Alfred Russel Wallace
Evolutionary Biologist, Academic
1823 – 1913
Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?
Alfred Russel Wallace OM FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, and biologist. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection; his paper on the subject was jointly published with some of Charles Darwin's writings in 1858. This prompted Darwin to publish his own ideas in On the Origin of Species. Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the faunal divide now termed the Wallace Line, which separates the Indonesian archipelago into two distinct parts: a western portion in which the animals are largely of Asian origin, and an eastern portion where the fauna reflect Australasia.
He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made many other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection.
Famous Quotes:
- On the Law Which has Regulated the Introduction of Species 1855
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- Born
- Jan 8, 1823
Llanbadoc - Also known as
- Alfred Wallace
- Parents
- Siblings
- Spouses
- Annie Mitten
(1866/04/05 - )
- Annie Mitten
- Children
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Profession
- Lived in
- Grays
( - 1876) - Monmouthshire
- Grays
- Died
- Nov 7, 1913
Broadstone, Dorset - Resting place
- Broadstone, Dorset
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Alfred Russel Wallace." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/alfred_russel_wallace>.
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