# 3077-80 - 1996 32c Prehistoric Animals

US #3077-80
1996 Prehistoric Animals

• Set of four pictures animals from the distant past
• Issued in semi-jumbo size
• Designed to appeal to young stamp collectors

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Prehistoric Animals
Value:  32¢, First-class mail rate
First Day of Issue:  June 8, 1996
First Day City:  Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Quantity Issued:  27,772,500
Printed by:  Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method:  Lithographed
Format:  Panes of 20 (4 across, 5 down) from plates of 120 (8 across, 15 down)
Perforations:  11.1 x 10.9

Why the stamp was issued:  The four Prehistoric Animals stamps were issued to appeal to young stamp collectors.  Ancient animals, such as these mammals, appeal to children.  It was hoped, these stamps would spark an interest in stamp collecting that would last a lifetime.

About the stamp design:  Davis Meltzer created the acrylic paintings used for these stamps.  He referred to paintings by Charles Knight, who had painted many historic animals for the Museum of Natural History in New York City, as well as other sources.  Dr. John Flynn, a prehistoric animal specialist with the Field Museum in Chicago was consulted after Meltzer’s paintings were complete to assure accuracy. 
This set depicts the Eohippus, Woolly mammoth, Mastodon, and Saber-tooth cat. 

Special design details:  The Eohippus was much smaller than the other animals shown, so it was enlarged in comparison to fill the stamp space.

About the printing process:  The stamps were originally intended to be printed using offset lithography and intaglio engraving.  Printer Ashton-Potter was using a new press in 1995 when they tried to produce these stamps, and had issues with proper registration.  The stamps were put on hold for a year.  It was then decided they would be printed using only lithography.
First Day City:  The Prehistoric Animals stamps were dedicated on the first day of Capex 96, held in Toronto, Canada.  The sales of the stamps and First Day of Issue cancellations were handled by the Buffalo, New York, post office.
The stamps were originally scheduled to be issued at the American Philatelic Society’s annual convention but were delayed because of “technical problems with the printing process,” according to the USPS.

About the Prehistoric Animals set:  This set shows four animals who roamed the ancient earth.  Each one is an ancestor to modern animals.  The fossil record gives scientists clues to what these creatures looked like and how they lived many years ago.

History the stamp represents: 
Eohippus was a small, plant-eating mammal that lived in prehistoric times.  Scientists have determined this animal was the horse’s first ancestor.  Often referred to as the “dawn horse,” Eohippus stood about 15 inches high, and was about the size of a fox.
In fact, the dawn horse closely resembled a dog-like creature, as it lacked the straight back and long face of modern horses.  The Eohippus had four toes on its front foot and three on its hind foot.  Each toe ended in a separate hoof.  The part of the foot which bore the animal’s weight was covered with a tough pad, much like a dog’s.
Scientists have determined from fossilized teeth that Eohippus was more of a browser than a grazer – which means it ate more like a rabbit than a horse. But, like today’s horse, the Eohippus depended on its speed to evade predators.

Mammoths are members of an extinct genus of elephants. Woolly mammoths were a specialized type of mammoth with long, reddish brown hair, which protected them from the severe cold of the Ice Age.  Mammoths were more closely related to elephants than were mastodons.
Measuring 14 feet high at the shoulder, the woolly mammoth was a huge, lumbering animal.  Its tusks, which curved up and crossed in front of its trunk, measured up to 13 feet in length.  Three inches of fat under the skin provided further insulation, and there was a large hump of fat on its back.  The mammoth’s skull was high and dome-like, and its ears were smaller than an elephant’s.
Mammoths first appeared in Africa, and they eventually reached North America.  Their fossils are among the most common in the world.  Remarkably preserved mammoths have been found in the ice of Siberia.  Prehistoric man pictured mammoths in his cave art.  In Europe, realistic depictions of entire herds of mammoths have been found.  Evidence exists that prehistoric human settlers of North America hunted these huge animals.  Mammoths became extinct at the end of the Ice Age.

Mastodons were animals very much like modern elephants.  The fossil record shows that mastodons first appeared in northern Africa.  From there they spread all over Europe, Asia, and the rest of Africa.  The mastodons later arrived in the New World.
Mastodons were related to another extinct, elephant-like species, the four-tuskers.  Both of these creatures were shorter and stockier than modern elephants.  Like four-tuskers, early types of mastodons had tusks on both their lower and upper jaw, but many later examples of the species no longer had this trait.  Some types of mastodons and four-tuskers had prominent lower tusks which were very flat.  These animals are called shovel-tuskers.  All mastodons were covered with reddish brown hair, and had teeth that were much smaller than those of elephants. 
By 10,000 years ago, most mastodons had disappeared.  However, evidence indicates that the mastodon existed in North America after the Pleistocene – which means they would have co-existed with historic Native American groups.  Mankind was probably a factor in the mastodon’s extinction, especially in North America.

The saber-tooth cat of prehistoric times is classified in a subfamily of the cat family (Felidae) called Machairodontinae.  Saber-tooth cats were named for their large upper canine teeth.  These teeth were curved like sabers, and could be up to eight inches long!  The saber-tooth cats had very strong necks and skulls, their lower canines were relatively small in size, and their mouths could be opened to a 90-degree angle.  All of these features suggest the saber-tooth cat used its canine teeth for stabbing and slashing its prey.
During the Pleistocene Epoch, the most famous of the saber-tooth cats, the Smilodon, appeared.  This animal represented the peak of saber-tooth evolution.  It was approximately the same size as a tiger, but stockier and with shorter limbs.  Smilodon roamed all over North and South America hunting large plant-eaters such as mammoths.  Many Smilodon bones have been preserved in the tar pits of Rancho La Brea in Los Angeles, California.
The saber-tooth cats became extinct during the time the last glaciers retreated north.  The changing climate, the subsequent changes in plants, and the success of man were probably responsible for the demise of the saber-tooth cat.