HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Two marsupial species thought to be extinct for over 7,000 years have been rediscovered as living animals.
On Thursday, Bishop Museum, along with the State of Hawaii Museum of Natural and Cultural History, announced that the pygmy long-fingered possum and the ring-tailed glider were found in New Guinea.
The pygmy long-tailed possum, Dactylonax kambuayai, is the smallest living striped possum, with black and white stripes similar to a skunk.
The ring-tailed glider, Tous ayamaruensis, is a gliding possum that lives in the hollows of large trees.
The museum said they were found by a collaboration of scientists, citizen scientists, and indigenous communities, and were described by Bishop Museum president and CEO Dr. Kristofer Helgen and Australian Museum distinguished visiting fellow Dr. Tim Flannery.
“To be able to say that they indeed are alive brings me joy as a scientist and conservationist,” said Dr. Helgen. “It feels like a second chance to learn about, and protect, these remarkable animals.”
Both are fairly small animals that live in forest habitats and were known only from fossil records.
Over the past two years, Dr. Helgen and Dr. Flannery used specimens at the Bishop and Australian museums to document their findings and prove the continued existence of the two species, the museum said.
“Before this, we only knew these animals from teeth and bones in caves, fossils. This is a startling discovery because it shows us these animals are alive and well.” Helgen said.
The two marsupials were rediscovered in the 1990s by a friend of Dr. Helgen, Dr. Ken Aplin, who studied biodiversity and was an expert on the animals of New Guinea.
They were labeled as new to science and extinct after only fossils were found, but that changed after a photo of a then unknown marsupial was sent to Helgen.
“Immediately knew what it was — it was a gliding ring-tailed possum, and it had to be one of the two ‘extinct’ species Ken had originally named years ago,” he said.
The museum said it revealed that the species is culturally important in the Tambrauw and Maybrat areas of West Papua and provided information about this marsupial’s unique lifestyle.
Although the pygmy long-tailed possum and ring-tailed glider are considered to be very endangered, and have not faced a lot of threats until the recent past, Helgen said.
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