Wallace's Line Research Articles

Microstructural Variation in Quartzofeldspathic Mylonites: Example from Schirmacher Hills, East Antarctica

Analysis of the Philippine fossil record is crucial in understanding the complex vertebrate distribution in this region and its relationship to Wallace's Line. The island of Palawan is of particular importance due to its westerly position within the Philippines, associating it more closely with islands on the Asian continental shelf, especially during the lowered sea levels of the Pleistocene. Palawan undoubtedly provided an important stepping stone for dispersing animals and humans into the Philippines. Humans first colonized Palawan ca. 40,000 year B.P. and likely had a dramatic impact on the distribution of indigenous floras and faunas. This study is the first to analyze the micro-vertebrate fossil assemblage of Palawan and to assess anthropogenic impact for the past 11,000 years. From May to July, 1997, we conducted five, small test excavations in Quezon Municipality, Palawan Province to locate productive sites for future, expanded excavations. We identified 753 terrestrial vertebrate bones (22 amphibian, 125 reptile, 35 bird, 571 mammal) resulting in 28 precisely identified species. Three species identified in the fossil assemblage are previously unrecorded from Palawan (scops-owl, Otus sp., swiftlet, Collocalia salangana, and shrew Crocidura sp.), while one, the Mountain White-eye (Zosterops montanus), lives only at high elevations today. Most species were recovered in a cultural site (Tarung-tung Cave) and are indicative of human consumption. Comparing these results to Borneo (a true continental island) provides insight into the affinity of the Palawan vertebrate fauna and may show the existence of a land bridge during the Pleistocene. The absence of large carnivores and primates from the Palawan fossil assemblage suggests a more insular affinity compared to Borneo. On the other hand, Palawan's fauna is relatively rich (with small carnivores and a pheasant) compared to truly oceanic islands. Future expanded excavations will focus on sampling vertebrates that lived during the first human colonization, as well as reconstructing the prehistoric ecology of the island.

Fast trains, slow boats, and the ancestry of the Polynesian islanders.

The question of the origins of the Polynesians has, for over 200 years, been the subject of adventure science. Since Captain Cook's first speculations on these isolated Pacific islanders, their language affiliations have been seen as an essential clue to the solution. The geographic and numeric centre of gravity of the Austronesian language family is in island Southeast Asia, which was therefore originally seen as their dispersal homeland. However, another view has held sway for 15 years, the 'out of Taiwan' model, popularly known as the 'express train to Polynesia'. This model, based on the combined evidence of archaeology and linguistics, proposes a common origin for all Austronesian-speaking populations, in an expansion of rice agriculturalists from south China/Taiwan beginning around 6,000 years ago. However, it is becoming clear that there is, in fact, little supporting evidence in favour of this view. Alternative models suggest that the ancestors of the Polynesians achieved their maritime skills and horticultural Neolithic somewhere between island Southeast Asia and Melanesia, at an earlier date. Recent advances in human genetics now allow for an independent test of these models, lending support to the latter view rather than the former. Although local gene flow occurring between the bio-geographic regions may have been the means for the dramatic cultural spread out to the Pacific, the immediate genetic substrate for the Polynesian expansion came not from Taiwan, but from east of the Wallace line, probably in Wallacea itself.

