ATTENBOROUGH: THE FORGOTTEN STORY OF ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE

Alfred Russel Wallace was a pioneering naturalist who discovered thousands of new species, published numerous books and conceived the most important theory in biology independently of Charles Darwin: evolution by natural selection.

But whilst Darwin has gone on to become a household name, Alfred Russel Wallace has largely remained in his shadow to this day.

On the 100th anniversary of Wallace's death, Sir David Attenborough tells the story of this extraordinary explorer and explains why Wallace is, in Attenborough's opinion, the "most admirable character in the history of science".

Continue to the BBC webpage and watch the accompanying video.

Images courtesy of The Natural History Museum, London, The Wallace Memorial Fund and The Linnean Society.