Wallace's line

American  

noun

Zoogeography.

1. an imaginary line that separates the Oriental and Australian zoogeographical regions and passes between Bali and Lombok, west of Sulawesi, and east of the Philippines.

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Wallace's line British  

noun

1. the hypothetical boundary between the Oriental and Australasian zoogeographical regions, which runs between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Lombok, through the Macassar Strait, and SE of the Philippines

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Etymology

Origin of Wallace's line

First recorded in 1865–70; after A. R. Wallace

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Wallace's line

Woodpeckers, however, have crossed Wallace's line into Celebes and adjacent islands, and may yet reach Australia naturally.

From An Australian Bird Book A Pocket Book for Field Use by Leach, John Albert

Celebes, Papua, and the other islands east of Java beyond Wallace’s line fall within the Australian region.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various

Only one Cockatoo transgresses Wallace's line to the west, and that is found in the Philippine Islands; evidently it has spread there from the adjacent part of the Australian region.

From An Australian Bird Book A Pocket Book for Field Use by Leach, John Albert

One of these has spread across Wallace's line to the small Kangean Island, near Java.

From An Australian Bird Book A Pocket Book for Field Use by Leach, John Albert

To this boundary has been given the name of Wallace’s line, after the eminent naturalist, A.R.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various