from The Geographical Distribution of Animals (1876), by Alfred Russel Wallace
Modern biogeography---the study of the distribution of species---still relies heavily on the above map, despite the fact that it was drawn by the field's founder, Alfred Russel Wallace, in 1876. The map indicates regions of historical species mixing, pointing out, for instance, that a mouse in North Africa is more likely and able to mix with its European brethren than its South African cousins. This week researchers have revealed a new and improved biogeographical map, published in Science, which they hope will become the new baseline for ecological and evolutionary studies as well as conservation efforts.
Wallace's map, and accompanying two-volume text, was an early attempt to divide and define the world according to its species. He was a scientific maverick in his day. The traveling naturalist co-discovered the theory of natural selection alongside (but independently from) Darwin, and ...
