Wallace Line
Faunal distribution demarcation
The Wallace Line is an imaginary boundary running through the Indonesian archipelago, separating the animal species of Asia from those of Australasia.
Named for naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who noticed that mammals, birds, and other fauna differ dramatically on either side.
The line marks where continental shelves diverge, explaining why Asian elephants and tigers never reached Australia while marsupials remained isolated there.
Pouch-bearing mammals
- placental mammalsAnimals with internal fetal nourishment
- cockatoosCrested parrot family
- birds of paradiseOrnate tropical avians
- monotremesEgg-producing mammal order
Asian elephants · tigers · rhinoceros · orangutans · cassowaries · honeyeaters · tree kangaroos · echidnas
Indonesian resort province
Formal boundary setting
- discontinuityBreak in continuity
- ecotoneBoundary between distinct habitats
- transition zoneRegion between differing areas
- paleogeographyStudy of ancient Earth surfaces
Student of nature
- nineteenth centuryYears 1801-1900
- explorationTraveling through unknown regions
- scientific expeditionOrganized journey for discovery
- natural historyStudy of organisms and environments
marsupials
Pouch-bearing mammals
- placental mammalsAnimals with internal fetal nourishment
- cockatoosCrested parrot family
- birds of paradiseOrnate tropical avians
monotremes · Asian elephants · tigers · rhinoceros · orangutans · cassowaries · honeyeaters · tree kangaroos · echidnas · sugar gliders
Bali
Indonesian resort province
demarcation
Formal boundary setting
- discontinuityBreak in continuity
- ecotoneBoundary between distinct habitats
- transition zoneRegion between differing areas
naturalist
Student of nature
- nineteenth centuryYears 1801-1900
- explorationTraveling through unknown regions
- scientific expeditionOrganized journey for discovery
- SundalandBorneo, Sumatra, Java, Malay Peninsula, Singapore
- WallaceaSulawesi, Moluccas, Timor, Roti, Komodo
- tropicsequator, tropical climate, coconut tree, tropical, tropical zone
- IndonesiaIndonesia, Java, Sumatra, Indonesian, Borneo
- Asian ecologytigers, pandas, elephants, orangutans, bamboo forests
- Pacific IslandsHawaii, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti
Wallace Linecontinental divide
Drainage boundary between oceans
mountain range · ocean · Himalayas · the Himalayas · oceanic trench
Wallace Lineland bridge
Terrain joining two continents
migration corridor · Beringia · habitat corridor · Isthmus of Panama
Wallace Lineocean trench