2009 Charles Darwin Puzzle Post Cards

This new stamp go on sale today to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species.

The Royal Mail's new stamps commemorate Darwin and the areas of study which inspired his ideas on evolution: zoology, botany, geology, ornithology and anthropology.

The six "jigsaw" shape stamps symbolize how his studies of different disciplines came together to form new ideas on evolution. Royal Mail has also produced a special sheet of four stamps illustrating the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands that includes the Flightless Cormorant, Giant Tortoise, Floreana Mockingbird and Marine Iguana, and which builds up into a contemporary map of the Galápagos Islands with the key species Darwin studied in the 1830s.

Julietta Edgar, head of special stamps, Royal Mail, said: "Charles Darwin's ideas triggered a revolution in the understanding of how species evolve. The brilliance of his thinking is symbolized in the unique design of the stamps – the jigsaw shape suggests how Darwin was able to draw on his different areas of study to formulate groundbreaking new ideas."

Royal Mail also issued a separate set of tamper-proof stamps today, which have improved security features to stop users peeling used stamps from envelopes which have not been franked and reusing them.

Part of a sticky film covering the stamp will remain on the envelope and thwart fraudsters. The new stamps will also be printed on the same tamper-proof paper used for currency. They are called the Machin stamps, named in honour of the (late) artist Arnold Machin, who created the classic image of the Queen which features on British stamps and coins.

A spokesman said the new stamps would be sent out to around 55,000 retailers from today.

He said: "The design has two panels printed on the stamp. The panels remain behind when a stamp is peeled off an envelope. The stamps are also printed on special paper which is designed to improve security."