Alfred Russel Wallace independently developed an explanation of evolution through natural selection. His 1858 essay argued that variants could depart from an original type through differential persistence and reproduction. The essay was presented alongside writings by Charles Darwin, making the relationship between their independently developed ideas part of the publication history.[ref]
Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection by Alfred Russel Wallace. Preface and essay II; the linked collection is the 1871 edition
Portrait of Alfred Russel Wallace
. Wellcome Library, London / Wellcome Images, L0025210; reproduced in James Marchant’s Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences (1916). Original photographer unspecified. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International., via Wikimedia Commons. Source. Articles by others on the same topic
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, and biologist best known for his contributions to the theory of evolution by natural selection, which he developed independently of Charles Darwin. Wallace's work laid foundational principles in biogeography and ecology, and he is recognized for co-discovering the mechanism of evolution alongside Darwin.