tl;dr: Scientists have rediscovered two marsupial species in remote West Papua rainforests that were believed extinct for 6,000 years: the pygmy long-fingered possum, which uses an elongated fourth finger to extract insect larvae, and the ring-tailed glider. The findings, published in the Records of the Australian Museum, relied heavily on knowledge from local Tambrauw and Maybrat clans, who consider the glider sacred. Researchers are now pushing for native title protections as logging threatens the gliders' habitat.