Capital: Port Vila
Population: 244,000
Languages: English,
French, Bislama
Currency: Vanuatu Vatu
VANUATU

as NEW HEBRIDES CONDOMINIUM

1974


WILDLIFE
(SG 186 & F201)

70 Green sea turtle
70 Green sea turtle

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Accepted common name
70
none
Chelonia mydas
Green sea turtle

One stamp from an early set of four featuring wildlife of New Hebrides, now Vanuatu, featured the Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). A French version, over-printed NOUVELLES HEBRIDES, was also available.

 

 

 

as VANUATU

1992


TURTLES
(SG 609-612, MS 613)

 
55 Leatherback Turtle
Dermochelys coricea
65 Loggerhead Turtle
Caretta caretta
70 Hawksbill Turtle
Eretmochelys imbricata
80 Green Turtle
Chelonia mydas

 
200 Green Turtle hatchlings

 

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Accepted common name
55
Dermochelys coriacea
Dermochelys coriacea
Leatherback sea turtle
65
Caretta caretta
Caretta caretta
Loggerhead sea turtle
70
Eretmochelys imbricata
Eretmochelys imbricata
Hawksbill sea turtle
80
Chelonia mydas
Chelonia mydas
Green sea turtle
minisheet
200
none
Chelonia mydas
Green sea turtle

In common with most Pacific nations, Vanuatu produced a set of stamps and a minisheet featuring the sea turtles occuring within its territorial water.

 

1995


LIZARDS
(SG 687-691)

25 Emoia nigromarginata
55 Nactus multicarinatus
70 Lepidodactylus - new species
80 Emoia caerulocauda
140 Emoia sanfordi

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Proposed common name
25
Emoia nigromarginata
Emoia nigromarginata
Black-bordered skink
55
Nactus multicarinatus
Nactus multicarinatus
Many-keeled bent-toed gecko
70
Lepidodactylus sp.nov.
Lepidodactylus vanuatuensis
Vanuatu scaly-toed gecko
80
Emoia caerulocauda
Emoia caerulocauda
Pacific blue-tailed skink
140
Emoia sanfordi
Emoia sanfordi
Sanford's skink

 

An attractive set featuring the two geckos and three skinks found on Vanuatu, including an undescribed species of scaly-toed gecko (Lepidodactylus sp. nov.) which may be the Vanuatu scaly-toed gecko (L.vanuatensis) which was described a few years later (Ota, Fisher, Ineich, Case, Radtkey & Zug, 1998).

*Ota,H., R.N.Fisher, I.C.Ineich, T.J.Case R.R.Radtkey & G.R.Zug 1998 A new Lepidodactylus (Squmata: Gekkonidae) from Vanuatu. Herpetologica 54 (3): 325-332.

 

2004


TROPICAL MARINE LIFE
(MS 943)

Vanuatu's Underwater Paradise
35 Yellow-lipped sea krait
Laticauda colubrina
35 Green turtle
Chelonia mydas

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Accepted common name
35
Chelonia mydas
Chelonia mydas
Green sea turtle
35
Laticauda colubrina
Laticauda colubrina
Yellow-lipped sea krait

 

A large se-tenant minisheet comprising 12 stamps, including two reptiles, the Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and Yellow-lipped sea krait (Laticauda colubrina), although the latter may equally be a Vanuatu sea krait (L.frontalis), a smaller but similar species.

2009

BICENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF CHARLES DARWIN 1809-1882
(SG 1060-1061)

 

 
Name on stamp
Current name
Accepted common name
200
Chelonoidis nigra
Galapagos giant tortoise
200
Amblyrhynchus cristatus
Marine iguana

 

A se-tenant set of three stamps to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) with two herpetological subjects across all three stamps, the Galapagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) and the Marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus).

 

 

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