Late Quaternary terrestrial vertebrates from Palawan Island, Philippines

Analysis of the Philippine fossil record is crucial in understanding the complex vertebrate distribution in this region and its relationship to Wallace's Line. The island of Palawan is of particular importance due to its westerly position within the Philippines, associating it more closely with islands on the Asian continental shelf, especially during the lowered sea levels of the Pleistocene. Palawan undoubtedly provided an important stepping stone for dispersing animals and humans into the Philippines. Humans first colonized Palawan ca. 40,000 year B.P. and likely had a dramatic impact on the distribution of indigenous floras and faunas. This study is the first to analyze the micro-vertebrate fossil assemblage of Palawan and to assess anthropogenic impact for the past 11,000 years. From May to July, 1997, we conducted five, small test excavations in Quezon Municipality, Palawan Province to locate productive sites for future, expanded excavations. We identified 753 terrestrial vertebrate bones (22 amphibian, 125 reptile, 35 bird, 571 mammal) resulting in 28 precisely identified species. Three species identified in the fossil assemblage are previously unrecorded from Palawan (scops-owl, Otus sp., swiftlet, Collocalia salangana, and shrew Crocidura sp.), while one, the Mountain White-eye ( Zosterops montanus), lives only at high elevations today. Most species were recovered in a cultural site (Tarung-tung Cave) and are indicative of human consumption. Comparing these results to Borneo (a true continental island) provides insight into the affinity of the Palawan vertebrate fauna and may show the existence of a land bridge during the Pleistocene. The absence of large carnivores and primates from the Palawan fossil assemblage suggests a more insular affinity compared to Borneo. On the other hand, Palawan's fauna is relatively rich (with small carnivores and a pheasant) compared to truly oceanic islands. Future expanded excavations will focus on sampling vertebrates that lived during the first human colonization, as well as reconstructing the prehistoric ecology of the island.

Replicating the first known sea travel by humans: the lower pleistocene crossing of Lombok Strait

The first successful experimental crossing of the Wallace Line by means of a primitive raft without steering or sail is reported. Forming part of a long-term project of exploring the technology and use of the most archaic sea-going vessels, this experiment seeks to examine the minimum requirements of succeeding in crossing Lombok Strait, Indonesia. The first effective maritime colonization in human history is thought to have taken place there, leading to the subsequent hominid occupation of Flores about 850,000 years ago. The rationale and methodology of this replication experiment, which took place in January 2000, are discussed, and the implications of the principal findings are briefly considered. They are significant for the understanding of the technological, cultural and cognitive development of Pleistocene hominids.

A history of Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific

Introduction. Part I: Foundations of Contemporary Identities 1. Representations of Regional, National and 'Ethnic' Identities. Naming Rights. European Frameworks. Anthropology. Development Economics. History. Not a Self-Evident Region. 2. Patterns of Pre-European Settlement and Interaction. 'Indigenous' Communities. Austronesians, Lapita, Polynesians: Chronologies and Charters. Fragmentation. What Held Societies Together? Dealing with Outsiders. 3. Intersecting Worlds. 'Scientific Discoveries' and Conceptual Maps. Captain Cook. Du Fresne. Encounters in the Twentieth Century. Maori Discovery of Aborigines. 4. Depopulation and Immigration. Depopulation. Dying Races. Displacement. Colonization and Settlement. Part II: New Societies and Economies 5. New Social Forms. Convicts and Settlers. Protestants and Polynesians. The Catholic Revival. The New Laws. Tensions Between Empires. Sport and Civilization. 6. Struggles for Land. Maori and Pakeha. Australian Squatters and Selectors. Island Plantations and Cooperatives. Land, Sovereignty and War. Land and Destinies. 7. Mining. Eldorado v. Arcadia. Digger Democracy. Types of Mining Enterprise. Other Minerals. Mining in the Islands. 8. Labour Relations. The Convicts in Australia. Women Convicts. Free Settlement. Assisted Labour. A French Australia? Segregated Labour Markets. Plantations. Part III: New States and Social Identities 9. New States. An Imagined Region. The Entrepreneurial States. Kingitanga. Australian Federation and Manifest Destinies. 10. New Settler Societies. Men's Countries, Women's Rights. Whom to Exclude. Settler Societies and Cultural Expressions. The Bulletin. Bush Mythologies. Urban Australia. 11. Capital and Labour: Resisting Globalization Boom and Bust. Arbitration and Protection. The Family and the Gender Division of Labour. 12. Be Prepared! Defence. Social Preparations. Populate or Perish. Measures. Part IV: Wars and Reconstructions 13. The Great War. Anzac Legends. Mothers, Sisters and Wives. Women's War Service. Pacifists. The Odd Woman Out: Ettie Rout. 14. Anxious Peace. Financial Insecurity. The Great Depression. Welfare. Eugenics and King Baby. For Art and Country: The Literature of Nation-Building.The Island Dependencies. Maori and Aboriginal Initiatives. 15. War in Europe, and in the Pacific. Storm Clouds. War in Europe. War in the Pacific. Taking Part. Women and Men. Plans and Visions of Reconstruction. New Zealand: Equality of Opportunity. Bringing the Australian Intelligentsia to Heel. 16. Inter-dependencies. Cold War, the American Alliance and Nuclear Politics. Colonial Administrations Restored. Migration from Europe, Polynesia, Asia. Maori and Aboriginal Urbanization. Suburbia. Decentralization. Part V: Reflections on Contemporary Identities 17. Expanding Citizenship. Aboriginal Australians. Torres Strait Islanders. South Sea Islanders. Maori Revival and the Waitangi Tribunal. Women's Liberation and Feminist Politics. 18. Decolonization? Colonial Contexts. British Withdrawal. French Dependencies. Anglo-French Condominium. New Zealand and Australian Dependencies. Island Independence. 19. Globalization and National Identities. The Closer Economic Relationship. Muldoon and Douglas. Australia and APEC. Mining. Global or Regional? 20. Popular Culture. Cultural Globalization. An Australian Hoax. Youth Revolution. Popular Culture. American Influence and Local Invention. From Bush to Beach Australia. Clean, Green New Zealand. Film. Sport. Expatriates. Globalism and Parochialism. 21. Contemporary Identities. Regional Crises and Security. New Caledonia. Wallace's Other Line. Defining Aotearoa/New Zealand. Defining Australia. A Coherent Region. Appendix. Bibliography. Index.

