Post on 19-Jul-2020
The Herptile 34 : 3 Sept. 2009.
The Herpetological Stamps of the Solomon Islands
Mark O’Shea
Awhile ago I wrote a two-part article on the herpetological stamps of Papua New Guinea
(O’Shea 2006a, b), the eastern half of the second largest island in the world.At the time I
alluded to the fact that I planned to write occasional articles on the herpetological stamp
issues of various countries and I hinted that the Solomon Islands might be next. It is, and
here it is. As with the first PNG article I think a paragraph or two about the country in
question might be a good starting point, to help you orientate yourselves. I am certain
you have heard of the Solomon Islands, but could you stick a pin in them on the map?
Okay, you know where New Guinea is, that large island sprawling like a giant bird (or
more apt for this publication, goanna) across the tropical sea, to the north of Australia.
Well, the Solomon Islands are the next country east, but it is not quite as simple as that
and certainly not as simple or neighbourly as the BBC would have us believe. In the epic
and spectacular recent six-part series “South Pacific” the narrator announced that the
Solomons were only 60miles (96kms) from New Guinea. Politically yes, geographically,
no! Off the eastern coast of the eastern half of the island of New Guinea lie several
archipelagos. In the southeast are the Trobriand, Louisiade and d'Entrecasteaux
Archipelagos, to the north-northeast lie the Admiralty Islands, and to the east lies the
BismarckArchipelago, including the large islands of New Britain (38 largest island in the
world) and New Ireland (93 largest). Go further east, zoogeographically travelling into
the Solomons region, and you will come to an elongate island stretching north-northwest
to south-southeast. This is Bougainville (79 largest), and to its north is the much smaller
Buka Island, the two being the main islands of North Solomons Province, of Papua New
Guinea – politically you are still in PNG.
But only 60miles (96kms) off the southern coast of Bougainville lie the tiny islands of
Shortlands and Fauro¹ and these are the northwestern-most islands of the some 922
rugged, jungle islands and coral-atolls, scattered across almost 1670kms of the Coral
Sea to the southeast, that make up the Republic of the Solomons Islands. The largest
islands are Malaita (140 ), Isabel (146 ), Makira (157 ), Choiseul (164 ), and of course
Guadalcanal (110 ), famous as one of the places where John Wayne gave the Imperial
JapaneseArmy a bloody nose during WWII (he certainly got about that guy).
The Solomons were colonised by Polynesians from the east and Papuans from the
west, and in the 16 and 17 centuries they were colonised by the Spanish, by way of
Peru, the original but the Spanish colonies declined and all that
survive now are the Hispanic names of some of the islands. The Dutch, French, British
and Americans all paid visits to the islands but the warlike head-hunting, cannibalistic
habits of the locals, who would butcher visitors whenever the opportunity presented
itself, soon earned the Solomons an unenviable reputation and the archipelago became
one of those places you just sailed past and peered at through a telescope.
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Long Way Round,
¹ Shortlands and Fauro, the northwestern-most islands of the Solomons, may be only 60 miles (96kms) from
political PNG i.e. Bougainville, but they are at least 400miles (644kms) from the island of New Guinea, hence
the confusion of the BBC statement since one presumes they were talking about New Guinea from a
zoogeographical standpoint, not PNG as a sovereign state.
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
85
However, by the late 1800's the British and Germans had established colonies of some
worth and then they did a little horse-trading, the British swopping Western Samoa² with
the Germans for their Solomons colonies (well it beats trading cards in the school
playground). The Solomon Islands became the British Solomon Islands Protectorate in
1899 and remained that way until the Japanese invasion of 1942. World War Two came
to the Solomons and how! During 1942 and 1943 the US Marines battled their way
across the archipelago, forcing the Japanese back until they were isolated enough to
ignore in the extreme northwest. Post-war, the islands slowly recovered and gained their
independence as the Republic of the Solomon Islands in 1978.
The reptile and amphibian fauna is fairly diverse with a substantial number of endemics.
The best sources are McCoy (1980 & 2006a) and Menzies (2006), but McCoy (2006b)³
also provides a very readable account of the islands. As for the herpetological stamps,
curiously not even a sea turtle appeared on a stamp whilst the archipelago was the
British Solomon Islands but since Independence reptiles and amphibians have
appeared on both commemoratives and definitives (see below). The Solomons went
decimal in 1966 and since then the currency has been Solomons dollars and cents.
