Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

Listed As Extinct For Millennia But Hiding In Plain Sight

Scientists just made a discovery so rare it has almost never happened before in the entire history of wildlife research. Two species of marsupials believed to have vanished from the earth more than 6,000 years ago have been found alive and well in the remote rainforests of New Guinea, the large tropical island just north of Australia. The pygmy long-fingered possum is a small striped creature with one unusually long digit on each hand, which scientists think it uses to fish beetle grubs out of rotting wood buried deep in the forest floor. The ring-tailed glider nests in tree hollows, swings through the forest canopy at night using its powerful tail, and is so meaningful to some local Indigenous communities that they believe the animals carry the spirits of their ancestors.

Both creatures were previously known only from ancient fossils, making them what scientists call Lazarus species, a term named for the biblical figure who was brought back from the dead. The odds of finding even one Lazarus mammal species alive are described by researchers as almost zero, which is exactly why discovering two at the same time has been called completely unprecedented and groundbreaking by the scientific community. Researchers worked closely alongside members of two local Indigenous communities whose deep knowledge of the forest proved absolutely essential to confirming that both animals were alive and well. The animals were photographed in a rugged and remote corner of New Guinea that had been so difficult for scientists to survey that researchers had long suspected undiscovered creatures might be hiding there. Conservationists are now quietly keeping the animals’ exact location secret to protect them from wildlife traffickers, while working to learn more about what these remarkable survivors need to thrive.

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-thought-these-marsupials-went-extinct-6000-years-ago-they-just-found-the-animals-alive-180988312/

PrevPreviousFreemont California Was Just Named The Happiest City In America
NextThousands Of Blue Glow In The Dark Snails Return HomeNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

Scientists Just Proved That Your Brain Can Dream While You Are Wide Awake

May 11, 2026

A study from the Paris Brain Institute, published in Cell Reports, has overturned something most people take for granted: that dreaming and waking are two cleanly separate mental states, each with their own type of thoughts. Researchers monitored 92 adults using EEG caps as they drifted into and out of

Read More
Happy News

A Kitten Found Covered Head To Tail In Industrial Glue Just Made A Full Recovery And Has A New Home

May 11, 2026

When a good Samaritan in Fort Worth, Texas, discovered a small kitten stuck in a bucket of industrial-strength glue near an industrial area in April and rushed him to the Humane Society of North Texas, shelter staff were not sure the tiny animal would survive the night. The glue was

Read More
Happy News

The FDA Just Gave Pancreatic Cancer Patients Early Access To A Pill That Doubled Survival Time

May 11, 2026

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized early expanded access to a new pill called daraxonrasib, developed by Revolution Medicines, giving patients with advanced pancreatic cancer a chance to receive the experimental treatment while it awaits full regulatory approval, in a move the agency completed just two days after receiving

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.