Polynesian origins. Slow boat to Melanesia?

The origin of the Polynesian islanders and of the Austronesian languages that they speak has been debated for more than 200 years. Diamond has presented the predominantly held modern viewpoint, described as the 'express train to Polynesia' model, which proposes that the ancestors of the Polynesians were early farmers who dispersed south from a homeland in South China/Taiwan, through Island Southeast Asia (replacing an indigenous 'Australoid' hunter-gatherer population), and then on east, out into the Pacific — all within the past 6,000 years1. However, evidence is accumulating from several genetic markers that Polynesian lineages have a much deeper ancestry within tropical Island Southeast Asia than this hypothesis would suggest. The new evidence implies that the Polynesians originated not in China/Taiwan, but in eastern Indonesia, somewhere between Wallace's line and the island of New Guinea.

A molecular test of Huxley's line: Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) in Borneo and the Philippines

Abstract A biogeographic and phylogenetic study of Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) in the Sundaland region (Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia) and the Philippines using nuclear ribosomal (ITS) DNA sequence data reveals a major division between the Cyrtandra floras of Sundaland and the Philippines. Palawan, the most westerly of the Philippine islands, emerges as an area of mixing between these two. The Bornean element in the Cyrtandra flora of Palawan (two species in our sample) appears to result from recent (i.e. Pleistocene) dispersal from Borneo. The remaining seven species sampled from Palawan are most closely related to those from elsewhere in the Philippines. However, the Palawan clade is sister to the other Philippine taxa, suggesting an ancient (possibly Pliocene) vicariance event. Huxley's line—a zoogeographic boundary placing Palawan and Borneo together—receives some support from this study as there is evidence of recent dispersal of Bornean flora into Palawan. However, in terms of more ancient biogeographic patterning of the region, Palawan has stronger links with the other Philippine islands.

A molecular test of Huxley's line Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) in Borneo and the Philippines

A biogeographic and phylogenetic study of Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) in the Sundaland region (Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia) and the Philippines using nuclear ribosomal (ITS) DNA sequence data reveals a major division between the Cyrtandra floras of Sundaland and the Philippines. Palawan, the most westerly of the Philippine islands, emerges as an area of mixing between these two. The Bornean element in the Cyrtandra flora of Palawan (two species in our sample) appears to result from recent (i.e. Pleistocene) dispersal from Borneo. The remaining seven species sampled from Palawan are most closely related to those from elsewhere in the Philippines. However, the Palawan clade is sister to the other Philippine taxa, suggesting an ancient (possibly Pliocene) vicariance event. Huxley's line—a zoogeographic boundary placing Palawan and Borneo together—receives some support from this study as there is evidence of recent dispersal of Bornean flora into Palawan. However, in terms of more ancient biogeographic patterning of the region, Palawan has stronger links with the other Philippine islands.

