Date of Issue : 1 Oct 2008
Postmark : Monash University VIC 3800
Denomination : 4 x 55c and 2 x AU$1.10
Stamp Size : 26 mm x 37.5 mm (55c); 52 mm x 37.5 mm (AU$1.10)
Paper : Tullis Russell
Printing Process : Lithography
Megafauna, the theme for 2008 Stamp Collecting Month in Australia, looks at some very early Australian animals related to the unique Australian species that we see today. These megafaunas are extraordinary range of giant creatures that roamed the Australian continent many thousands and even millions of years ago and are now extinct. Megafauna as featured in this stamp issue are the Genyornis, which resembled the emu and the cassowary but related to ducks, geese and swans (55c); the Diprotodon, which looked just like a giant wombat (55c); the Thylacoleo, which was a marsupial (55c); the Thylacine, which was dog-like and possessed stripes (55c); the Procoptodon goliah, which was probably the largest of all kangaroos (AU$1.10); as well as the Megalania, which was the largest living varanid lizard (AU$1.10).