Sundaland

views updated May 23 2018

Sundaland A geographical unit composed of Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Palawan, with the intervening small islands, which all lie on the shallow-water (less than 200 m) Sunda shelf, which was exposed during periods of low sea level in the Pleistocene. The fauna of this region is fundamentally homogeneous and differs slightly from that of areas further north-west, which are more seasonal, despite the fact that today Malaya is linked by an isthmus to the Asian mainland.

Sundaland

views updated Jun 08 2018

Sundaland A geographical unit composed of Malaya, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, with the intervening small islands, which are linked by the shallow-water (less than 200 m) Sunda shelf, which was exposed during periods of low sea level in the Pleistocene. The fauna of this region is fundamentally homogeneous and differs slightly from that of areas further north-west, despite the fact that Malaya today is linked by an isthmus to the Asian mainland.

Sundaland

views updated May 08 2018

Sundaland Name commonly given to the unit composed of Malaya, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, with the intervening small islands; these are linked by the shallow-water (less than 200 m) Sunda shelf, which was exposed during periods of low sea level in the Pleistocene.