Which naturalist, while working in Malay Archipelago came to similar…

The correct answer is Option (2) → Alfred Wallace

Darwin was not alone in reaching the idea of natural selection. Around the same time, another naturalist working in the Malay Archipelago came to similar conclusions.

Option (1) Hugo de Vries — Incorrect. Hugo de Vries proposed mutation as the cause of evolution, from his work on evening primrose, early in the twentieth century.

Option (2) Alfred Wallace — Correct. Alfred Wallace, a naturalist who worked in the Malay Archipelago, came to conclusions similar to Darwin’s around the same time.

Option (3) Thomas Malthus — Incorrect. Thomas Malthus worked on populations, and his work may have influenced Darwin. He was not the naturalist of the Malay Archipelago.

Option (4) Ernst Heckel — Incorrect. Ernst Heckel proposed embryological support for evolution, which von Baer later disapproved.

NCERT Extract:
Evolution of Life Forms – A Theory – “… He called it natural selection and implied it as a mechanism of evolution. Let us also remember that Alfred Wallace, a naturalist who worked in Malay Archipelago had also come to similar conclusions around the same time. In due course of time, apparently new types of organisms are recognisable.”