A Genetic Wallace's Line Across Wyoming - Genetic Structure of North American Rosy Finches

North American rosy-finches (genus Leucosticte ) are cunently classified by the American Ornithologists' Union (1998) as three species - the Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, L. australis, with a breeding range largely restricted to the Colorado Rockies, but extending barely into southeast Wyoming and northern New Mexico, the Black Rosy-Finch, L. atrata, breeding from Utah north through western Wyoming (including GTNP) and west to Idaho and Nevada, and the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, L. tephrocotis, breeding from the Sierra Nevada through the Cascades and from northern Montana through the Rockies to Alaska. Based on previous results for a surprising genetic break for black bears (Ursus americanus) across Wyoming, I was interested in the degree of genetic differentiation among populations of rosy-finches, particularly between Brown-capped Rosy-Finches in Colorado and Black Rosy-Finches in Wyoming. Because the mating system is largely unknown, and because of reports in the literature of highly male-biased sex ratios (e.g., 6 males per female; French, 1959), I was also interested in using genetic markers to assess patterns of parentage in rosy-finches. Because of its striking plumage (often indicative of strong sexual selection) I was particularly interested in the Black Rosy-Finch. Using polymorphic microsatellites (nuclear DNA) we have now analyzed an initial sample of individuals from the three North American forms, including three sets of nestling Black Rosy­ Finches and the behavioral father at one of the nests.

Molecular phylogeny of osteoglossoids: a new model for Gondwanian origin and plate tectonic transportation of the Asian arowana.

One of the traditional enigmas in freshwater zoogeography has been the evolutionary origin of Scleropages formosus inhabiting Southeast Asia (the Asian arowana), which is a species threatened with extinction among the highly freshwater-adapted fishes from the order Osteoglossiformes. Dispersalists have hypothesized that it originated from the recent (the Miocene or later) transmarine dispersal of morphologically quite similar Australasian arowanas across Wallace's Line, but this hypothesis has been questioned due to their remarkable adaptation to freshwater. We determined the complete nucleotide sequences of two mitochondrial protein genes from 12 osteoglossiform species, including all members of the suborder Osteoglossoidei, with which robust molecular phylogeny was constructed and divergence times were estimated. In agreement with previous morphology-based phylogenetic studies, our molecular phylogeny suggested that the osteoglossiforms diverged from a basal position of the teleostean lineage, that heterotidines (the Nile arowana and the pirarucu) form a sister group of osteoglossines (arowanas in South America, Australasia, and Southeast Asia), and that the Asian arowana is more closely related to Australasian arowanas than to South American ones. However, molecular distances between the Asian and Australasian arowanas were much larger than expected from the fact that they are classified within the same genus. By using the molecular clock of bony fishes, tested for its good performance for rather deep divergences and calibrated using some reasonable assumptions, the divergence between the Asian and Australasian arowanas was estimated to date back to the early Cretaceous. Based on the molecular and geological evidence, we propose a new model whereby the Asian arowana vicariantly diverged from the Australasian arowanas in the eastern margin of Gondwanaland and migrated into Eurasia on the Indian subcontinent or smaller continental blocks. This study also implicates the relatively long absence of osteoglossiform fossil records from the Mesozoic.

Biogeography. A marine Wallace's line?

Biogeography. A marine Wallace's line?

Evaluating trans-tethys migration: an example using acrodont lizard phylogenetics.