There are two main types of stamp issues. Commemoratives are issued to
commemorate an event, a person or to celebrate a particular subject. They generally
have a short shelf-life and are withdrawn from service after a few weeks or months. Many
countries incorporate reptile and amphibian subjects in their commemorative stamp
issues. Most of the herpetological stamps in the previously described PNG articles
(O'Shea 2006a&b) were commemoratives. The other type of stamp issue is the
definitive issue. These are the regular stamps of the realm, like our own Queen's head
stamps, and they remain on sale for several years and are reprinted, discontinued,
added to, and reissued on an individual basis or in small batches.
Most countries do not include reptiles or amphibians on their definitives. PNG only
included one, the crocodile hunters from their 1973 19-stamp “traditional activities”
series. The Solomons excelled themselves, they went for an entirely herpetological
definitive series.
Unlike southern New Guinea, the Solomons were never part of a continental landmass,
having formed from volcanic activity and the uplifting of oceanic ridge-lines. During
glacial times the same lowered sea-levels that would have permitted a man in prehistoric
gumboots to walk from Australia to New Guinea, also probably allowed passage
between some of the islands in the Solomons, but even then they were not linked to New
Guinea or anywhere else. The fauna of the Solomons reflects the remoteness of the
archipelago, the native mammals consisting mostly of rats and bats, seven species of
the former and forty of the latter, and one cuscus, a nocturnal, arboreal, big-eyed,
prehensile-tailed marsupial. And of course since the arrival of man, feral cats, goats and
pigs have colonised and wreaked havoc.
²
³
A good move on behalf of the British since Germany would cede all her colonies at the end of the Great War
(WWI) and Western Samoa would once again come back under the wing of the British Crown
I reviewed this book for the January 2008 issue of , the magazine of the Royal Geographical
Society.
Geographical
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
86
1979: Definitives: Reptiles 1.
The first issue in 1979 comprising 16 stamps, was a strong and a very impressive
production. It was not so much the quality of the artwork on the stamps. Despite some
slightly strange artwork, all the subjects are identifiable down to family, even to genus,
and most to species although a few might cause even a South Pacific herpetologist like
Mike McCoy to scratch his head if it were not for the fact they were labelled with both
common and scientific names (with one exception). It is more the fact that they made the
effort to honour their herpetofauna on a set of stamps, knowing that Solomon Islanders
would be licking the backs of them for years to come.
Considering how reptiles are feared, loathed and despised across much of the region,
this must be seen as a brave move, and it is the thought that counts here. Perhaps this
had something to do with the fact that nobody ever seems to die of snakebite, despite the
islands having three terrestrial elapids, and several sea snakes. When I went into the
main Boroko post office in Port Moresby, PNG, to pick up some of my own venomous
snake stamps to stick on some letters, first the post mistress denied they had issued any
snake stamps, and then refused to look at them as she reluctantly had to handle them in
order to sell them to me.And those were only commemoratives with a six-month lifespan
at best. Imagine the nervous breakdowns and employment vacancies in the post office if
PostPNG issued a long-standing set of snake definitives.
So onto the actual set of 16 herp stamps. The subjects are listed below and amount to
five snakes, five lizards, five frogs, and a crocodile. The scientific name on the stamp is
not only spelled correctly and in a remarkable high number of cases the name remains
the same today, 30years later – only the generic name for the anglehead (15c) needs
correcting to , while the suffix for the coconut treesnake (4c) needs attention,
oh, and the cane toad's genus has changed to but why the Solomons wanted to
celebrate this introduce SouthAmerican pest has me puzzled. I would however question
some of the common names, as detailed below, but common names are more a matter
of personal taste and none are too far from the mark, although curiously no name was
provided for the mourning gecko (10c), surely an oversight. My favourite is the $1.00
monkey-tail skink, curiously referred to as “large skink” when I am sure they meant “giant
skink”.
The most disappointing stamp is probably the Pacific boa (6c), which is really nothing
like, either the slender tree boa ( ), which does not occur in the Solomons, nor
its former subspecies, the stocky ground boa ( ) which does. It is probably
based on and intended to represent the South Pacific treeboa ( ). The identity of
the monitor lizard (12c.) is also a little hard to confirm because the markings on its back
are much larger and dark-centred than any I have seen on the generally speckled to
small-spotted mangrove monitor ( ), although it may represent a former
subspecies, now elevated to specific status, the Isabel monitor ( ) which has
larger markings. However, this does not distract from an attractive set of stamps, a set
well worth mounting or framing.
