In this year of Darwin anniversary celebrations, the name Alfred Russel Wallace has surfaced frequently. He was the co-author with Charles Darwin of the first scientific paper on natural selection (Linnean Society, 1st July, 1858), though in subsequent years Darwin’s reputation overshadowed Wallace’s. The evidence supports the view that Alfred Russel Wallace came to his conclusions independently from Darwin as a result of his travel in the Amazon basin and subsequently in Southeast Asia, where he sought evidence in support of the emerging theory of transmutation of species.