Marshall Islands 2008 "Dinosaurs"

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Issue Date	19.06.2008
ID	Michel: 2304-2315; Scott: 925 (925a-925l); Stanley Gibbons: 2197-2208; Yvert et Tellier: 2221-2232, 2197a; Category: pR
Design	Artwork: Geoffrey Cox, New Zealand Engraver: D. Zoe Seemel FDC Design: Herb Kawainui Kane
Stamps in set	12
Value	US$ 0.42 - Camarasaurus US$ 0.42 - Allosaurus US$ 0.42 - Parasaurolophus US$ 0.42 - Ornithomimus US$ 0.42 - Goniopholis US$ 0.42 - Camptosaurus US$ 0.42 - Edmontia (Edmontonia) US$ 0.42 - Ceratosaurus US$ 0.42 - Stegosaurus US$ 0.42 - Einiosaurus US$ 0.42 - Brachiosaurus US$ 0.42 - Corythosaurus
Emission/Type	commemorative
Issue place	Majuro
Size (width x height)	stamps: 34 x 43 mm, Mini-Sheet: 228mm x 114mm
Layout	Mini sheet of 12 stamps
Products	FDC x3
Paper	unwatermarked gummed paper
Perforation	13.5 x 13.4
Print Technique	Cyan, black, magenta, yellow by offset lithography on unwatermarked gummed paper
Printed by	Printing, Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A.
Quantity
Issuing Authority	Marshall Islands Postal Service.

On June 19^th, 2008, the Marshall Islands Postal Service issued the Mini-Sheet with 12 stamps of "Dinosaurs".
One of the stamps shows Goniopholis who was not a dinosaur, but a crocodilian. Another stamp misspelled the dinosaur genus Edmontonia instead writing Edmontia.

The name "dinosaur" comes from the Greek words dinos, meaning terrible, and sauros, meaning lizard.
When these colossal reptiles ruled the earth countless millennia ago, North America was a low-lying continent with a great sea bordered by swamps. Huge plant-eating dinosaurs grazed in the steaming bogs and fearsome flesh-eating dinosaurs preyed upon the plant-eaters until, for unknown reasons, they all disappeared.
One theory holds that when mountain ranges rose, the vast swampy home of the dinosaurs dried up and shifts in climate occurred, causing tremendous changes in the world's fauna. Old plants died out and were replaced by new ones which the plant-eating dinosaurs could not stomach. In turn, as the plant-eaters perished, the meat-eaters that fed upon them met their own demise, and the magnificent era of dinosaurs ended.

The oldest sedimentary rocks of the Marshall Islands are Eocene in age (from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago) - underlain by Late Cretaceous basalts. The chance of having actual dinosaur remains is very low on these islands.
Perhaps, the choice to show western North American dinosaurs on stamps of the Marshall Islands is due to the fact that the islands were an American Protectorate for many years.

These stamps design was based on the artworks created by famed New Zealand artist Geoffrey Cox, who also designed New Zealand's "Dinosaurs" stamps in 1993. Cox's paintings were originally published on the cachets of Fleetwood's First Day Cover for the "The World of Dinosaurs" stamps of the USA in 1997.

Born in England, Geoffrey Cox graduated from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1976 with a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in zoology. Cox returned to Great Britain and found employment writing on scientific and medical topics, including copywriting for an advertising agency. In the late 1980s Cox returned to New Zealand to establish himself as an author and illustrator. Cox has written and illustrated eight books on New Zealand natural history, with topics ranging from dinosaurs and prehistoric animals to volcanic areas of New Zealand. In addition, he has redesigned and rebuilt displays for the Auckland University Museum, illustrated posters for the Ministry of Forestry, the Department of Conservation and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Between 1989 and 2018 the Marshall Islands outsourced the production of their stamps to the USA-based company, Unicover Corporation (discontinued in 2018).

Unicover Corporation was privately owned, they have had a wide-reaching artwork originals business. Their principal subsidiary, Unicover World Trade Corporation, was markets postage stamps in North America for various postal administrations from around the globe.
One of the subsidiary companies of Unicover was Fleetwood (acquired by Mystic in 2007). Fleetwood was FDC maker company, since 1929, who create unique cachets for their covers, based on the artwork collection of Unicover Corporation.

