隔开两个世界的无形屏障 The Invisible Barrier Keeping Two Worlds Apart

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科学家华莱士在 19 世纪发现的一条隐形线——华莱士线,它是两个高度不同的生物多样性区域的交汇点,塑造了许多物种的分布。华莱士线在生物分布、进化史和地球历史方面都有重要意义。虽然达尔文也做出了关键贡献,但华莱士被认为是揭示生物物种分布背后原因的先驱者。

In between two of the islands of Indonesia, there's an ancient line that is both real, and not real.

You can't see it, but it's there all the same.

If you stood on the coast of Bali and looked east to the shores of Lombok, you'd be staring right at the line's narrowest point: a 32 km stretch of water that seems pretty unassuming.

This invisible barrier weaves its way through the entire Malay Archipelago, the largest collection of islands on the planet.

See, on the western side, the animal life is characteristic of Asia, featuring rhinos, elephants, tigers, and woodpeckers, to name a few.

But cross the line, and things suddenly change.

You won't find those same species on the eastern side.

Instead, the islands have a totally different cast of ecological characters, including marsupials, Komodo dragons, cockatoos, and honeyeaters.

This is what scientists call a biogeographic boundary, the meeting point of two regions of biodiversity that are highly distinct.

And this particular line, called the Wallace Line, is perhaps the sharpest and most iconic of all.

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