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

 

One of the last main groups of dinosaurs to appear were the ceratopsians or horned dinosaurs. These formidable-looking creatures were equipped with enormous frills and fearsome horns. In fact, fully a third of their length was devoted to their long skulls and solid bone frills. Later ceratopsians frequently attained a length of 25 feet and a weight of 5 tons – certainly enough bulk to put lethal thrust behind their horns, which could be three feet in length. 

 

A newcomer to the dinosaur line-up, Einiosaurus (EYE-nee-oh-SAWR-us) was discovered in 1986. But it wasn’t until 1995 that the public first learned about the “buffalo lizard.” Like other ceratopsians, he was a dangerous-looking creature, sporting two long spikes on the back of his frill and a nose horn that curved forward like a can opener.

 

Fossilized footprints suggest the Einiosaurus and other horned dinosaurs lived in herds. When threatened by a predator, they undoubtedly gathered in a tight group with their young protected in the middle. Facing outward, they presented a massive wall of sharp spikes. And certainly, given their size, their sharp horns were strategically positioned for delivering belly wounds to the likes of Tyrannosaurus Rex.