Jurassic pork? Saskatchewan dino-pig now on stamp
As prehistoric porkers go, Cypretherium coarctatum was no Miss Piggy.
In fact, it was downright ugly.
The fearsome beast that lived on the ancient floodplains of Saskatchewan 35 million years ago had a long, narrow snout with menacing pointed teeth.
It's part of a class of mammals that have been nicknamed the "terminator pig" or the "hell pig". (But don't call it Jurassic pork — its heyday was the Paleogene period in the Cenozoic era).
Now, it's getting its own stamp — one of five making up Canada Post's Dinos of Canada series.
The other four ancient animals chosen by Canada Post with the help of the Canadian Museum of Nature include:
- Acrotholus audeti — A small, bipedal dinosaur with a bony covering over the eyes that inhabited Alberta about 85 million years ago.
- Comox Valley elasmosaur — A vicious marine reptile with a neck nearly seven metres long. Its fossil was discovered in the Comox Valley, B.C.
- Dimetrodon borealis — A mammal-like reptile with jaws filled with serrated teeth that lived in what is now Prince Edward Island about 270 million years ago.
- Troodon inaequalis — The brainy, bird-like dinosaur was similar to the Velociraptor of Jurassic Park movie fame. It was a resident of Alberta's coastal lowlands about 75 million years ago.
The stamp news comes on the heels of the province of Saskatchewan selecting the T. Rex as its official fossil.
