FREE: Commemorative Stamp "Dinosaur"

The listing, Commemorative Stamp "Dinosaur" has ended.

Title is Dinosaur

From Edmontonia

First Day of Issue: May 1, 1997
First Day City: Grand Junction, Colorado,
site of Dinosaur Valley Museum
Stamp Designer: James Gurney
Rhinebeck, New York

Edmontonia, which is pictured on this U. S. stamp, is named for the Edmonton rock formation in Alberta, Canada where it was first unearthed. Additional fossils have also been found over a large area of the American West, from Montana and South Dakota to Texas. The dinosaur was apparently abundant at the start of the late Cretaceous period, about 75 million years ago.

Edmontonia was an ankylosaur, or armored lizard. Like other members of its species, it was a four-legged creature with a small pear-shaped head, ***** beak, and weak teeth. The legs were short and stubby with hoofed feet. Because the hind legs were slightly longer, the animal moved about with its hips high and its head low.

Large nostrils probably gave Edmontonia a keen sense of smell useful in detecting the approach of an enemy. but the dinosaur's main protection against predators was its body armor. Rows of large, bony plates covered the neck, back, tail, and head, and large spikes jutted out from the sides. The throat was shielded by small round ones embedded in the skin. Also, heavy ridges of bone appeared above the eyes. Only the belly was bare.

When under attack, the animal simply flattened itself against the ground. Edmontonia measured about 15 feet long and weighed several tons. It browsed along riverbanks and probably ate soft plants such as ferns, lilies, arum, and cattails.