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

Strange it is that only one species should have spread to the west across Wallace's line to the island of Bali.

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

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

Wallace's line was barely formed when, at ten o'clock, Gladden's brigade, now commanded by Colonel Adams, moved again against Prentiss.

From From Fort Henry to Corinth by Force, M. F. (Manning Ferguson)

This includes the islands north-west of Australia out to Wallace's line, passing between Celebes and the Philippine Islands, Celebes and Borneo, and between the small islands of Lombok and Bali, east of Java.

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