Overview
- Researchers confirmed the pygmy long-fingered possum (Dactylonax kambuayai) and the ring-tailed glider (Tous ayamaruensis) in West Papua’s Vogelkop Peninsula after decades of clues from fossils, photos and field reports.
- The studies, published in Records of the Australian Museum, follow a Bishop Museum announcement verifying living animals once known solely from sub-fossil remains.
- Evidence combined recent photographs, reexamined museum material—including misidentified jarred specimens at the University of Papua New Guinea—and guidance from Tambrauw and Maybrat elders.
- The ring-tailed glider is placed in a newly recognized genus, Tous, distinguished by a prehensile tail and unfurred ears, while the possum uses an elongated fourth digit to extract insect larvae.
- Scientists warn of logging, land clearing and potential wildlife trade threats, note major gaps in data on ranges and ecology, and are keeping localities confidential as surveys and protection planning begin.