Wallace — Photo Gallery — National Geographic Magazine

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The Man Who Wasn't Darwin

Alfred Russel Wallace charted a great dividing line in the living world—and found his own route to the theory of evolution.

/2008/12/wallace/img/01-butterfly-blue-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-01.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, Missouri Botanical Garden http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195763 /2008/12/wallace/img/02-cassowary-portrait-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-02.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Cleveland Metroparks Zoo http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195767 /2008/12/wallace/img/03-beetles-specimens-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-03.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Natural History Museum, London http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195773 /2008/12/wallace/img/04-borneo-hillside-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-04.jpg Photograph by Mattias Klum http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195762 /2008/12/wallace/img/05-letter-darwin-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-05.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Natural History Museum, London /2008/12/wallace/img/06-wallace-portrait-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-06.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Natural History Museum, London /2008/12/wallace/img/07-sumatran-tiger-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-07.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Fort Wayne Children's Zoo http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195769 /2008/12/wallace/img/08-frog-glass-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-08.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Fort Wayne Children's Zoo http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195765 /2008/12/wallace/img/09-butterfly-specimens-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-09.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Natural History Museum, London Ornithoptera croesus, show the sort of subtle individual variations that provide the raw material for natural selection. Wallace collected more than a hundred specimens on an island called Batchian.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195772 /2008/12/wallace/img/10-bird-of-paradise-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-10.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Natural History Museum, Tring http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195777 /2008/12/wallace/img/11-sumatran-rhino-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-11.jpg http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195766 /2008/12/wallace/img/12-siamang-giboon-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-12.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Fort Wayne Children's Zoo http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195768 /2008/12/wallace/img/13-tree-kangaroo-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-13.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Saint Louis Zoo http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195764 /2008/12/wallace/img/14-cockatoo-yellow-crested-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-14.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Santa Barbara Zoo http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195770 /2008/12/wallace/img/15-bali-bird-specimens-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-15.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Natural History Museum, Tring http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195778 /2008/12/wallace/img/16-orangutan-specimen-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-16.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Natural History Museum, Wandsworth http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195774 /2008/12/wallace/img/17-butterflies-green-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-17.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, Missouri Botanical Garden Ornithoptera priamus
The streamlined wings of birdwing butterflies prompted Wallace to speculate on their usefulness and the natural conditions that shaped them. "A short and rounded wing," he wrote, "accompanies a more feeble or more laborious flight," while pointed wings, like those found on fast-flying terns and falcons, give "increased rapidity." At some point, Wallace thought, the island habitat of members of the Papilionidae, or swallowtail family, must have been shared with such an abundance of insect-eaters that the threat of being consumed made "some unusual means of escape a necessity for the large-winged and showy butterflies." ]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195758 /2008/12/wallace/img/18-bird-of-paradise-tail-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-18.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Bronx Zoo Paradisaea minor
Extravagantly feathered birds of paradise captivated Wallace. When he published a two-volume account of his travels through the Malay Archipelago in 1869, he declared himself "the only Englishman who has seen these wonderful birds in their native forests."]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195759 /2008/12/wallace/img/19-pitta-bird-specimen-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-19.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Division of Birds, Smithsonian Institution Pittagenus (all)
Wallace spotted many species of pittas on his travels. These specimens are all from Sumatra and Borneo, west of Wallace's line; some species' ranges extend far beyond the island where they were collected. Wherever he found the plump tropical birds, Wallace wrote, pittas shared the habit of hopping across the ground in search of insects and seemed "free to adorn themselves with the brightest hues from Nature's laboratory."]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195760 /2008/12/wallace/img/20-babirusa-pig-skull-714.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-20.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Division of Mammals, Smithsonian Institution Babyrousa celebensis
Several species of babirusa, each having four curving tusks, long legs, and a largely fruit-based diet, are indigenous to Sulawesi and a few neighboring islands. The babirusa, Wallace wrote, "stands completely isolated, having no resemblance to the pigs of any other part of the world."]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195761 /2008/12/wallace/img/21-bee-specimen-475.jpg /2008/12/wallace/img/wallace-60-21.jpg Photograph by Robert Clark; Natural History Museum, London http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1195775