In the Past!

The Indo-Malaysian Region/Ecozone is a region in southern Asia that contains several different biomes, although the majority of the area is composed of tropical rainforest. Originally the tropical and subtropical forest were covered by moist broadleaf forests was most of Indo-Malaya region. However, the area is now dominated by trees that came from the Dipterocarpaceae family. This region emerged from the flora vegetation and fauna animals. This region’s formation can be explained through plate tectonics. The flora and fauna of the Indo-Malaysian rainforest are blended by the two ancient supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana. India detached from Gondwana approximately 90 million years ago and collided with Asia 30-45 million years ago. This brought over the flora and fauna of Gondwana, explaining the diversification and evolution of species. These species included cichlid fish, flowering plant families like Crypteroniaceae and Dipterocarpaceae. Later, Australia and New Guinea shifted north, causing the upward movement of the Wallacea islands. This allowed for the botanic integration between two regions, Indo-Malaysian and Australia. From this exchange, several Gondwanin plant families, such as podocarps and araucarias island-hopped across and moved westward into the Indo-Malaysian rainforest.

The Halmahera mountain in the past. (Indonesia)

The Halmahera mountain now. (Indonesia)

Plate Tectonics. This shows the region of the Indo-Malaysian rainforest.