HypsilurusRhinella
C.carinataC.paulsoni
C.bibroni
V.indicusV.spinulosus
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
87
The Herptile 34 : 3 Sept. 2009.
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
88
Value Common name on stamp Scientific name on stamp Correct common Current scientific name
Value Common name on stamp Scientific name on stamp Correct common name Current scientific name
1c Sea snake Yellow-lipped sea krait
3c Red-banded tree snake Brown treesnake
4c Whip snake Coconut treesnake
6c Pacific boa South Pacific treeboa
8c Skink Copper-striped skink
10c n/a Mourning gecko
12c Monitor Mangrove monitor
15c Anglehead Godeffroy’s anglehead
20c Giant toad Cane toad
25c Marsh frog Wrinkled ground frog
30c Horned frog Günther’s triangle frog
35c Tree Frog Treasury Is. treefrog
45c Guppy’s snake Solomons coralsnake
$1.00 Large skink Monkey-tailed skink
$2.00 Guppy’s frog Guppy’s frog
$5.00 Estuarine crocodile Estuarine crocodile
18c Leatherback turtle Leatherback sea turtle
35c Loggerhead turtle Loggerhead sea turtle
45c Pacific Ridley turtle Pacific Ridley sea turtle
50c Green turtle Green sea turtle
Laticauda colubrina Laticauda colubrinaBoiga irregularis Boiga irregularis
Dendrelaphis calligaster Dendrelaphis calligastraCandoia carinata Candoia bibroniEmoia cyanura Emoia cyanura
Lepidodactylus lugubris Lepidodactylus lugubrisVaranus indicus Varanus indicus
Goniocephalus godeffroyi Goniocephalus godeffroyiBufo marinus Rhinella marina
Platymantis solomonis Platymantis solomonisCeratobatrachus guentheri Ceratobatrachus guentheri
Litoria thesaurensis Litoria thesaurensisSalomonelaps par Salomonelaps parCorucia zebrata Corucia zebrata
Discodeles guppyi Discodeles guppyiCrocodylus porosus Crocodylus porosus
Dermochelys coriacea Dermochelys coriaceaCaretta caretta Caretta caretta
Lepidochelys olivacea Lepidochelys olivaceaChelonia mydas Chelonia mydas
1979: Turtles.
Clearly on a roll the Solomons issued a set of herpetological commemorative the same
year as the definitives. The subjects were the sea turtles, although having no land-based
or fresh water chelonians they termed them simply “Turtles”.
This set of four species
explains the reason why the
previous set lacked any
turtles. This is a pleasant little
set illustrating four of the five
marine turtles occurring in the
islands, although it has to be
said that the loggerhead (35c)
and green turtle (50c) look
remarkably like the same
turtle from two slightly
different angles. The only
species missing is the
hawksbill (
).
Eretmochelysimbricata
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
89
1982: Definitives: Reptiles 2.
1983: Definitives: Reptiles 3.
Only three years after the Reptiles 1. definitives, another series appeared consisting of
five stamps. The first four were reprints from the original 1979 issue (12c, 25c, $1.00 &
$5.00), distinguishable from the original print run only by a small ‘1992’ on the bottom of
the stamp. The fifth stamp was a new issue valued at $10.00 and it featured the missing
hawksbill turtle. I like the order and planning shown by the postal service of the Solomon
Islands, even if they could do with Tell Hicks as their artist.
Value Common name on stamp Scientific name on stamp Correct common name Current scientific name
12c Monitor Mangrove monitor
25c Marsh frog Wrinkled ground frog
$ 1.00 Large skink Prehensile-tailed skink
$ 5.00 Estuarine crocodile Estuarine crocodile
$10.00 Hawksbill turtle Hawksbill sea turtle
Varanus indicus Varanus indicusPlatymantis solomonis Platymantis solomonis
Corucia zebrata Corucia zebrataCrocodylus porosus Crocodylus porosus
Eretmochelys imbricata Eretmochelys imbricata
And the very next year, clearly enjoying themselves immensely, the heroic Solomons
postal service issued a third instalment from the definitives stable – now do you see what
I mean about these stamps being issued in batches and lasting for years! Once again we
have a reprint, the 30c triangle frog, again distinguished by the '1983' printed at the
bottom. The other two stamps were new subjects and new denominations. The 40c
features a blindsnake although this subject is not quite what it seems. The snake
originally known as is now placed in a separate genus
(Wallach, 1995) a genus of sharp-nosed blindsnakes containing five
species, four in the PNG-Solomons region and one from Luzon, Philippines. The
blindsnake now known as occurs in the Bismarck Archipelago of PNG,
well to the east of the Solomons, while two related species, and the
confusingly called , inhabit Bougainville, Northern Solomons Province,
PNG (remember). The only species occurring in the Solomons proper is ,
so I suppose we must assume that it was the planned subject for this stamp.
