Two Marsupials Thought Extinct for 6,000 Years Were Just Found Alive

Six thousand years is a long time to be missing. That is how long two small marsupials — the pygmy long-fingered possum and the ring-tailed glider — were known only from fossils and fragments of ancient bone. Scientists had written both off as extinct, casualties of a world that had moved on without them. Then, in the remote rainforests of the Vogelkop Peninsula in Papuan Indonesia, researchers found them very much alive.

The discovery was published in March 2026 in the journal Records of the Australian Museum and was led by Professor Tim Flannery, an Australian Museum Distinguished Visiting Fellow, alongside an international team that worked closely with Indigenous communities from the Tambrauw and Maybrat clans. Both animals were photographed in lowland and lower-mountain forest habitats — terrain so isolated that it had apparently kept these species hidden from science for thousands of years.

What Makes These Animals So Unusual

Both marsupials belong to a category scientists call “Lazarus species” — named after the biblical figure raised from the dead. The term describes animals that vanish from the fossil or sighting record for an extended period and then reappear. The coelacanth, the Wollemi pine, and the bush dog are among the other animals to earn that designation. Finding two Lazarus species in the same region at the same time is, by any measure, extraordinary.

The pygmy long-fingered possum is roughly the size of a human palm and weighs approximately 200 grams. Its most distinctive feature is an extra-long fourth finger on each hand — roughly twice the length of its other digits — which it uses to fish insect larvae from rotting wood. Researchers believe it listens for the low-frequency sounds of wood-boring beetle larvae, then tears open the bark and extracts them with that specialized digit.

The ring-tailed glider is the more structurally significant of the two finds. It represents an entirely new genus — the first new marsupial genus described from New Guinea in nearly 90 years. Weighing around 300 grams, it has bare ears unlike many of its relatives, a powerful prehensile tail it uses to grip branches as it moves through the canopy, and appears to form lifelong pair bonds, typically raising only one young per year.

A Discovery Hidden in Plain Sight

Part of what makes the story remarkable is how the rediscovery unfolded. One key specimen had been sitting in a museum collection since 1992, mislabeled as another species. It was only when researchers compared that specimen against older fossil material from Vogelkop caves that the match became clear. Photographs taken by local community members in 2015 and 2022 then provided the crucial bridge between the drawer specimens and living animals in the wild.

Professor Flannery described the dual find as exceptional. According to the Australian Museum’s official release, he noted that the Vogelkop Peninsula — an ancient piece of the Australian continent that became incorporated into the island of New Guinea — may shelter additional hidden species. “There are almost certainly more,” he said.

Why the Vogelkop Kept Them Hidden

New Guinea covers less than one percent of Earth’s landmass but harbors roughly five percent of its biodiversity, according to researchers cited in reporting by Smithsonian Magazine. Its rugged mountain ranges, formed by the collision of two tectonic plates, create what scientists describe as “sky islands” — isolated habitats that drive rapid speciation and protect lineages that have disappeared elsewhere. The lowland forest of the Vogelkop Peninsula, where both marsupials were documented, is precisely the kind of terrain where ancient lineages can persist unseen.

Both species depend heavily on old-growth trees. The ring-tailed glider nests in hollows that only form as trunks age over decades, and the pygmy possum forages through decaying wood. Logging remains an active threat throughout the region, and researchers say even minor habitat loss could push either species toward a genuine extinction — the permanent kind.

What Happens Next

The research team is keeping the exact locations of both animals confidential to protect them from wildlife traffickers. Conservation work is now focused on understanding precisely where the populations exist and how large they are, with the Global Wildlife Fund and the Minderoo Foundation supporting efforts to protect the Vogelkop forests in partnership with local Indigenous communities.

For now, the finding serves as a reminder that the natural world still holds surprises — and that some of its best-kept secrets have been waiting in museum drawers and remote forests for longer than recorded history.

References: Scientists Thought These Marsupials Went Extinct 6,000 Years Ago. They Just Found the Animals Alive. | Scientists find 2 marsupial species thought to have gone extinct 6,000 years ago living in the forests of New Guinea | Two Marsupials Rediscovered in New Guinea After 6,000 Years