Below are quotes from ArtworkOriginals.com website (does not exist anymore, but the snapshot is available on the "Web.Archive" site), which belonged to the Unicover Corporation.

It's hard to imagine a world without humans and yet that was precisely the Earthly scene millions of years ago. It was a strange world by today's standards, harmoniously balanced with nature, teeming with exotic creatures of all shapes and sizes, the dominant of which eventually came to be dinosaurs. Their time on Earth is called the Mesozoic Era and lasted about 140 million years, encompassing the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It was a time when dinosaurs not only existed, but continued to evolve into new species. Then, suddenly, about 65 million years ago, dinosaurs were no more. How did these titanic reptiles come into existence in the first place and what caused their demise? Paleontologists have pondered over this for years, while studying fossil remains of dinosaurs from all over the world. Although myriad questions have yet to be answered to everyone's satisfaction, it's still wonderful to know that dinosaurs did exist and that they continue to be a source of fascination in a world that is very different from the one they inhabited.

In 1842, the word Dinosauria was invented by Sir Richard Owen, the famous English anatomist and paleontologist, to describe the extinct land reptiles of the Mesozoic Era. The Mesozoic Era, known as the Age of Reptiles, lasted for about 170 million years. Although dinosaurs ruled the world during this time because of their huge size, smaller lizards also flourished on the land and in the sea.

How smart were dinosaurs?

Camarasaurus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2304, Scott: 925a.

Paleontologists know the dinosaur brain was generally similar in function to a modern-day crocodile's brain. This knowledge was gained from studying dinosaur cranium fossils, the brain's bony housing. Although some scientists consider dinosaurs to be dim-witted, even blundering animals, their brain apparently served them satisfactorily for over 100 million years ... a time when they ruled the Earth!

Of all the dinosaurs, probably the most famous is Camarasaurus.
It is also the dinosaur that so many children have cuddled in their sleep in the form of a stuffed animal. Camarasaurus grew to be 60 feet (approx. 18 meters) long or more and could weigh as much as five elephants. A herbivore, it had robust, spatulate teeth, a prominent large nose and a gentle, appealing face. Camarasaurus' domain was most likely limited to western North America.

About 150 million years ago, during the middle to near the end of the Jurassic Period - the second period of the Mesozoic Era - giant meat-eating reptiles called Carnosaurs roamed the Earth, preying upon any herbivorous dinosaurs they came upon.

Allosaurus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2305, Scott: 925b.

One of the most fearsome Carnosaurs was Allosaurus, a quick-moving dinosaur with a large head and powerful jaws lined with relatively small, sharp, voracious teeth.
Allosaurus could reach lengths of 40 feet (approx. 12 meters) or better and had three fingers on the end of each short forelimb - fingers that were armed with large, curved talons. When two of these fearsome creatures chanced to meet, each Allosaurus might first try to intimidate the other, releasing a bellowing roar that echoed across the verdant landscape from mountain to mountain and would have struck fear into any human's heart - had any humans existed then. At the same time, the two blustering opponents would make aggressive, taunting motions with their large bony heads. After all this noisy posturing, one Allosaurus would in all likelihood slink cautiously away. If both stood firm, however, as was sometimes the case, more violent behavior might result. The magnitude of the fierce battle that ensued probably shook the leaves from the surrounding trees.
Allosaurus existed almost exclusively in North America, although enough fragmentary fossils have been found to indicate that this savage dinosaur probably ventured into Europe and East Africa, before it finally ceased to exist.

Herbivorous dinosaurs were fair game for the more aggressive meat-eating dinosaurs, so how did they defend themselves?

Parasaurolophus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2306, Scott: 925c.

In an effort to find out, paleontologists have studied the habits of modern day reptiles. Since alligators are impressed more by height than form, they may attack a dog or a child, even a man sitting down, but they won't attack a man standing up. Height being a deterrent, the great frills of the horned dinosaurs, which made them seem taller, was likely a means of warding off attacking carnivorous dinosaurs.

