Wallacea

Wallacea is a biogeographic region of Indonesian islands between the Asian and Australasian continental shelves. Its deep-water channels limited past land connections, producing a distinctive mix of Asian and Australasian species.

Wallace Line: A biogeographic boundary separating Asian-dominated fauna from regions with more Australasian species. It marks the western boundary where Wallacea’s fauna changes sharply.
Biogeography: The study of the geographic distribution of organisms through space and time. Wallacea is defined through patterns of species distribution.
Sulawesi: A large Indonesian island east of Borneo, with distinctive geology and exceptionally high species endemism. Its endemic mammals and birds exemplify Wallacea’s evolutionary distinctiveness.
Alfred Russel Wallace: A British naturalist who independently developed the theory of evolution by natural selection and studied Malay Archipelago wildlife. His observations and boundary line inspired the region’s biogeographic framework.
Biodiversity hotspot: A region with exceptional endemic species richness that has lost much of its original habitat. Wallacea’s endemism and habitat pressures make it a recognized conservation priority.
Lydekker Line: A biogeographic boundary near the edge of the Sahul Shelf, separating Wallacea from Australasian regions. It marks Wallacea’s eastern boundary beside the Australasian shelf.
Continental shelf: The submerged, gently sloping edge of a continent, extending from the shoreline to deeper ocean. Shelf depth determines which islands could join continents during low sea levels.
Lesser Sunda Islands: An Indonesian archipelago extending east from Bali toward Timor. Their island chain illustrates gradual transitions across Wallacea.
Thomas Henry Huxley: An English biologist and public advocate of evolutionary theory who studied animal distributions. He extended Wallace’s boundary eastward in defining faunal divisions.
Southeast Asian biodiversity: The variety of ecosystems and species across mainland and island Southeast Asia. Wallacea contributes a distinctive island component to this broader biodiversity.

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