U.S. #3136a
1997 32¢ Ceratosaurus
Dinosaurs
Issue Date: May 1, 1997
City: Grand Junction, CO
Quantity: 219,000,000
Printed By: Sterling Sommers for Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11 x 11.1
Color: Multicolored
The World of Dinosaurs sheet depicts two scenes - one from Colorado during the Jurassic period (about 150 million years ago) and one from Montana during the Cretaceous period (approximately 75 million years ago.)
Ceratosaurus
The terrifying Ceratosaurus (sair-AT-o-sawr-us) was one of the meat-eating dinosaurs that lived during the long Mesozoic Era – also called the Age of Reptiles. Throughout this time, dinosaurs dominated the land, sea, and sky. It is also the only time dinosaurs ever lived.
Fossil records reveal that thousands of different kinds of dinosaurs existed. They also show that some types lived during the entire 150 million years of the Mesozoic Era while others lived during only one or two of the periods into which the era is divided – the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous. Each period is defined by the dominant life forms which were present, as well as by the appearance of new ones, because the Mesozoic Era witnessed enormous changes on Earth.
Ceratosaurus lived during the Jurassic Period. As a meat eater, he belonged to a group called Theropoda, which means “beast footed.” He was a large animal. He had a short, muscular neck which supported his big head. The jaws which ran the length of his skull were lined with huge, curved, serrated teeth. His powerful hind legs and short forearms were armed with terrible claws – effective for hunting and eating. Like all theropods, he walked on two legs, though probably not quickly due to the immense weight he had to carry.