Parasaurolophus, a plant-eating dinosaur, sported one of the most flamboyant head crests of all. Starting at the nose, the crest went straight up between the Parasaurolophus' eyes and continued high above its head in a gentle curve. The inside of the crest was hollow and consisted of four tubes, extending from the two nasal passages to the end of the crest, then looping around to return. Aside from being a defense mechanism, the crest may have been used for making sounds, as a cooling apparatus, or to simply show off during the mating season.
The back of the extremely long crest, near the top, is slightly hollowed. Thus, when Parasaurolophus' stood in a normal four-footed stance, the curved crest where it touched the creature's ridged back would neatly tongue and groove. Parasaurolophus grew to be as long as 33 feet (approx. 11 meters) and often fed on pine needles.

Scientists believe that the earliest reptile lived about 338 million years ago, during the Lower Carboniferous Period.
This was a time when vast forests of gigantic trees towered to heights of around 100 feet (approx. 33 meters), forming a canopy of outstretched branches and drooping leaves over the land below. The undergrowth was composed of seed-ferns, tree-ferns, vines and many other exotic plants. Only intermittent sunlight penetrated the dense layers of foliage in these swamp jungles, yet the intensifying heat of the morning sun was enough to cause a steamy haze to rise from evaporating condensation that had formed during the night.

Ornithomimus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2307, Scott: 925d.

Gradually, over millions of years, the numbers of reptiles increased, until they took over the land.
As the environment continued to change, evolution became more rapid, setting the reptiles on a course of world dominance that would last through the Mesozoic Era. While it was happening, fascinating creatures called dinosaurs abounded.

One of these was the ostrich-like Ornithomimus, a fairly rare dinosaur that lived in North America. Growing to about 12 feet (approx. 4 meters) in length, Ornithomimus could run at least 30 mph (approx. 48 kmh) and was among the fastest of all the dinosaurs. Even though it is related to the meat-eating dinosaurs, its toothless jaws ended in a hard beak, so it was most likely omnivorous, its beak used for cropping, feeding on insects, small reptiles, fruit and berries. Some paleontologists believe Ornithomimus may even have been entirely herbivorous.

The order Crocodilia, which includes crocodiles and alligators, has been among the least progressive of archosaurian (ruling reptiles). Even so, Crocodilia is the only member of the ruling reptiles to survive beyond the Age of Reptiles.

Goniopholis stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2308, Scott: 925e.

When Crocodilia first appeared during the Late Triassic, some 225 million years ago, they did not much resemble modern crocodiles, being quite small, feeding on insects and crustaceans, living on land and often running on their hind legs.
But in the Early Jurassic these fearsome creatures grew progressively larger, took a gradual liking for swimming, and added fish, reptiles, birds and mammals to their diet. Although early crocodiles came in a variety of sizes and shapes, ranging up to 50 feet (approx. 15 meters) in length, during the late Jurassic and Cretaceous one type would eventually come to dominate. The first true crocodilian was Protosuchus, which still possessed the four long legs of its ancestors, including two hind legs that were much longer than those in front.

Goniopholis was probably the first of our modern-day crocodiles and ancestral to all of today's species. Although the quadruped Goniopholis moved with a normally slow, sprawling gait, it could run at a much swifter pace by straightening its hind limbs and raising its body high off the ground. Crocodiles and alligators of today are the closest modern relatives of the dinosaurs, and may still behave in ways that were common among the ruling reptiles.

Ornithopods roamed the land with stegosaurs and sauropods during the Jurassic.
These herbivorous dinosaurs were gifted with powerful grinding teeth inherited from hypsilophondonts - small, speedy, two-legged plant eaters - and these amazing grinders continued to evolve.

Camptosaurus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2309, Scott: 925f.

Camptosaurus was a primitive iguanodont from the Late Jurassic, known to have lived all over North America, as well as Europe. The creature was heavily built, but with no elaborate armour, and had a basic reptilian body form that included an extremely long neck and tail. Camptosaurus could grow to more than 20 feet (approx. 6 meters) in length and its long neck curved upward, probably an adaptation required to support its large, heavy head. The flexibility of Camptosaurus' neck may have contributed to its superior food-finding ability.
This, along with the amazing efficiency of its grinding teeth that allowed it to consume harsh vegetation that other dinosaurs couldn't chew, set Camptosaurus apart and ensured its existence for millions of years. The creature probably moved on all fours when feeding close to the ground, but could rear up on its hind legs whenever necessary, an additional feeding asset when it came to reaching taller plants. Camptosaurus' jaws ended in a horny beak, suggesting it probably had a prehensile tongue that could readily wrap around more stubborn morsels.

