Two Marsupials Thought Extinct for 7,000 Years Found Alive in New Guinea
A wildlife photo shared online helped researchers rediscover two marsupials believed extinct for millennia
Scientists have confirmed that two marsupial species, known only from ancient fossils for more than 7,000 years, are still alive in New Guinea—discovered through a combination of Indigenous knowledge, a wildlife photograph, university specimens in a jar, and a citizen science platform.
The Bishop Museum in Honolulu announced the discovery on Tuesday. The pygmy long-fingered possum and the ring-tailed glider had not been confirmed alive for more than 7,000 years before this research.
The two marsupials are what scientists call “Lazarus species”—organisms that reappear after being thought extinct. Finding even one is rare.
“The discovery of two Lazarus species, thought to be extinct for millennia, is unprecedented,” said Dr. Tim Flannery of the Australian Museum in a news release.
Flannery and Dr. Kristofer Helgen of the Bishop Museum conducted the research over the past two years to confirm the animals’ existence in New Guinea.
“To be able to say that they indeed are alive brings me joy as a scientist and conservationist. It feels like a second chance to learn about, and protect, these remarkable animals,” Helgen said in the news release.
How the species were originally identified
The story stretches back to the 1990s. Dr. Ken Aplin first identified the species through fossils after teeth belonging to the animals were excavated during an archaeological dig in western New Guinea.
For years, those teeth were the only evidence these creatures had ever existed. The scientific assumption was that they had died out thousands of years ago.
Then Helgen spotted something. He identified one of the species after seeing a photograph of the gliding ring-tailed possum in the wild and recognizing it as one of the species Aplin had previously classified as extinct. A single photograph taken in the field matched up with ancient fossil records, bridging a gap of millennia.
Indigenous communities and citizen science made it possible
This was not the product of a well-funded expedition with high-tech equipment. Indigenous communities in the Tambrauw and Maybrat regions of West Papua assisted scientists in identifying the animals based on their knowledge of the marsupials’ behavior and lifestyle. People who lived alongside these creatures already knew they were there. The scientific record just hadn’t caught up.
The pygmy long-fingered possum got its own separate line of confirmation. Researchers discovered two preserved specimens of the species in a jar at the University of Papua New Guinea. Those specimens provided evidence that the species had survived more recently than previously believed—meaning the animal had been collected, stored, and cataloged without anyone connecting it to Aplin’s fossil record.
Then there’s Carlos Bocos. A citizen scientist, Bocos posted photographs of the pygmy long-fingered possum on the platform iNaturalist. His images provided additional evidence confirming the species’ survival.
Bocos later became a co-author on the study documenting the species’ survival—a path from casual wildlife photography on a public platform to co-authorship on a peer-reviewed paper.
What this means for extinction research
Helgen framed the discovery as something beyond a feel-good zoological story. He said the rediscovery demonstrates that “extinction can be averted,” adding, “It’s a message of hope, one of second chances.”
That framing matters because extinction timelines are often treated as final. Once a species drops off the confirmed-alive list, research funding, habitat protection, and conservation attention tend to shift elsewhere.
These two marsupials survived for thousands of years without anyone in the scientific community knowing they were still around. The question that raises: how many other species categorized as extinct might still be out there, undetected?
The role of Indigenous ecological knowledge also points to a shift in how biodiversity research is conducted. Communities in the Tambrauw and Maybrat regions of West Papua had familiarity with these animals long before Western researchers confirmed their existence. That local knowledge, combined with Bocos’ citizen science contributions on iNaturalist, suggests that the tools for finding “lost” species may already exist outside traditional research institutions.
The Bishop Museum maintains a newsroom with updates on research like this for those tracking biodiversity and conservation developments.
Conversation
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