He Helped Discover Evolution, And Then Became Extinct
Ask most folks who came up with the theory of evolution, and they'll tell you it was Charles Darwin.
In fact, Alfred Russel Wallace, another British naturalist, was a co-discoverer of the theory — though Darwin has gotten most of the credit. Wallace died 100 years ago this year.
Wallace developed some of his most important ideas about natural selection during an eight-year expedition to what was then the Dutch East Indies — modern-day Indonesia — to observe wildlife and collect specimens. Few places on earth can rival this vast archipelago's tremendous diversity of plant and animal life.
Wallace collected more than 100,000 insect, bird and animal specimens, which he gave to British museums.
By 1855, Wallace had come to the conclusion that living things evolve. But he didn't figure out how until one night three years later. He was on the island of Halmahera, ill with a fever, when it came to him: Animals evolve by adapting to their environment.
As soon as he could, Wallace wrote his theory down in a closely argued, eight- or nine-page paper, says Tony Whitten, a Wallace expert with British-based Flora & Fauna International.
"He sent that to Darwin, as an older mentor, if you like, to have a peer review before publication," Whitten says.
Darwin had reached the same conclusion years earlier, and Wallace's letter spurred him to act. The two men published a joint paper in 1858, arguing the theory of evolution and natural selection. It shook mankind's assumptions about its origins, which were heavily influenced by religion.
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