Vast lava fields in India known as the Deccan Traps have provided evidence that volcanic activity may have contributed significantly to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Accumulation of airborne volcanic dust could have caused a general cooling of the global climate, although other factors were involved. For instance, constantly growing mountain ranges might have shifted weather patterns and in places produced extreme climates. A chain of natural events set forth by the moving continents also created changes in the global climate, gradually eliminating the broad tropical and sub-tropical climates existing in so much of the world. Although the dinosaurs are gone, these creatures continue to live on in our museums and in our imaginations.

Edmontonia stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2310, Scott: 925g.

One of the most intriguing is Edmontonia.
Paleontologists probably know more about the appearance of Edmontonia than any other armored dinosaur, due to the discovery of two excellent fossils having all their components in position.
The creature's neck and shoulders were protected by large ridged plates, while the rest of its body - even its tail - was covered with an armor of smaller bony plates, scales and spines that "floated" in the skin.
Most impressive were the heavy, pointed spines of varying lengths and widths that projected from Edmontonia's shoulders and sides. If attacked by a carnosaur, Edmontonia could crouch down to protect its belly. This four-legged herbivore grew to a length of 22 feet (approx. 7 meters) and lived in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Excavating a dinosaur fossil is a challenging job that demands special skills and equipment. First the rock above the bone layer must be removed - often using a bulldozer. Then the hard rock immediately above the bones is broken up with a jackhammer. Next, a pneumatic chisel is required to break up the rock surrounding the bones. In this state, the exposed bones may be cracked or even shattered and can only be removed using painstakingly delicate paleontological techniques.

Ceratosaurus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2311, Scott: 925h.

Ceratosaurus is an archaic and extremely rare carnosaur that was discovered using the method just described. Ceratosaurus lived during the same Late Juassic Period as Allosaurus. In fact, the two animals were probably fierce rivals. Ceratosaurus differed from the latter in that it was smaller, had four fingers on its forelimbs, and sported a fierce-looking nasal horn that may have been used in butting contests over a mate. Its teeth were also proportionately larger and could reach lengths of six inches. It is fascinating to imagine Ceratosaurus running swiftly on its two powerful hind limbs, its three-toed, bird-like feet kicking up dust as it chased down a hulking Sauropod - then proceeded to leisurely tear the meat from its bones. The mature Ceratosaurus grew to be approximately 20 feet (approx. 6 meters) long and its heavy tail served to counterbalance the creature's large body as it ran. Although some skeletal remains have been found in North America, Ceratosaurus is also known to have resided in East Africa.

First discovered over 100 years ago, Stegosaurus has probably sparked more controversy among scientists than any other dinosaur.

Stegosaurus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2312, Scott: 925i.

This is due to the bony plates, as many as 17 of them, that stick up along its back and tail like an uneven row of enormous arrowheads. The function of the plates is still open to speculation, but they may have served as defensive or offensive armament, thermoregulation of body temperature, or simply as a visual attraction between male and female Stegosaurs, enhanced perhaps by a distinct color change. Because these plates were embedded deeply in the skin and not attached to the creature's vertebrae, or any other bone paleontologists attempting to assemble Stegosaurus' skeletal structure cannot be sure exactly how the plates were originally positioned on the animal's back. The creature had extremely short front legs and formidable, sharply-pointed spikes, that could be as long as a foot-and-a-half, protruding from the tip of its tail.
Stegosaurus was very likely a dangerous opponent when confronted by carnivorous dinosaurs, because its powerful tail muscles enabled it to swing its tail spikes wildly upwards and from side to side. Although its small head was vulnerable, by bending it down and back Stegosaurus could use the bony plates on its shoulders - the largest plates of any Stegosaurs - for protection. A vegetarian, Stegosaurus could weigh two to three tons and reach a length of well over 20 feet (approx. 6 meters). This dinosaur is known to have inhabited western North America.

