived during the Late Cretaceous period (Campanian stage), 80.5 million years ago.
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Plesiosaurus is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian
reptile that lived during the early part of the Jurassic Period.
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Nothosaurus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile from
the Triassic period, approximately 240-210 million years ago.
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Mosasaurus are extinct carnivorous aquatic lizards.
It existed in the late Cretaceous period, between about 70 and 66 million years ago.
Other stamps of Montserrat to consider: amber
Notes:
[A1] Amber (fossilized tree resin) shown on
a
stamp with turquoise background
- the first row in the left corner.
Commemorative postmarks of Montserrat related to Paleontology: prehistoric animals and their footprints
01.08.1992 "100th Anniversary - Death of Sir Richard Owen 1804-1892" [1] [FDC] |
14-30.11.1993 "Dinosaurs" [PM1] [Sp] |
06.05.1994 "Aquatic Dinosaurs" [2] [FDC] |
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Notes:
[PM1] The postmark was issued for the stamps show in
Göteborg in Sweden.
Probably, the Post of Montserrat presented their dinosaur stamps from the previous year there.
References:
- [R1] Montserrat:
Wikipedia,
WikiTravel
FlagCounter
- [R2] Postal History and Philately of Montserrat:
Wikipedia,
Links to official website of the Post Authority, stamp catalog and a list of new stamps of Montserrat are here
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.