The “Wallace Line” remains to this day the subject of scientific research and debate.
The scientists have long been fascinated by the invisible boundaries in nature that can dramatically affect its distribution wild life. One such mysterious limit, known as “Wallace line“, is a particularly interesting case. This line, named after the 19th century naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who observed it while traveling in the Malay Archipelago, separates the flora and her fauna her Asia from that of Australasia.
The Malaysian Archipelago is a vast chain of over 25,000 islands which today includes Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Papua New Guinea. Wallace noticed that on either side of this line, animal species were strikingly different, and this phenomenon has puzzled scientists ever since.
What makes her Wallace line so fascinating is that it creates a clear distinction between the animals on each side. On the side nearest Asia the fauna is mainly Asiatic. Meanwhile, on the side closest to Australasia, there is a mixture of Asian and Australian species. The Australasia region is particularly known for its unique wildlife, including marsupials such as kangaroos and monovores such as echidnas and platypuses, found nowhere else in the world.
Wallace’s observations led him to conclude that while animals from Asia seemed capable of crossing this biogeographic boundary, those from Australasia were not. This theory helped to explain why the diversity of species was so sharply divided along this line. For example, while on the Australian side of the Wallace Line you may find a variety of both Asian and Australian creatures, the Asian side remains strictly populated by Asian species.
OR Wallace line remains to this day the subject of scientific research and debate. While some researchers believe that the line’s effect on species distribution is due to ancient sea levels and land connections, others argue that it may be a result of species’ evolutionary history and their ability to adapt to different environments.