A phylogenetic tree for acrodont lizards (Chamaeleonidae and Agamidae) is established based on 1434 bases (1041 informative) of aligned DNA positions from a 1685-1778 base pair region of the mitochondrial genome. Sequences from three protein-coding genes (ND1, ND2, and COI) are combined with sequences from eight intervening tRNA genes for samples of 70 acrodont taxa and two outgroups. Parsimony analysis of nucleotide sequences identifies eight major clades in the Acrodonta. Most agamid lizards are placed into three distinct clades. One clade is composed of all taxa occurring in Australia and New Guinea; Physignathus cocincinus from Southeast Asia is the sister taxon to the Australia-New Guinea clade. A second clade is composed of taxa occurring from Tibet and the Indian Subcontinent east through South and East Asia. A third clade is composed of taxa occurring from Africa east through Arabia and West Asia to Tibet and the Indian Subcontinent. These three clades contain all agamid lizards except Uromastyx, Leiolepis, and Hydrosaurus, which represent three additional clades of the Agamidae. The Chamaeleonidae forms another clade weakly supported as the sister taxon to the Agamidae. All eight clades of the Acrodonta contain members occurring on land masses derived from Gondwanaland. A hypothesis of agamid lizards rafting with Gondwanan plates is examined statistically. This hypothesis suggests that the African/West Asian clade is of African or Indian origin, and the South Asian clade is either of Indian or Southeast Asian origin. The shortest tree suggests a possible African origin for the former and an Indian origin for the latter, but this result is not statistically robust. The Australia-New Guinea clade rafted with the Australia-New Guinea plate and forms the sister group to a Southeast Asian taxon that occurs on plates that broke from northern Australia-New Guinea. Other acrodont taxa are inferred to be associated with the plates of Afro-Arabia and Madagascar (Chameleonidae), India (Uromastyx), or southeast Asia (Hydrosaurus and Leiolepis). Introduction of different biotic elements to Asia by way of separate Gondwanan plates may be a major theme of Asian biogeography. Three historical events may be responsible for the sharp faunal barrier between Southeast Asia and Australia-New Guinea, known as Wallace's line: (1) primary vicariance caused by plate separations; (2) secondary contact of Southeast Asian plates with Eurasia, leading to dispersal from Eurasia into Southeast Asia, and (3) dispersal of the Indian fauna (after collision of that subcontinent) to Southeast Asia. Acrodont lizards show the first and third of these biogeographic patterns and anguid lizards exhibit the second pattern. Modern faunal diversity may be influenced primarily by historical events such as tectonic collisions and land bridge connections, which are expected to promote episodic turnover of continental faunas by introducing new faunal elements into an area. Repeated tectonic collisions may be one of the most important phenomena promoting continental biodiversity. Phylogenetics is a powerful method for investigating these processes.

A Biogeographer's Construction of Tropical Lands: A.R. Wallace, Biogeographical Method and The Malay Archipelago

Alfred Russel Wallace is closely associated with the Malay Archipelago. As a collector of biological specimens, he spent eight years in the region during the mid nineteenth‐century. Wallace became one of the foremost natural historian‐philosophers and a powerful voice in the emerging sub‐discipline of biogeography following his return to the UK. He is perhaps best remembered by the Wallace's Line, which bisects the Malay Archipelago, marking an abrupt biogeographical disjunction that is most apparent for mammals and birds. The influence of Wallace's ideas on modern constructions of the Malay Archipelago in particular and the tropical world in general has been profound. Wallace's biogeography, with its reliance on reductionism, scientific taxonomy and the identification and mapping of “native” biota, has also influenced conservation theory and practice. In this paper, I argue that preconceived notions together with predominant values of scientific endeavour during the Victorian period strongly affected Wallace's constructions. The view of tropical environments that Wallace helped to construct is at odds with modern theories of environmental change, while his biogeographical distribution maps share many weaknesses with ethnographic studies of the colonial period. In conclusion, rather than static distribution patterns, the apparently continuous re‐mixing of biota in low latitudes offers biogeographers much scope for study. The results of such studies, when combined with a greater awareness of indigenous perceptions and systems of knowledge, would appear to provide a much more secure basis upon which to found conservation thought and practice.

