Kyrgyzstan 2012 "Prehistoric animals"

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Issue Date	08.12.2012
ID	Michel: 726-729 (A - perforate, B - imperforate ); Scott: 422-425; Stanley Gibbons: 521-524; Yvert et Tellier: 602-605; Category: pR
Design	Eldiyar Isakov
Stamps in set	4
Value	S23 - Kyrgyzsayrus S30 - Xenacanthidae S40 - Longisquama insignis S52 - Mammuthus
Emission/Type	commemorative
Issue place	Bishkek
Size (width x height)	40x28mm
Layout	4 Sheets of 6 stamps each
Products	FDC x1
Paper	chalky
Perforation	14.25x14
Print Technique	offset
Printed by	Publishing house "Belarusian Printing House", Belarus
Quantity	perforate: 6.000 sets (1.000 sheets) imperforate: 1.500 sets (250 sheets)
Issuing Authority	Ministry of Transport & Communication Kyrgyz Rep

On December 8^th, 2012, the Post Authority of Kyrgyzstan issued a set of four stamps - "Prehistoric animals", that shows prehistoric animals who lived on territory of the country at various points in geologic time from the Triassic to the Quaternary periods.
Note: Similar stamps exist that are imperforate.
Fossils of all these animals are found in Madygen Formation in Kyrgyzstan.
The territory of Kyrgyzstan along with China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is a haven for paleontological research. In the Jurassic Period, 160 million years ago, these areas were inhabited by various prehistoric animals. During USSR times, Soviet paleontologists found numerous remains of prehistoric animals and fish in southern Kyrgyzstan Madygen Formation. These fossils can be seen at the Paleontologic Museum of Moscow.

Kyrgyzsaurus is an extinct genus of drepanosaurid archosauromorph known from the Triassic of southwestern Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzsaurus on stamp of Kyrgyzstan 2012 MiNr.: 726, Scott: 422.

Kyrgyzsaurus is known only from the holotype specimen, the anterior part of the skeleton including the skull, cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae, ribs, pectoral girdle and skin imprints. The holotype was collected from the Madygen Formation, dating to the Late Carnian or the early Ladinian Stage of the Late Middle or the early Late Triassic, about 230-225 million years ago. Thus, it represents the oldest known drepanosaurid. Kyrgyzsaurus represents also the first Asian drepanosaurid genus to be named. Kyrgyzsaurus was first named by V. R. Alifanov and E. N. Kurochkin in 2011 and the type species is Kyrgyzsaurus bukhanchenkoi. The generic name is derived from the name of Kyrgyzstan, and from Greek sauros, "lizard", thus, the name means "Kyrgyzstan's lizard".

Xenacanthidae on stamp of Kyrgyzstan 2012 MiNr.: 727, Scott: 423.

Xenacanthidae is a family of prehistoric sharks in the order Xenacanthida. Some teeth of the shark found in the Madygen Formation. An unusual aspect of this finding was that the teeth found near the eggshell. Scientists first stumbled upon this neighborhood. The research team, led by German scientist Jan Fischer, examined the find and found that eggs and teeth belong to different groups of sharks: Xenacanthidae and hybodontidae. Hybodontidae - extinct relatives of modern sharks that differ from them only by the presence of small horns on the heads of males. Xenacanthidae also sharks became extinct about 210-million years ago. They had the eel-like body shape and protruding spine.

Longisquama is an extinct genus of lizard-like reptile from Late Triassic (about 200 million years ago).

Longisquama on stamp of Kyrgyzstan 2012 MiNr.: 728, Scott: 424.	Longisquama's reconstruction. Image credit: Wikimedia

There is only one species, Longisquama insignis, known from a poorly preserved skeleton and several incomplete fossils as well as a few individual feather scale impressions from the Middle to Late Triassic Madygen Formation in Kyrgyzstan. All specimens are in the collection of the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
This is undoubtedly one of the most amazing animals. Small size, about 15 centimeters lizard along the back which protruded two rows of long feather scales. The length of these scales is as long as the length of the animal. Longisquama used them instead of a parachute. Jumping down from the tree, she unfolded a fan of scales and slowly lowered to the ground similar to a shuttlecock from badminton. It was one of the first attempts for vertebrates to fly. There were no other animals that could fly except for insects. Perhaps insects were the diet of Longisquama, who preyed it by jumping down from the trees.

Mammuthus - an extinct genus of mammal elephant's family, who lived during the Quaternary Period (2.6 million years ago to the present).

Mammuthus on stamp of Kyrgyzstan 2012 MiNr.: 729, Scott: 425.

Mammoths appeared in the Pliocene and lived between 4.8 million - 4,500 years ago in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. In addition to the numerous bones of mammoths that have been found, there are also drawings and sculptures of Mammoths made by prehistoric humans. The major species of these mammals do not exceed the size of modern elephants, but the North American subspecies (Mammuthus imperator) reached the height of 5.5 meters and a weight of 12 tons, and the dwarf species (Mammuthus exilis) and (Mammuthus lamarmorae) did not exceed 2 meters in height and weight was up to 900 kg. Mammoths, unlike elephants, had a massive body, shorter legs, long hair and long, curved tusks. The main types of mammoths became extinct about 10 thousand years ago during the last Ice Age. However, in 1993 an employee of the reserve on the island Varngelya, Sergey Vardanyan, discovered the remains of mammoths on the island, whose age has been determined to be between 7000 and 3500 years old. It remains a special, relatively small subspecies that inhabited the island of Wrangel at a time when the Egyptian pyramids were standing, and which disappeared only during the reign of Tutankhamun and the heyday of the Mycenaean civilization.

Products and associated philatelic items

FDC	First-Day-of-Issue Postmark	Example of circulated covers
The reverse side of the FDC contains technical details about the issue.
Mini-Sheets with perforate and imperforate stamps

References:

• Technical details and short press releases:
  The Department of Postal Products (Kyrgyzmarkasy): [1], [2], [3], [4];
  diesel.elcat.kg (forum); colnect; Ukrafil; Evening Bishkek (the article doesn't exist anymore).

Acknowledgements:

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

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