Tyrannosaurus rex

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service today salutes the dinosaur that dominated the tail end of the dinosaur age with new Forever stamps depicting the awe-inspiring Tyrannosaurus rex in growth stages from infancy to adulthood. The stamps were dedicated at a ceremony held at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

“With the dedication of these dazzling new Forever stamps today, the Postal Service pays tribute to the king of dinosaurs,” said Isaac Cronkhite, the Postal Service’s chief human resources officer and executive vice president, and the stamp ceremony’s dedicating official.

“More than any other dinosaur, since its discovery more than a century ago, the T. rex has stirred the public imagination. We are proud to bring the powerful T. rex on stamps that will whiz through the mail stream on millions of birthday cards, letters and thank-you notes,” Cronkhite said.

Joining Cronkhite to dedicate the stamps were Kirk Johnson, director, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; Matthew Carrano, curator of “Dinosauria,” Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; Julius T. Csotonyi, scientist and paleoartist, who digitally illustrated the T. rex stamp images and Shawn Yancy, news anchor, WTTG-TV, the local Fox station, and the guest emcee.