Chapter 1
Vertical extremes and sunken basins
Chapter 2
Waterways that break the rules
Chapter 3
Stone forests and painted mountains
Chapter 4
Island oddities and invisible borders
Ch 4 · Island oddities and invisible borders
schopenhauer The Wallace Line
In Bali, wild macaques swing! (A-ha!) / But cross the deep strait, cockatoos sing! (Oh yeah!)
schopenhauer A tiny, inhabited Japanese island featuring a volcano within a volcano.
BETA
schopenhauer Drag bizarre features onto the map to discover Asia's strangest island oddities.
Fun Fact
Dragon's Blood: Ancient people used the red sap of Socotra's Dragon's Blood Tree as a medicine, dye, and even as a varnish for Italian violins.
Glossary
wallace line (noun)
A hypothetical boundary separating the distinct biological regions of Asia and Australia. In 1859, Alfred Russel Wallace mapped this faunal divide between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Lombok.
A hypothetical boundary separating the distinct biological regions of Asia and Australia. In 1859, Alfred Russel Wallace mapped this faunal divide between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Lombok.
Quiz
Approximately how many residents live inside the volcanic caldera of Aogashima?
Quiz
What type of animals are found east of the Wallace Line, reflecting Australian evolutionary roots?
Quiz
Which iconic, red-sapped tree is native only to the isolated island of Socotra?
Quiz
What is the average elevation above sea level of the Maldives, the world's lowest country?
Quiz
To which country does the geographically isolated and biodiverse island of Socotra belong?
Quiz
Which English naturalist identified the invisible biological boundary known as the Wallace Line in 1859?