Set of 4: 1989 Dinosaurs Series

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Tyrannosaurus BUENA ОСТ 1989 32830 Balke) FL VISTA, LAKE BUENA ОСТ 1989 32830 D5 Preranodon Balke FL VISTA, LAKE 25 Stegosauru BUENA ОСТ 1989 32830 Balke FL ISTA, LAKE 25 BUENA A VIS OCT Browusa 1989 32830 Ballhe FL NISTA, LAKE

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TYRANNOSAURUS First Day of Issue: October 1, 1989 First Issue Location: Lake Buena Vista, Florida The largest flesh-eating animal that ever lived, the dino- saur tyrannosaurus was a forty-five foot long terror that preyed on its lumbering, plant-eating cousins. Tyranno- saurus stood almost twenty feet high, and had a four-foot head whose mouth was armed with six-inch long, dagger- like teeth. It had ridiculously small front legs, useless except perhaps for grabbing things at close range. Its lengthy tail served as a counterbalance to its great body. Tyrannosaurus was very muscular, especially in the mouth region, where it had massive muscles for biting and chewing. It also had powerful rear legs for support and mobility. Even in its own time, tyrannosaurus was most likely a rare animal, with only one of these monsters stalking every hundred square miles. These creatures survived until late in the Cretaceous period of the Meso- zoic era, about sixty-five million years ago, when for reasons still unknown the dinosaurs vanished. No. 89-26 ©1989 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation . Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Don Balke PTERANODON First Day of Issue: October 1, 1989 First Issue Location: Lake Buena Vista, Florida The swamplands of prehistoric North America teamed with life. Snakes glided through murky waters, forty-foot crocodiles lived along the shores, and flying reptiles called Pterosaurs glided overhead on leathery wings. Pteranodon, one of the largest of the Pterosaurs, had a wingspan of about forty feet and long, toothless jaws. Since pteranodon's small body was only about as large as a modern turkey's, the animal's enormous wings had relatively little weight to carry, and pteranodon could glide through the air with great ease. Scientists believe that gliding was pteranodon's sole means of propulsion through the air— the creature had no “keel," to which the powerful flight muscles of birds are attached, so it is not likely that it could flap its wings. And because fossilized pteranodons are found frequently in oceanic rock forma- tions, it seems probable that the animal was a marine hunter. It isn't hard to imagine pteranodon soaring over the waters, scooping into its pelican-like jaws any prehis- toric fish which strayed too close to the surface. No. 89-27 ©1989 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Don Balke STEGOSAURUS First Day of Issue: October 1, 1989 First Issue Location: Lake Buena Vista, Florida The fact that the twenty-foot stegosaurus had a compara- tively tiny head is not surprising considering the fact that its brain was about the size of a walnut. Because of the minuscule size of its gray matter, this enormous animal is thought to have possessed a very low intelligence, as is believed to be the case with most dinosaurs. However, stegosaurus displayed an impressive suit of armor that placed it among the most imposing of dinosaurs — two rows of large, triangular plates protected its backbone and spinal chord, and long, pointed spikes on its tail were a lethal weapon against attackers. Stegosaurus' terrible tail was not controlled by its tiny brain, but by a nerve center located near its hip which appeared to function as a “second brain.” Here, the spinal cord enlarged to almost twenty times bigger than the animal's brain, and con- trolled its stocky legs as well as its tail. This lower nerve center gave rise to an early misconception that the huge creature, believed to have been very dumb, actually had two brains. No. 89-28 ©1989 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation . Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Don Balke BRONTOSAURUS First Day of Issue: October 1, 1989 First Issue Location: Lake Buena Vista, Florida The brontosaurus was so large that there has been some debate as to whether such an enormous beast could support its great bulk on land, or was forced to dwell almost exclusively in water. Scientists now believe that brontosaurus was able to get around on land with relative grace, but that it probably represents the maximum size and bulk attainable by a land animal. However enormous the rest of it was, this bulky reptile's tiny head took up only about two feet of its eighty-foot length. The size, shape and features of brontosaurus' skull were disputed by sci- entists for more than a century after the first remains were uncovered. Incomplete finds, and the possibility of a mix- up of fossils in transit from an excavation site created great uncertainty, and the head was represented in early models as snub-nosed with spoon-like teeth. In 1978, however, scientists rejected this representation in favor of a slender, elongated skull containing long, sharp teeth, which, though dangerous in appearance, were probably only suitable for eating tender plants. No. 89-29 ©1989 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Don Balke