![]() ![]() His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization. Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. 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 did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He is best known for independently proposing a theory of natural selection which prompted Charles Darwin to publish his own theory. Wallace was one of the leading evolutio Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. ![]()
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