Pleistocene Timor: some corrections

The Indonesian island Flores has been suggested to have been occupied by hominids up to 830 ka ago (Koenigswald and Ghosh 1973), by 730 ka (or 780 ka) ago (Sondaar et al. 1994), or before 800 ka ago (Morwood et al. 1999), and Middle Pleistocene jasperite quarrying has been reported from Roshi Danon in Roti (Bednarik 1998; Bednarik and Kuckenburg 1999). In the absence of such early finds from northern Wallacea it therefore stands to reason that, of Birdsell's (1957, 1977) three colonisation routes leading to Australia, the southemmost has the best prospects of being the correct version. It would have led from Java and Bali (Bali was connected to Java, and thus to the mainland, at times of low sea level) to Lombok. The most important biogeographical division in the world, the Wallace Line, runs through Lombok Strait. After this, a second sea crossing was necessary, at any sea level during the geological past, from Lombok to Sumbawa, and a third from there to Flores (assuming that some smaller islands such as Komodo were connected to the larger ones). Â There can be no reasonable doubt that, by the end of the Lower Pleistocene, perhaps around 800 ka, a large hominid population was well established in Flores, coexisting with an endemic and impoverished fauna dominated by Stegodontidae. The contemporaneity of Stegodon and Homo has been established by Verhoeven in mid- l963 (Verhoeven 1968) and confirmed at the same sites by Maringer in 1968 (Maringer and Verhoeven 1970; cf. Bednarik 1995a, b), Sondaar et al. (1994) and Morwood et al. (1999).

Molecular Systematics and Biogeography of the Southeast Asian Genus Caryota (Palmae)

Restriction site variation of chloroplast DNA was analyzed in nine of the eleven currently recognized species of Caryota. Phylogenetic relationships were estimated and used to examine biogeographic patterns in the genus. Analysis of 49 populations of Caryota and six species from the putative outgroup genera Arenga and Wallichia demonstrated low levels of inter- and intraspecific variation as seen in other groups of palms and long-lived perennials. A total of 796 restriction sites representing 4,752 bp (ca. 4.0%) of the chloroplast genome was detected with 75 sites (9.4% of the total) showing phylogenetically informative variation. Phylogenetic analysis identified three main clades, each with one widespread variable species and one or more geographically restricted species. Hybridization was suggested as a probable explanation for patterns of variation detected in several instances of species sympatry. Biogeographic patterns among the three principal clades are largely congruent with Wallace's 1910 Line or Huxley's Line. The Maxima clade consists of three species restricted to the west of Huxley's Line. The Mitis clade consists of two species found west Huxley's Line and on the island of Sulawesi. The Rumphiana clade includes four species distributed, with one exception, to the east of Huxley's Line and on the border islands of Borneo and Palawan. The economically important C urens, the errant member of the Rumphiana clade, has a distribution disjunct to India and Sri Lanka, possibly a reflection of early human introduction, cultivation, and subsequent natural dispersal into local forests.

Origin of the Sulawesi macaques (Cercopithecidae: Macaca) as suggested by mitochondrial DNA phylogeny

One of the sharpest biogeographical transitions in the world occurs between the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sulawesi; this transition is demarcated by Wallace's line. Macaque monkeys represent an interesting anomaly to faunal distributions in this region as they occur on both sides of Wallace's line, withMacaca fascicularis,M. nemestrinaand other species to the west and seven Sulawesi species to the east. We have investigated macaque evolution and dispersal in the Sunda region and Sulawesi using phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences. Female philopatry of macaques, which causes sharp geographic clustering of maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, makes mitochondrial phylogenies particularly useful for investigating ancient patterns of dispersal. Results of this study suggest the following: (1)M. fascicularisis not a sister taxon to any species of Sulawesi macaque; (2) haplotypes of someM. nemestrinahave a sister relationship to northern and central Sulawesi macaques, while haplotypes of otherM. nemestrinahave a sister relationship to southern Sulawesi macaques; (3) Sulawesi was probably colonized by macaques twice, once to the base of the northern peninsula now occupied byM. heckiand once to the southwestern peninsula now occupied byM. maura; and (4) within north/central and southern Sulawesi, patterns of dispersal are largely consistent with contemporary and past geography of the island, with the exception of a geographically discontinuous relationship betweenM. nigraand a portion ofM. tonkeanafrom a region in northwest central Sulawesi.

