New Royal Mail Prehistoric Animal Stamps

By |2024-03-21T10:02:24+00:00March 12th, 2024|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Drawings, Dinosaur Fans, Educational Activities, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products|0 Comments

A beautiful set of Royal Mail prehistoric animal stamps is being introduced. The main set will feature prehistoric animals including Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops and Stegosaurus. A second set of stamps is also going on sale commemorating the life and works of Mary Anning.

Royal Mail prehistoric animal stamps (2024).
The eight main stamps feature beautiful illustrations of prehistoric animals by the Exeter-based digital concept illustrator Joshua Dunlop. Six dinosaurs are featured along with a pterosaur (Coloborhynchus) and a plesiosaur (Cryptoclidus). Picture credit: Royal Mail.

Celebrating Two Hundred Years Since the Formal Description of Megalosaurus

2024 marks the two hundredth anniversary of the formal, scientific description of a prehistoric animal that was later to be classified as a dinosaur. The theropod dinosaur Megalosaurus was named and described in 1824 by the Reverend William Buckland who was president of the Geological Society of London. The binomial species name Megalosaurus bucklandii was erected in 1827. This was the first scientific account in the western world of a dinosaur. Megalosaurus features on a pair of stamps along with the roughly contemporaneous marine reptile Cryptoclidus.

Royal Mail Prehistoric Animal Stamps (Megalosaurus and Cryptoclidus).
The fourth pair of stamps feature a Megalosaurus encountering a plesiosaur (Cryptoclidus) whilst wading through shallow water. Picture credit: Royal Mail.

Megalosaurus was for a long time a taxonomic waste basket. Theropod fossils from different strata were assigned to this taxon. The only definitive Megalosaurus remains come from Oxfordshire (England).

The PNSO Megalosaurus model.
A model of Megalosaurus bucklandii. The new for 2023 PNSO Megalosaurus dinosaur model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture (above) shows a model of Megalosaurus bucklandii from PNSO.

To view the PNSO range of prehistoric animal figures: PNSO Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

Royal Mail Prehistoric Animal Stamps

The eight prehistoric animal stamps were created by Joshua Dunlop, a digital concept artist based in Exeter (Devon). A second set of stamps features a portrait of the pioneering fossil collector Mary Anning. In addition, three stamps have been created that show photographs of fossils associated with Mary Anning and the Lower Jurassic rocks of Lyme Regis.

The list of dinosaurs featured:

  • Tyrannosaurus
  • Triceratops
  • Stegosaurus
  • Diplodocus
  • Iguanodon
  • Megalosaurus
Royal Mail prehistoric animal stamps (Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops).
Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus feature on the new for 2024 Royal Mail prehistoric animal stamps. Only the genus name for Tyrannosaurus is given on the stamps and in the accompanying Royal Mail press release. We suspect that this is an illustration of Tyrannosaurus rex. Picture credit: Royal Mail.

In Collaboration with the London Natural History Museum

The Royal Mail prehistoric animal stamps were created in collaboration with the London Natural History Museum.

Royal Mail prehistoric animal stamps (Stegosaurus and Diplodocus).
Diplodocus and Stegosaurus feature on the Royal Mail £2 stamps. These animals are known from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the United States. Picture credit: Royal Mail.

North American dinosaurs are featured (Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Diplodocus). Prehistoric animals known from fossil discoveries from southern England are also included. Each pair of stamps show a similar image but from a different prehistoric animal’s perspective. For example, one pair of stamps depicts a herd of Iguanodon escaping a forest fire whilst a flock of startled pterosaurs (Coloborhynchus) fly overhead.

Royal Mail prehistoric animal stamps (Coloborhynchus and Iguanodon).
One of the largest toothed pterosaurs known to science is featured on a stamp (Coloborhynchus). It accompanies an Iguanodon stamp. Both these prehistoric animals are known from the Lower Cretaceous of England. Picture credit: Royal Mail.

Everything Dinosaur Comments

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“These are beautiful stamps. The eight prehistoric animal stamps show four different scenes, and they are designed to be viewed as pairs. For instance, the Tyrannosaurus stamp shows this theropod attacking a Triceratops. In contrast, the Triceratops stamp shows the horned dinosaur fending off a lunge from the Tyrannosaurus.”

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Dinosaur Toys, Models and Dinosaur Clothing.