The Wallace Line is a well-demarcated ‘line’ that demarcates the anatomical boundary on the lateral aspect of soles of the foot where the glabrous plantar skin meets hair-bearing dorsal skin. The term is also applied to the palm as well. Some skin conditions such as lichen planus, pompholyx, or psoriasis can display a sharp cutoff at Wallace’s line
In biogeography, the term ‘Wallace Line’ also applies to a faunal boundary line drawn by the British naturalist Alfred Wallace in 1859 which separates the biogeographical area of Asia and “Wallacea”, a transitional zone between Asia and Australia. To the west of the line are organisms more related to Asian species and to the east there is a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin are more common.
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