Prehistoric Animals

Before the world took on the form we know today, the Earth was inhabited by spectacular creatures, some of them of impressive size, all adapted to environments that disappeared long ago. Time has transformed their existence into fossils, and these fossils, like pages preserved in a vast archive of nature, help us today to piece together fragments of the history of life on Terra.

A glimpse into this fascinating world is offered by the new postage stamp issue ‘PREHISTORIC ANIMALS’, in which the science of palaeontology meets the art of postal miniature. From the imposing Deinotherium proavum, one of the largest proboscideans ever to have existed, and the cave bear Ursus spelaeus, to the spectacular Megaloceros giganteus, the marine crocodylomorph Macrospondylus bollensis, and the ammonites of the Cretaceous seas, each image evokes a page from a history that began millions of years ago.

Romfilatelia and the Romanian Post introduce into circulation on Thursday, August 27th, 2026, a new postage stamp issue, featuring a theme that appeals equally to collectors, natural science enthusiasts and the general public. Featuring images of remarkable fossil specimens from the collection and exhibition of the ‘Grigore Antipa’ National Museum of Natural History, the issue invites us to look beyond the present, towards the extraordinary diversity of life that has inhabited the planet throughout the geological ages.

The issue, which comprises four postage stamps, a First Day Cover and a philatelic folder with a special product in limited run printing, is dedicated to such fossil species. Each stamp depicts the fossil, associated with the reconstructed image, with the graphics being created by Mihaela Ene.

Deinotherium proavum (depicted on the postage stamp with a face value of Lei 3)

The large fossil proboscidean skeleton on display in the Museum’s atrium is commonly known as Deinotherium gigantissimum, the name under which it was described by its discoverer, the Romanian palaeontologist Gregoriu Ștefănescu. Over time, however, it has been observed that the differences between D. gigantissimum and another, previously described fossil species, D. proavum, are very slight. Consequently, most palaeontologists now consider D. gigantissimum to represent a local form of D. proavum, rather than a distinct species.

Unlike many other species of proboscideans (‘elephants’ in the broad sense), Deinotherium had its ‘tusks’ on the lower jaw, not on the upper jaw; they curved downwards. Deinotherium proavum is among the largest proboscidean species of all time, exceeding 4 m in height at the withers and reaching an estimated weight of 10-14 tonnes. It lived in eastern and southern Europe between 9 and 6-7 million years ago, in habitats believed to have been wet forests.

Ursus spelaeus (reproduced on the postage stamp with a face value of Lei 5.50)

The cave bear lived between 250,000 and 24,000 years ago in Europe (including Romania, where the skeleton on display comes from) and in some regions of Asia. It lived during the Quaternary Period, through both glacial and interglacial periods. It was large in stature (up to 2 metres in length; males weighed up to 600 kg, females up to 250 kg), with a more massive head, a more rounded forehead and a shorter snout than the brown bear. It lived in mountainous areas and took shelter in caves. It was omnivorous and co-existed with humans as they settled in Europe; it appears that humans hunted it. It is depicted in the cave paintings of the Chauvet (France) and Coliboaia (Romania) caves, dating from approximately 30,000-35,000 years ago. Its extinction was due to multiple factors, including the maximum expansion of the glaciers, but also, possibly, hunting by humans.

Megaloceros giganteus (depicted on the postage stamp with a face value of Lei 6.50)

The giant deer, or Irish elk (first discovered in Ireland, where many skeletons have been found, including the one displayed in the Museum), lived in Europe and Siberia from approximately 425,000 years ago to around 7,600 years ago (approximately 5,600 BC!). The male stood 2 m at the withers and bore palmate antlers with a span of up to 4 m; the female was smaller and did not have antlers. It inhabited open woodland with wetlands. Like the cave bear, the giant deer was hunted by humans, was depicted in cave art, and became extinct as a result of multiple factors of a similar nature, albeit much later.

Macrospondylus bollensis (depicted on the stamp with a face value of Lei 32)

This species of ‘crocodile’ (actually a crocodylomorph belonging to a broader group) lived during the Early Jurassic, around 183-180 million years ago, alongside numerous dinosaurs. It inhabited shallow marine waters, coming ashore to lay its eggs (it was probably oviparous). It is known from sites in the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and, in particular, Germany, where hundreds of specimens are known, including the one on display.

Parapuzosia (Austiniceras) cf. mobergi (depicted on the First Day Cover of the issue)

This species is an ammonite - a member of a group of marine cephalopods with a shell that is most often spiral-shaped. They lived from the Devonian period (around 400 million years ago) until the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary, when the ammonites appear to have become extinct as a result of the same global event as the dinosaurs. Ammonite shells are well known and described, but very little is known about their soft parts (organs, tentacles); it is only very recently (2021) that such remains have been described. Ammonites fed by filtering plankton or capturing various small prey, and were themselves preyed upon by marine reptiles.

The specimen on display dates from the Late Cretaceous (probably around 96–84 million years ago) and originates from Romania (Dobrogea). It belongs to a large-bodied genus that also includes the largest ammonite known to date, Parapuzosia sepenradensis, which reaches 2 m in diameter. The specimen on display is of a more modest size.

Romfilatelia thanks Senior Researcher Luis Popa, General Manager of the “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History, and Mr Alexandru Iftime, museographer, for the documentary consultancy provided in the development of this postage stamp issue.