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.)

 

Allosaurus (AL-uh-sawr-us) was the most feared carnivore of the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous period. His most frightening features were not his 40-foot length and two ton weight, but rather the 52 razor-sharp teeth and five-inch-long scythe-like claws on his hands and feet.

 

Allosaurus was a well-designed killing machine. He had exceptionally strong hind limbs and a massive pelvis. When he attacked, his powerful muscles permitted him to leap and spin in the air with his feet, arms, and claws extended in front of him. With his limbs extended, his 20-foot-long tail went rigid so that he could control his acrobatic movements.

 

Once his prey was down, the blade-sharp teeth went to work. His teeth were designed for tearing, not chewing, and curved inward to direct the meat into his body. Like a snake, his hinged jaws expanded sideways to accommodate huge chunks of meat. 

 

Though the herbivores on which Allosaurus fed were extremely plentiful (outnumbering him by 100 to 5), survival was not easy. Besides feeding himself, he also had to feed his young who remained dependent not for days, but for years. Had it not been for a keen sense of smell, binocular vision, greater intelligence, and cunning teamwork, the Allosaurus would not have prospered.