Eric Waller, a biogeographer at the U.S. Geological Survey.

美国地质调查局的生物地理学家埃里克·沃勒说到。

" Some sponges have been dated as living for thousands of years, " says Huw Griffiths, BAS marine biogeographer.

英国海洋生物地理学家休·格里菲斯说：“一些海绵已经活了数千年。”

This is what created the stark contrast bisecting the jungle of islands that Wallace first sketched out in 1859, and that still fascinates biogeographers today.

这就是在1859年华莱士首次勾勒出的岛屿丛林中所产生的鲜明对比，而这一点至今仍令生物地理学家们着迷。