Two Wallace Lines

A few days ago, we celebrated our 8th Anniversary on 18 April 2023. Coincidentally, this momentous date happens to share the same date British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace arrived on our shores back in 1854. Had he still been alive today, he would have also celebrated his 200th birthday this year! To mark this synchronicity, the Museum launched its latest book, ‘Two Wallace Lines’!

Produced entirely in-house, the book aims to integrate information from Wallace’s Singapore specimens, other unpublished and published observations (such as those in the ‘Malay Archipelago”), as well as material from an array of sources. The observations, illustrations, and photographs from other early visitors that feature in this book will glimpse a fuller picture of the island during the middle of the 19th century to gain a better perspective of Singapore’s natural history.

Sneak peeks into the book! Annotations are found within the pages of the book such that it looks like a notebook. (Credit: Two Wallace Lines)

Coincidentally, the route that Wallace took during his time in Singapore just happens to parallel with the Downtown Line, Singapore’s fifth Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line. As such, the team decided to refer this as the ‘Singapore Wallace Line’, which is based off a well-known biogeographical boundary called the ‘Wallace Line’, which was drawn by Wallace in 1859. This faunal boundary separates the biogeographical realms of Asia and Wallacea—one of Wallace’s significant contributions to the natural heritage of the region.

An excerpt taken from the book showing how the route that Wallace took during his time in Singapore coincidentally mirrors our present Downtown MRT line. (Credit: Two Wallace Lines)

This book is produced by Museum staff: Ms Jharyathri Thiagarajah, Ms Jeslynn Teo, Ms Kathy Poh, Ms Lydia Gan, Ms Wendy Zhang and Mr Shivaram Rasu; edited by Mr Martyn Low and designed by Ms Yen Ee Choo.