Ascension Island
2009 "200 Anniversary of the
birth of Charles Darwin"
Issue
Date |
09.11.2009 |
ID |
Michel:
1090-1093 Scott: Stanley Gibbons:
Yvert: UPU: Category:
Dw |
Author |
Julian Vasarhelyi
|
Stamps
in set |
4 |
Value
|
35p
Woodpecker Finch
40p Marine Iguana
50p Galapagos Tortoise £
2 Galapagos Penguin |
Size
(width x height) |
28.45
x 42.58mm |
Layout |
10
stamps in MS (5x2) |
Products
|
FDC x1
MS x4 |
Paper |
|
Perforation |
14 |
Print
Technique |
Stochastic lithography |
Printed
by |
Printer: BDT
International Production
Co-ordination: Creative Direction
(Worldwide) Ltd |
Quantity |
|
Issuing
Authority |
|

Charles
Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire in February 1809, to a
wealthy and well-connected family. He had initially planned to study
medicine at Edinburgh University but later switched to Divinity at
Cambridge. Best known for his theory of evolution, Darwin was
fundamental in discovering how all species of life developed from a
central ancestor, changing the way we think about how we came to be as
humans. He was a naturalist who searched the globe for new species of
flora and fauna and then worked on his theory for 20 years before
publishing his most famous work, 'On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection'.
In 1831, Charles Darwin joined a five-year
scientific expedition on HMS Beagle, which visited Ascension Island in
1836. It was here that Darwin first heard from his sisters that he was
destined for a place among the leading men of science upon his return
to England. Darwin, in his autobiography, described how he was so
excited at his sisters’ news that he 'clambered over the mountains of
Ascension with a bounding step and made the volcanic rocks resound
under my geological hammer!'
On Ascension it was the geology
that interested Darwin, recording his experiences and findings in the
third chapter of his ‘Volcanic Islands’. Of particular interest was the
Devil’s Riding School, shown on the First Day Cover. Situated on the
South Westerly part of Ascension, evidence has revealed that there once
was a lake but it dried out and subsided in the centre due to volcanic
eruptions. Darwin visited the area and collected samples from a layer
of pinkish pumiceous ash, which was full of the siliceous remains of
diatoms and 25 other types of plant material; evidence to show the lake
had existed. It was later discovered by other geologists that the
volcanic ash beds were composed of finely pulverized rock in
sub-horizontal bands of white, pink and buff colour, representing
successive discrete phases of eruptions. One layer contains the curious
concretions called ‘Devil’s Eyeballs’ by islanders, and another
containing the abundant remains of organic life. Darwin was fascinated
by the area and that’s why it has become a place of Outstanding Natural
Beauty and Geological Interest.
However Darwin’s great
breakthrough came when he set foot on the Galapagos Archipelago in
1835. This 5 week visit would eventually change the way we see the
world, although he didn’t know it at the time. Comprising of more than
200 islands, islets and outcrops in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of
South America, nearly 9,000 species live on and around the Galapagos
Islands. An unusually high proportion of these are endemic and some
have changed little since prehistoric times. This set from Ascension
Island features some of the amazing species that Darwin encountered in
the Galapagos Islands and which provided the evidence for his
controversial theories of evolution and the foundation of modern
biology.
 |  |
35p Woodpecker Finch
Darwin observed that several islands had
their own form of finch which were all different but closely related.
Puzzling over these birds, that differed mainly in the size and shape
of their beaks, when he was back in London led Darwin towards
formulating the principal of natural selection. Subsequent research has
confirmed Darwin’s belief that a single species had dispersed to
different islands and then evolved into at least 13 different species
as they adapted to suit different food types in a process known as
adaptive radiation. As shown on the stamp, the Woodpecker Finch
uniquely uses twigs and cactus spines as a tool to compensate for its
short tongue if it’s unable to dislodge its prey. | 40p Marine Iguana
Darwin wrote that ‘the black Lava rocks on the
beach are frequented by large most disgusting clumsy Lizards’. These
large (3 feet or more) reptiles, which demonstrate the unique evolution
and adaption of Galapagos fauna, must have fascinated Darwin who made
extensive observations about them. Looking quite fearsome or ‘hideous’
as Darwin put it, they are in fact harmless. It is one of the most
unusual creatures in the Galapagos and the only lizard to swim in the
ocean.
|
 |  |
50p Galapagos Tortoise
The most recognised symbol of the
Galapagos is perhaps the tortoise. Darwin remarked ‘These animals grow
to an immense size .... several so large that it required six or eight
men to lift them from the ground.’ Prior to the arrival of man the
tortoise had no predators and the largest thrived, a process called
Island Gigantism. Known to live for more than 150 years the tortoise
played an important role in Darwin’s theory of evolution as he was to
learn that tortoises from different islands had noticeably different
characteristics.
| £2 Galapagos Penguin
The Galapagos Penguin is endemic to the
Galapagos Islands, and the only penguin to live near the Equator. They
were brought to the Galapagos by the Humboldt Current, which brings
cold waters and nutrients north from Antarctica. The heat is a problem
for them. Years with warmer waters from the El Nino Current can see
reductions in the small population as it causes a shortfall in the
small fish that they eat. To keep themselves cool in the water they
will hold out their flippers and on land spread them over their feet to
protect them from sunburn. |
Products
FDC |
Mini Sheets |
|
|
References:
Ascension Island Post Office & Philatelic Bureau