Capital: Accra
Population: 23,837,000
Languages: English
Currency: Ghanaian Cedi
GHANA

1967


DEFINITIVES
(SG 468)
5np Chameleon

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Accepted common name
9np
none
Chamaeleo gracilis
Graceful chameleon

An early definitive illustrated with a styalised chameleon species which is probably intended to be the Graceful chameleon (Chamaeleo gracilis).

 

1990


AFRICAN TROPICAL RAIN FOREST
(SG 1450, 1461-1463)
 
40c Boomslang
Dispholidus typus
    
40c Flap-necked chameleon
Chamaeleo dilepis
40c West African dwarf crocodile
Osteolaemus tetraspis
40c Python
Python regius
  

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Accepted common name
40b
Dispholidus typus
Dispholidus typus
Bosc monitor lizard
60b
Chamaeleo dilepis
Chamaeleo dilepis
West African dwarf crcodile
80b
Osteolaemus tetraspis
Osteolaemus sp.
Royal or Ball python
85b
Python regius
Python sebae
Central African rock python

This is a nice se-tenant sheet of stamps but looking closer the lack of detail is apparent, especially on the two snakes. The Boomslang (Dispholidus typus) is recognisable but the Python (Python regius) appears more a weird hybrid between a Central African rock python (Python sebae) and a S.American boa constrictor (Boa constrictor). The West African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetrapsis) has undergone a recent study and the population from The Gambia to Nigeria may currently lack a name, hence Osteolaemus sp. if this rainforest is in Ghana then the chameleon is not a Flap-necked chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis) because that species does not occur in West Africa.

1992

REPTILES
(SG 1695-1703)
20c Angides lugubris
50c Kinixys erosa
60c Agama agama
80c Chameleo gracilis
100c Naja melanoleuca
200c Crocodylus niloticus
400c Chelonia mydas
500c Varanus exanthematicus
600c

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Accepted common name
20c
Angides lugubris
Hemidactylus mabouia
African house gecko
50c
Kinixys erosa
Kinixys erosa
Eroded hingeback tortoise
60c
Agama agama
Agama agama
Common agama (male)
80c
Chameleo gracilis
Chamaeleo gracilis
Graceful chameleon
100c
Naja melanoleuca
Naja melanoleuca
Forest cobra
200c
Crocodylus niloticus
Crocodylus suchus
West African crocodile
400c
Chelonia mydas
Chelonia mydas
Green sea turtle
500c
Varanus exanthematicus
Varanus niloticus
Nile monitor lizard
Minisheet
600c
none
Python sebae
Geochelone sulcata
Chamaeleo gracilis
Mecistops cataphractus
Central African rock python
African spur-thighed tortoise
Graceful chameleon
Narrow-snouted crocodile

 

Eight stamps featuring reptiles of Ghana and a minisheet that is not labelled by includes one snake, one lizard, one tortoise and one crocodile. The crocodile is most likely the West African crocodile (Crocodylus suchus) and the monitor lizard, by its long head, cannot be a Bosc monitor (Varanus exanthematicus) and is probably a Nile monitor (V.niloticus). The most misleading stamp is the first one, labelled Angides lugubris which is probably a typo of Aneides lugubris, a salamander from western North America. The lizard on the stamp is clearly an African house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia). There is also a minor typo in the spelling of the genus Chamaeleo.

 

1996


WILDLIFE OF THE RAIN FOREST
(SG 2305, 2306, 2313, 2315)

Four stamps from 24 are illustrated with reptiles and amphibians from the South American rainforest.

 

1999

ENDANGERED SPECIES
(SG 2849-2850)
1000c Cycaetus gallicus
1000c Lacerta oceliata
  

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Accepted common name
1000c
none
Rhinechis scalaris
Ladder snake
1000c
Lacerta oceliata
Timon lepidus
Eyed lizard

Two se-tenant sheets of six stamps each, the first featuring two herpetological subjects from Europe, what appears to be, from the stripes, a Ladder snake (Rhinechis scalaris) being devoured by a Short-toed eagle (Cycaetus gallicus) and an Eyed lizard (Timon lepidus) on a rock.

2000

AFRICAN WILDLIFE
(SG 2970)

 

Two se-tenant sheets, the first containing a Boomslang (Dispholidus typus).

 

FLORA & FAUNA
(SG 2999-3000)

 

Three se-tenant sheets, the first containing a Flap-necked chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis) and a West African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus sp.)

 

 

Associated links on this site:
Ghanianherps on non-herps stamps