The pygmy long-fingered possum (Dactylonax kambuayai), a feminine in Klalik space, Vogelkop Peninsula. Picture credit score: Carlos Bocos.
“The invention of 1 ‘Lazarus taxon,’ even when thought to have change into extinct lately, is an distinctive discovery,” mentioned Australian Museum Professor Tim Flannery.
“However the discovery of two species, thought to have been extinct for 1000’s of years, is exceptional.”
“The findings underscore the vital significance of preserving these distinctive bioregions and the worth of collaborative analysis in uncovering and defending hidden biodiversity.”
Beforehand recognized from Pleistocene fossils in Australia, and from Pleistocene-early Holocene fossils from New Guinea, the pygmy long-fingered possum and the ring-tailed glider have been present in remoted lowland forest habitats on the Vogelkop Peninsula.
“The Vogelkop is an historical piece of the Australian continent that has change into included into the island of New Guinea,” Professor Flannery mentioned.
“Its forests could shelter but extra hidden relics of a previous Australia.”
The pygmy long-fingered possum is a boldly striped marsupial with a exceptional adaptation — one digit on every hand is twice the size of the subsequent longest finger.
The species seems to have vanished from Australia through the Ice Age, the geological epoch when iconic megafauna, such because the diprotodon and the marsupial lion additionally grew to become extinct.
The ring-tailed glider (Tous ayamaruensis), a subadult in South Sorong space, Vogelkop Peninsula. Picture credit score: Arman Muharmansyah.
The ring-tailed glider is the closest dwelling relative of the Australian higher glider (Petauroides) and represents the primary new genus of New Guinean marsupial described since 1937.
Smaller than its Australian cousins, with unfurred ears and a strongly prehensile tail, the species types lifelong pair bonds and solely raises one younger yearly.
Like higher gliders, the marsupial nests in tree hollows within the tallest forest timber and faces threats from logging.
“Referred to domestically as Tous by some Tambrauw and Maybrat clans, the glider is a sacred animal,” mentioned Rika Korain, a Maybrat girl.
“Thought-about a manifestation of ancestors’ spirits and central to an academic apply known as ‘initiation’.”
“We labored very fastidiously and collaboratively with Tambrauw Elders and identification wouldn’t have been doable with out cooperation with Conventional House owners and this connection has been important for ongoing work.”
“I’m very proud that Papuan researchers contributed to those landmark discoveries, and need to thank the individuals of the Misool, Maybrat and Tambrouw areas who supported us within the subject,” added Dr. Aksamina Yohanita, a researcher on the College of Papua.
A paper descrinbing these discoveries was revealed on March 6 within the Information of the Australian Museum.
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Tim F. Flannery et al. 2026. Discovered alive after 6,000 years: fashionable information of an ‘extinct’ Papuan marsupial, Dactylonax kambuayai (Marsupialia: Petauridae), with a revision of the systematics and zoogeography of the genus Dactylonax. Rec. Aust. Mus 78 (1): 17-34; doi: 10.3853/j.2201-4349.78.2026.3003
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