Origin of the Sulawesi macaques (Cercopithecidae:Macaca) as suggested by mitochondrial DNA phylogeny

One of the sharpest biogeographical transitions in the world occurs between the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sulawesi; this transition is demarcated by Wallace's line. Macaque monkeys represent an interesting anomaly to faunal distributions in this region as they occur on both sides of Wallace's line, withMacaca fascicularis,M. nemestrinaand other species to the west and seven Sulawesi species to the east. We have investigated macaque evolution and dispersal in the Sunda region and Sulawesi using phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences. Female philopatry of macaques, which causes sharp geographic clustering of maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, makes mitochondrial phylogenies particularly useful for investigating ancient patterns of dispersal. Results of this study suggest the following: (1)M. fascicularisis not a sister taxon to any species of Sulawesi macaque; (2) haplotypes of someM. nemestrinahave a sister relationship to northern and central Sulawesi macaques, while haplotypes of otherM. nemestrinahave a sister relationship to southern Sulawesi macaques; (3) Sulawesi was probably colonized by macaques twice, once to the base of the northern peninsula now occupied byM. heckiand once to the southwestern peninsula now occupied byM. maura; and (4) within north/central and southern Sulawesi, patterns of dispersal are largely consistent with contemporary and past geography of the island, with the exception of a geographically discontinuous relationship betweenM. nigraand a portion ofM. tonkeanafrom a region in northwest central Sulawesi.

Late Quaternary Paleoceanographic Changes off Southern Java.

We analyzed diatom assemblages, oxygen isotopes in foraminiferal tests, and mineral compositions in the deep sea cores from off southern Java and attempted reconstruction of ocean currents to obtain informations about Asian monsoons, thermohaline conveyer system, and crossing of Wallace's line of modern Homo sapiens. Results suggest that (1) the West Australian Current was enhanced and the boundary zone between tropic and subtropic areas moved northwards during (sub) glacial periods; (2) the Equatorial Countercurrent was enhanced and the boundary zone moved southwards during interglacials; (3) the Java Coastal Current from the north was enhanced during oxygen isotopic stages 3 to 2, when the northwestern monsoon was enhanced, and then it was weakend by stage 2 under the gradual transgression; (4) the Western Australian Current caused coastal upwelling when the thermohaline conveyer system was weakened, but the westward horizontal movement of the conveyer system interrupted vertical movement of upwellings during the Last Interglacial; and (5) modern Homo sapiens might have crossd Wallace's line during the interval from 65 to 50ka, from the period when the Java Coastal Current, running eastward under the influens of northwestern monsoonal wind, began to be enforced to the period when the flows halted.

Biogeographic relationships of primates on South‐East Asian islands

SummaryThe number of primate species and genera on thirty‐one south‐east Asian islands west of the Wallace Line, including Sulawesi, is highly significantly related to surface area of the islands, as expected, but the z value (slope) of each relationship is low (0.21 for species). No association exists between number of taxa and distance to nearest mainland, or to nearest larger island. Excluding the non‐Sunda Shelf islands only negligibly changes the relationships. A significant correlation exists between island size and median taxon's body mass, with taxa of 10 kg or more occurring on only the two largest islands. Hence, the primate community changes greatly with island size. The existence of several genera, but no congeners, on small islands, and a checkerboard distribution of the two nocturnal genera (Nycticebus and Tarsius), hints at interspecific competition as a cause of extinction. It is suggested that for comparative purposes, genera/area analyses might be more useful than species/area analyses, because genera are more taxonomically stable, perhaps more comparable across deeper taxa, and might be a better indication of degree of variability.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews