Indomalaya

The Indomalaya Ecozone was previously called the Oriental region.

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It extends from the Makran region of southern Pakistan through the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to lowland southern China, and through Indonesia as far as Java, Bali, and Borneo, east of which lies the Wallace line, the ecozone boundary named after Alfred Russel Wallace which separates Indomalaya from Australasia. Indomalaya also includes the Philippines, lowland Taiwan and Japan's Ryukyu Islands.

Related Topics:
Makran - Pakistan - Indian subcontinent - Southeast Asia - China - Indonesia - Java - Bali - Borneo - Wallace line - Alfred Russel Wallace - Australasia - Philippines - Taiwan - Japan - Ryukyu Islands

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Most of Indomalaya was originally covered by forest, mostly tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, with tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests predominant in much of India and parts of Southeast Asia. The tropical moist forests of Indomalaya are dominated by trees of the dipterocarp family (Dipterocarpaceae).

Related Topics:
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests - Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests - Dipterocarp

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Malesia is a botanical province which straddles the boundary between Indomalaya and Australasia. It includes the Malay Peninsula and the western Indonesian islands (known as Sundaland), the Philippines, the eastern Indonesian islands, and New Guinea. While the region has much in common botanically, they differ greatly in land animal species; Sundaland shares its fauna with mainland Asia, while the islands east of the Wallace line either lack land mammals, or are home to a land fauna derived from Australia, which includes marsupial mammals and ratite birds.

Related Topics:
Malesia - Malay Peninsula - Sundaland - Marsupial - Ratite

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One order of mammals, the colugos (Dermoptera), is endemic to the ecozone, as are families Tupaiidae (tree shrews) and Hylobatidae (gibbons). Large mammals characteristic of Indomalaya include the leopard, tiger, water buffalo, Indian elephant, Indian Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros, Malayan Tapir, orangutan, gibbon, and tarsier.

Related Topics:
Colugo - Endemic - Tree shrew - Gibbon - Leopard - Tiger - Water buffalo - Indian elephant - Indian Rhinoceros - Javan Rhinoceros - Malayan Tapir - Orangutan - Tarsier

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Indomalaya has three endemic bird families, the Irenidae (leafbirds and fairy bluebirds), Megalaimidae and Rhabdornithidae (Philippine creepers). Also characteristic are pheasants, pittas, Old World babblers, and flowerpeckers.

Related Topics:
Leafbird - Fairy bluebird - Megalaimidae - Philippine creeper - Pheasant - Pitta - Old World babbler - Flowerpecker

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The flora of Indomalaya blends elements from Laurasia and Gondwana. Gondwanian elements were first introduced by India, which detached from Gondwana approximately 90 MYA, carrying its Gondwana-derived flora and fauna, including the flowering plant families Crypteroniaceae and possibly Dipterocarpaceae, and cichlid fish. India collided with Asia 30-45 MYA, and exchanged species. Later, as Australia-New Guinea drifted north, the collision of the Australian and Asian plates pushed up the islands of Wallacea, which were separated from one another by narrow straits, allowing a botanic exchange between Indomalaya and Australasia. Asian rainforest flora, including the dipterocarps, island-hopped across Wallacea to New Guinea, and several Gondwanian plant families, including podocarps and araucarias, moved westward from Australia-New Guinea into western Malesia and Southeast Asia.

Related Topics:
Laurasia - Gondwana - MYA - Flowering plant - Families - Crypteroniaceae - Cichlid - Australia-New Guinea - Wallacea - Australasia - Podocarp - Araucaria

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See also:

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:List of Indomalaya ecoregions

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:Malesia

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:Sundaland

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:Ecoregions of India

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:Ecoregions of the Philippines

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