Our knowledge of dinosaurs is based mainly on fossils, dinosaur tracks, the nests some of them built, and even the eggs sometimes found in those nests.
Which is how we know the armored dinosaurs were, for the most part, inoffensive reptiles that lived somewhat passive lives, browsing on Cretaceous vegetation with small weak teeth and depending on their rugged body armor to withstand any attack from a giant carnivore. There was, however, an ornithischian suborder that decided to fight back. These were the ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs, the last to evolve from ornithopod ancestors. They lived in North America and northeastern Asia, and had a relatively short geological life span. Scientists believe ceratopsids roamed in large herds, browsed on low-growing vegetation, and grew to be as long as 30 feet (approx. 10 meters). They had huge heads, bulky bodies and pillarlike limbs with hooflike claws.

Einiosaurus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2313, Scott: 925j.

One of the most spectacular of the ceratopsians was Einiosaurus, which lived during the late Cretaceous. The front of this powerful creature's gigantic head was shaped like a huge armored-plated valentine and came down to a horny point on the nose, with two long, formidable spikes protruding from its elaborate neck frill. Paleontologists are still debating over the use of these spikes. Their purpose - besides warding off attacks by carnivorous dinosaurs - might have been to battle over territory or mates, or even to flaunt as a gaudy display.

Sauropods were true giants of the Mesozoic and had become well established early in the Jurassic.
Because of their enormous size, these long-necked, wandering herbivores were constantly eating and searching for fresh food sources, as well as seeking safer environments away from the savage, meat-eating theropods.

Brachiosaurus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2314, Scott: 925k.

Perhaps the most remarkable of the sauropods was the Brachiosaurus, which is known to have existed in both North America and Africa. One of the largest dinosaurs to ever walk the Earth, the Brachiosaurus could grow to a length of about 62 feet (approx. 21 meters) - with more than half of that in its long neck - and might weigh as much as 80 tons, easily dwarfing a large, modern-day elephant. The primitive articulations of Brachiosaurus' vertebrae, however, meant its neck was a more or less straight extension of its spine, permitting very little upward mobility. Fortunately, nature compensated with Brachiosaurus by making its forelimbs longer than its hind legs - unlike most dinosaurs - which angled its neck upward. This enabled the awesome creature to feed on foliage from trees growing as high as 30 feet (approx. 10 meters). Robust, spatulate teeth also allowed this high browser to shear through tough - even harsh - vegetation. Scientists believe that Brachiosaurus even ventured into water when necessary, either in search of food or perhaps simply to cool off and thermoregulate its body temperature. For many of us, this enormous animal has come to epitomize the very essence of what a real dinosaur should look like.

In 1858, a large skeleton from an excavation near Haddonfield, New Jersey, was turned over to Dr. Joseph Leidy of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences for study and description. Until then, everyone believed that all dinosaurs walked on all fours, but Leidy could see that this one stood on its hind legs. The name he gave to the dinosaur skeleton was Hadrosaurus.

Corythosaurus stamps of Marshall Islands 2008, MiNr.: 2315, Scott: 925l.

This duck-billed herbivorous dinosaur was generally related to Iguanodon and for a long time it was thought that all hadrosaurs were directly descended from a single iguanodont stock, and crested dinosaurs simply evolved from those with flat heads. Today, however, it is known that flat-head and crested dinosaurs evolved independently from different kinds of iguanodonts. Thus the crested duckbills are now known as Lambeosaurs, a group that apparently became extinct much earlier than hadrosaurs. Paleontologists wonder if interaction between hadrosaurs and Lambeosaurs may even have contributed somehow to the demise of the latter.

Corythosaurus was a lambeosaur that grew to a length of 33 feet (approx. 11 meters) and sported an elaborate head crest of hollow bone containing the creature's extended nasal passages. This colorful, dome-shaped bone was made up of convoluted tube-like channels and may have been used as a cooling device, in mating rituals, to make loud sounds, or all three. Although Corythosaurus moved rather slowly on all fours, when necessary it was able to pick up its forelegs and run on its two hindlegs.

Products and associated philatelic items

FDC	First-Day-of-Issue Postmark

References:

• Technical details and short press releases:
  Reverse side of FDC, Stampedout, colnect,
• Descriptions of the prehistoric animals:
  Web Archive
• Geological History of Marshall Islands:
  PacIOOS

Acknowledgements:

• Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice, PhD Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, USA, for reviewing of a draft of this article.

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