Ramphotyhlops subocularisAcutotyphlops
A.subocularisA.kunuaensis
A.solomonisA.infralabialis
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
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The final new definitive is the 50c stamp of the banded palm gecko, one of only two
species from the hugely specious genus to occur in the archipelago. The
banded palm gecko is confined to the island of Guadalcanal, where incidentally the
national capital Honiara is located, while the other species, the Solomons palm gecko
( ) is distributed country wide. There is no doubt which species is illustrated,
however, the black head and body marking and white tail tip make the artwork almost
identical to a photograph of in McCoy, 2006a.
Cyrtodactylus
C.solomonis
C.biordinis
4
Value Common name on stamp Scientific name on stamp Correct common name Current scientific name
30c Horned frog Günther’s triangle frog
40c Burrowing snake Sharp-nosed blind snake
50c Tree gecko Banded palm gecko
Ceratobatrachus guentheri Ceratobatrachus guentheriRamphotyphlops subocularis Acutotyphlops infralabialis
Cyrtodactylus biordinis Cyrtodactylus biordinis
1997: 50 Anniversary of the South Pacific Commission: Turtles.th
The SPC was set up in 1947 to help the emerging South Pacific nations with land use,
fishery controls, education,
agricultural research, public
health and a multitude of other
projects.
When the Solomons cel-
ebrated its 50 anniversary
they chose to issue a set of four
stamps showing the life cycle
of a green sea turtle (
) from egg laying,
through the hatchlings racing
to the sea, growing in the
ocean, and finally starting a
meaningful relationship with a
green sea turtle of the opposite
sex, as everything goes full
circle.
.
th
Cheloniamydas
4Cyrtodactylus, the largest gecko genus in the world, currently contains 120 species
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
91
No common names are applied but the scientific name is included in the right margin and
each stamp bears the exciting slogan 50 CPS 1947-1997 SPC (there are French
speaking members in the SPC), hence subscript .
Many countries hold philatelic exhibitions and Philex France is the French version.
The Solomons contribution was a sheet set of twelve $1.00 stamps printed together to
form a composite picture. This arrangement is known as . The subject chosen
was marine life, a popular choice for island countries since it enables them to show a
variety of fish, invertebrates, marine mammals and even divers in the collection. A
common inclusion is a sea turtle and on this occasion the most popular and widely
illustrated green sea turtle was illustrated.
th
eme
eme
Value Description of stamp Scientific name on stamp
Value Description of stamp Scientific name on stamp
50c Female green sea turtle laying eggs
90c Young green sea turtles heading for the sea “
$1.50 Young green sea turtles growing in the ocean “
$2.00 Courting pair of adult green sea turtles “
$1.00 Green sea turtle
Chelonia mydas
Chelonia mydas
1999: PhilexFrance ’99: Marine life.
se-tenant
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
92
2001: Hong Kong 2001 Stamp Exhibition.
2001: Chinese Year of the Snake.
The fact that there was a stamp exhibition in Hong Kong in 2001, the Year of the Snake,
led to a plethora of countries producing snake related stamps, many of them painfully
bad. After so many excellent issues from the Solomons one might expect them to have
excelled.... but they didn’t, the two stamps issued for the Hong Kong exhibition show
bland serpentine representations accompanied by the Hong Kong 2001 logo.
‘nough said!
Another set of Chinese New Year stamps, did someone realise how awful the previous
issue was?
$1.70 Snake and emblem
$2.30 Snake and emblem
Value Description of stamp
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
93
Not very imaginatively this set of four stamps in a minisheet, includes a curious
background of what looks like a stretch of limestone coastline, and it is once again a crib
from the earlier definitives. All four stamps are obviously snakes and all four are valued
at $1.00, in a rather computer-like font, and over-stamped boldly with “Year of the Snake
2001”. Hmmm!
