# Alfred Russel Wallace in the Aru Islands

Wallace visited the Aru Islands (in present-day eastern Indonesia) in **1857**, spending approximately six months there from January to July. This was one of the most significant and productive periods of his eight-year expedition through the Malay Archipelago.

## Why Aru Mattered

The Aru Islands held special interest because of their proximity to New Guinea and their position near what would become known as the **Wallace Line**. Wallace wanted to study whether the fauna resembled that of Australia/New Guinea or Asia.

## Key Discoveries and Collections

- **Birds of Paradise**: Wallace was among the first Europeans to observe living birds of paradise in the wild. He collected several species, including the King Bird of Paradise and the Greater Bird of Paradise, which were major scientific and commercial prizes.

- **Fauna confirmation**: He found that Aru's animals were distinctly Australasian in character—marsupials, cockatoos, and other species allied to New Guinea and Australia rather than to nearby Asian islands.

## Conditions and Experiences

Wallace wrote extensively about the challenging conditions—tropical heat, insects, and difficulties with local travel. He lived in native villages and relied on local hunters and assistants for collecting specimens.

## Significance

His Aru observations contributed substantially to his developing ideas about biogeography and species distribution, which informed his famous 1858 paper on natural selection.