Value Common name on stamp Scientific name on stamp Correct common name Current scientific name
$1.00 Red-banded tree snake Brown treesnake
$1.00 Whip snake Coconut treesnake
$1.00 Pacific boa Pacific treeboa
$1.00 Guppy’s snake Solomons coralsnake
$ 1.50 Prehensile-tailed skink
$ 2.60 “ “
$ 3.00 “ “
$10.00 “ “
Boiga irregularis Boiga irregularisDendrelaphis calligaster Dendrelaphis calligastra
Candoia carinata Candoia bibroniSalomonelaps par Salomonelaps par
Corucia zebrata
2005: WWF Prehensile-tailed skink.
Value Common name on stamp Scientific name on stamp
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
94
But we have, as they say, left the best to last. I have two favourite skinks, the crocodile
skink ( ) featured on a PNG stamp in 1978 (O'Shea 2006a), and itself
featured on the cover of 31(3), and the prehensile-tailed or monkey-tailed
skink ( ) which has already impressed me on the $1.00 1979 Solomons
definitive.
So imagine how pleased I was to find the Solomons had issued an entire set of stamps
dedicated to this fascinating and endangered species.
The four stamps carry the WWF logo and consist simply of four different views of
clambering around in the vegetation.
So detailed are they that they must be artwork produced from photographs or real-life,
quiet a step on from some of the earlier artwork. Not only are the four stamps available as
a set, they are also available as a minisheet containing eight (two of each) surrounded by
a scene from the rainforest with a monkey-tail climbing steadfastly up a treetrunk, the
words ‘Solomon Islands’ emblazoned across the top and the common and scientific
names at the bottom. My only criticism is that the scientific names are not italicised, but
really I am being a bit picky. This really is a very nice set of stamps enabling me to finish
this article on a high note.
Tribolonotus gracilisThe Herptile
Corucia zebrata
Corucia
References
McCoy, M.
McCoy, M.McCoy, M.Menzies, J.
O'Shea, M.
O'Shea, M.
Wallach, V.
1980 Wau Ecology Institute Handbook
No.7. xi+80pp.
2006 Pensoft, Sofia. 147pp.
2006 Zipolo Habu. 176pp
2006 . Pensoft, Sofia.
x+346pp.
2006 The Herpetological Stamps of Papua New Guinea.
31(3):83-93.
2006 The Dangerous Snakes of Papua New Guinea, a commemorative
stamp issue. 31(4):132-140.
1995. A new genus for the species group
(Serpentes: Typhlopidae), with description of a new species.
6: 132-150.
Reptiles of the Solomon Islands.
Reptiles of the Solomon Islands.Solomon Islands:ASouth Seas Journey.
The Frogs of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
The Herptile
The HerptileRamphotyphlops subocularis
AsiaticHerpetological Research
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
95
Postscript:
2007: WWF Marine Turtles (Papua New Guinea)
Hard on the heels of my series, PostPNG produced another
set of herpetological stamps, so I include them here as a postscript to the Solomons
stamp issues. The full set comprises six stamps, each featuring one of the six sea turtles
species found in Papuan waters. All correctly labelled with common and scientific
names, even if the term 'turtle' is used in place of 'sea turtle', and a four stamp minisheet
illustrating juvenile sea turtles under a panorama of a rather washed-out tropical island
with a hawksbill sea turtle ( ) skimming over a reef.
The images are all photographs and whilst one or two are a little lacking in character or
photographic quality I do think this a worthy and collectable set, especially when you
realise there are actually ten different stamps in this set. It is especially pleasing to see a
stamp featuring the flatback sea turtle ( ) a species confined to
Australian and Papuan waters and usually omitted from sea turtle stamp sets.
Dangerous Snakes of PNG
Eretmochelys imbricata
Natator depressus
Value Common name on stamp Scientific name on stamp Correct common name
10t Hawksbill turtle Hawksbill sea turtle
35t Flatback turtle Flatback sea turtle
85t Loggerhead turtle Loggerhead sea turtle
K3 Leatherback turtle Leatherback sea turtle
K3.35 Green turtle Green sea turtle
K5.35 Olive Ridley turtle Olive Ridley sea turtle
Eretmochelys imbricataNatator depressus
Caretta carettaDermochelys coriacea
Chelonia mydasLepidochelys olivacea
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
96
Minisheet
Value Common name on stamp Scientific name on stamp Correct common name85t Flatback turtle Flatback sea turtle
K3 Leatherback turtle Leatherback sea turtle
K3.35 Green turtle Green sea turtle
K5.35 Olive Ridley turtle Olive Ridley sea turtle
Natator depressusDermochelys coriacea
Chelonia mydasLepidochelys olivacea
Journal of The International Herpetological Society
97